Webinars are very useful tools because they let you show your audience that you know what you’re talking about. A webinar can also be used as an engagement tool, or to capture email leads. In fact, there are a myriad of purposes for the webinar (including integrating it with a custom exhibit). Finding out what your purpose in creating one is half the battle.
First: Create a Plan
Nothing can be done in marketing without a plan (some would argue that nothing can be done in life without a plan!). A webinar is no exception to this rule; you have to know where you’re going before you jump into a virtual room with strangers. In some ways, the webinar can be compared to a lesson plan that a teacher might create. When planning, ask yourself these questions:
1. Who is my audience?
2. Where do those people like to congregate?
3. What would engage my audience the most?
4. What do I want to teach people today?
5. What is my purpose in creating a webinar?
You can start to sketch out (and, yes, I recommend using a piece of paper to actually sketch this out!), a plan by answering those questions. Figure out what you want to teach, whom you want to teach, and what your goal is. From there, you can build out what you will say and do.
Next: Start to Engage
You have to tell people about your upcoming webinar if you expect those people to sign up or join in. How can you do this? Try these tactics:
1. Have your tech team build a specific landing page (much as you would if you were attending an upcoming show).
2. Reach out to your clients via email marketing.
3. Use your social networks.
4. Network, and let people know what you are offering.
5. Consider launching a pre-webinar to speak to your attendees, and find out if they have any questions. Later, you can address these issues.
Don’t forget to ask people to sign up with an email address too, and put those addresses on your mailing list.
Then: The Dry Run
Grab some friends or colleagues, and ask those people to listen to your initial setup. You should be able to get some creative and constructive feedback – and you’ll get rid of jitters. This way, you’ll be ready to roll with your webinar when the time comes. Don’t you wish all companies went through a dry run?
Connect It With Your Upcoming Show
If you are planning on attending a trade show soon, make sure to note that upcoming appearance at the end of your webinar. It’s always a good idea to connect one event to another, and that includes connecting a webinar to something like a trade show. If you make it all part of a larger marketing plan, you can even add elements of your webinar to your trade show booth design – and that’s where we can help out.Blazer Exhibits creates portable display booths for companies of any size, and we also create many other different types of booths. We’re more than happy to combine anything that you have in mind with portable display booths too – just ask.
Whether you go with portable display booths or something else, make sure that you don’t ignore the webinar. This is one marketing tool that’s just too good to pass up! If you do need help with portable display booths or a custom exhibit, call us today, or find us on Facebook.