By Andy Johns, founder and director of creative design agency Good Communications
Because of Covid hardly anyone is sat at in the office anymore – customers and potential customers included. So how do you get your message across to them when they’re sat in their own private homes, address unknown?
The rise of the webinar
We all know how much coronavirus has disrupted our usual marketing strategies and initiatives and the negative impact it has had by dispersing audiences away from their usual environments.
Instead, I’m going to focus on the positives and what marketers should be focussing their energy on in 2021.
My prediction is that webinars will become an incredibly popular, and effective, marketing medium. When expertly executed, an informative webinar will engage and drive leads. It can position you as a thought leader and strengthen your brand.
Be ingenious
The thought of hosting a webinar, if you’ve not done it before, can seem like an impossibility and, let’s be honest, webinars can be very dull. No one is going to sit through a boring, tedious, lecture-like webinar, let alone is going to be persuaded to buy your product or service. This is where you can get really creative.
Be stimulating
There are lots of things you can do to spice up a webinar; you can make it interactive, incorporate really eye-catching graphics, maybe even add some gamification elements to it to really capture your audience’s attention. Just don’t talk flatly into the camera and use PowerPoint slides as the only form of stimulus.
With the right creativity, design and expertise, webinars can be visually entertaining, audibly captivating, and emotionally stimulating.
Be engaging
Webinars should be treated the same as all your other marketing collateral. There must be a reason for it, it must convey a particular message, it should speak directly to the viewer, it has to add value and include a strong call to action.
Its content should raise awareness of what you do, who you are and how you do it. It builds trust and credibility. It strengthens relationships. It demonstrates that you are experts in your field.
Think about your audience and give them what they want in a way that resonates with them. Consider things like live narration, pre-recorded narration, animations, infographics, video clips, music and audio clips. You can even include live Q&A sessions to really engage with your potential customers and get to know them better.
In 2019, before the global pandemic caused utter chaos, 87% of business claimed to be using webinars as part of their marketing to capitalise on the ‘video craze’. 81% of marketers stated that webinars helped them to acquire new leads for their clients, 79% of customers who took part in a webinar were influenced to take positive action and 66% of B2B buyers prefer to watch a webinar before making a purchase*. These stats are set to rise as webinars are the only marketing tool that can truly bring people together whilst working remotely.
* Stats from the ‘State of Webinars Report’, from a global video conferencing, online meeting and webinar software specialist, ClickMeeting.
It really is the smart thing to do in 2021 to get on your potential customers’ radar.
Wanda Rich has been the Editor-in-Chief of Global Banking & Finance Review since 2011, playing a pivotal role in shaping the publication’s content and direction. Under her leadership, the magazine has expanded its global reach and established itself as a trusted source of information and analysis across various financial sectors. She is known for conducting exclusive interviews with industry leaders and oversees the Global Banking & Finance Awards, which recognize innovation and leadership in finance. In addition to Global Banking & Finance Review, Wanda also serves as editor for numerous other platforms, including Asset Digest, Biz Dispatch, Blockchain Tribune, Business Express, Brands Journal, Companies Digest, Economy Standard, Entrepreneur Tribune, Finance Digest, Fintech Herald, Global Islamic Finance Magazine, International Releases, Online World News, Luxury Adviser, Palmbay Herald, Startup Observer, Technology Dispatch, Trading Herald, and Wealth Tribune.