| Your 5 Greatest Webinar Fears and How to Overcome Them |
By Patrick Cahill -"The Birds" Trying to run a webinar may not create as harsh a reaction as the above quote…but sometimes it may be close. It can be a tough battle to rally thought leaders, sales, and the already busy marketing team behind a new type of campaign – even when we know they will work. In fact, ninety percent of marketers polled by Wainhouse Research in a survey last year said they planned on using webinars to generate new business. Ninety percent! And Business.com's 2009 Business Social Media Benchmarking Study found that webinars and podcasts are the most popular social media resources for business professionals. They are used by 69% of the 2,393 survey participants. But, we both know that not all 90% of marketers that wanted to run webinars this year did. And some marketers (who understood the business case for webinars) that produced one never produced a second. The Only Thing to Fear Is… We set out to learn why this is. We did our own mini survey to support our experience, using the always generous community of LinkedIn.com users. We asked marketers: Why haven't you done a webinar yet? We found there are five key elements keeping marketers and others at their firm from embracing this proven tactic to generate leads and nurture relationships. The five fears are:
As Rally Point team member Caralie Coleman said when summarizing the findings, "All the fears can be addressed in order to run a successful webinar." Caralie was exactly right. Let's go fear by fear, addressing how to overcome these obstacles to deliver webinars that will immediately deliver value to your attendees and your firm. Content - We're not thought leaders who can produce fresh content every month. If that statement is true, you're going to find it hard to grow your business profitably. Your prospects will be asking the same questions you do late at night: "Why should we pay this firm this rate when the one down the street charges 10% less." Unless you give them a reason, like a relationship that's developed through trust-building thought leadership, they'll go with the 10% less firm. You would too. You have to demonstrate why your firm is worth the fees you charge. "But we don't know enough and we don't have the time." If you want to grow, make the time. If you want to eliminate the revenue roller coaster, find something to say. Your prospects are not in your industry. They are not reading trade journals, thinking about how new laws affect their business, or busy understanding the basics of your industry. Teach them in an engaging manner. Then keep doing it month after month, carefully targeting prospects you can deliver value to. Lack of Targeting – Our webinar will be too general to appeal to a specific audience. This is a great concern to have because it shows you're committed to providing value. It shows you understand the more targeted the content, the more value your prospects will receive. The key here is to plan to create targeted content. It can be as simple as taking "Marketing Basics 101" and changing the title, marketing copy, and content to make it "Marketing Basics 101 for Technology Services." On the marketing side, segment your list to only invite prospects who will find the content relevant. By sending targeted, relevant content to prospects, you position yourself against competing events trying to farm the masses. You'll get noticed. High Competition – There are lots of webinars out there. Yes, there are a lot of webinars out there. And there are:
There's a lot of everything out there. The key is to carve out your space and to understand that part of this is a numbers game. The more you market yourself with relevant content to targeted prospects, the more likely you will hit them at a time when they find your messaging compelling. Do not get discouraged by the quantity of competing events. See it as an indication that the tactic works and that you will generate clients if you commit to providing stronger content and flawless events. Low attendance – Not "enough" people will attend our event. What's enough? Chances are if two people attended your event and both became clients that'd be enough to justify the event. Too many business people focus on quantity:
While these are important numbers, the most important is: "How much did the event contribute to our pipeline?" Put egos aside and think about the numbers carefully. How many people do you really need to attend to make webinars worth it? (Check out our Webinar Success Kit which has a Webinar ROI Worksheet that will help you determine how many registrations, from qualified prospects, will result in success.) Stage Fright – Live events are scary to run You've taken the time to deliver high-value content to a targeted list of qualified prospects. As a result, you've received a number of registrations that your firm is very happy with. And then, it hits you: These are your perfect prospects… This event must go flawlessly. It sure does. But, don't let "live" intimidate you. Like anything else, planning ahead, coordinating every moving part, and having dry runs of the event will ensure its success. Remember, it's worth spending a few extra hours with everyone involved to hold an additional dry run. Better that than to have the actual event go poorly leaving prospects with a sour impression of your firm. (Check out our white paper 7 Keys to Running a Glitch-Free Webinar to make sure your event goes without a hitch.) Go For It Webinars do not need to be scary. Not one bit. Let's review these, now, obviously irrational fears and what you're going to do to overcome them.
You're going to make the time to share your expertise. Your content need not be groundbreaking, just engaging and helpful to prospects unfamiliar with your industry.
Don't go for the mass-appeal topic. Tailor content to a segment of your prospects and market it just to them. Rinse and repeat with each of your segments, as appropriate.
Anything successful generates competition. It's a big B2B world out there and there is room for you and your content! Your targeted, consistent messaging will hit portions of your prospects at the right time and they will register.
Before you think this, or let others spread their concerns, work out the real numbers. How many will it really take to make your event a success? Rally Point's Webinar Success Kit offers a Webinar ROI Worksheet that will help you calculate that number.
Not if you prepare for them. Plan and practice and you'll be good to go for that live event. Helpful tips of executing the live event in our white paper Keys to Running a Glitch-Free Webinar. * * * Overcome these fears and run free. Well, at least begin to experience the tremendous impact a regular schedule of webinars can have on your pipeline. Patrick R. Cahill is a principal at Rally Point Webinars who specializes in marketing, business operations, and CRMs. Click here to email Patrick. |