If you’re like me lately, every time you open your email there is a new invitation to a webinar. Why so many? Why did the webinar suddenly become the best way to disseminate information? Why do I find myself registering for so many (even if it’s just to get the recording and supporting documents)? Let’s break it down and trust me, it’s not a bad thing.
The webinar has been gaining popularity over the last decade, but the approach to marketing and targeting registrants was much different. What was once a quarterly event with exclusive invitations or payment required, has become a FREE, open invitation event to anyone interested and willing to spare 30 to 90 minutes of their day. Now companies are encouraging you to register, even if you have a scheduling conflict, just so they can capture your information and in return you get a nice email with a link to the webinar recording and all the supplemental bounty.
One webinar platform reported in March 2020 they had seen the number of webinars hosted jump by more that 330% and the number of attendees to those events double year-over-year. It’s no surprise these trends can be attributed to the inability to travel and meet with clients, customers and colleagues face-to-face, but for the webinar, this is a glass half full moment.
There is no better time than the present to jump on the webinar bandwagon. You and your company will not be disappointed as long as you deliver relevant and timely content to your audience. What do I mean by relevant and timely? Well, let’s begin by not wasting anyone’s time. Your company did not have to invest marketing dollars to convince your audience that a webinar is a good idea. The pandemic did this for you. Now, you just have to educate or inform your audience about a topic that matters to them, hence the relevance aspect. I encourage my clients to include both the sales rep and an engineer or other solution specialist to lead the webinar. This way credibility and technical prowess is just an answer away. As far as timely, quite literally choose a time for the webinar that is convenient for your audience. You know their industry, challenges and work schedules. Use this to your advantage and schedule the webinar when the time is right for your audience.
If you are not currently using a Webinar Software, here are a few suggestions:
Now is a great time to test your first webinar. If you need assistance with content or overall event management reach out to TRINDGROUP. We will be happy to offer assistance and help you or your marketing team use webinars as lead generation or customer retention tool.
Jessie King is a content strategist/technical writer and co-owner of TRINDGROUP. Jessie’s background is in communication, specifically public relations and marketing. Before founding TRINDGROUP, Jessie served as a lecturer in the Auburn University School of Communication and Journalism teaching a variety of communication and public relations classes. She has worked with a variety of industrial clients throughout her career and specializes in the oil and gas (upstream, midstream and downstream) and engineering sectors. She spends much of her time working with clients to develop, research and write articles, white papers, blogs, and other content. Jessie’s industrial experience and emphasis on the strategic communication process offers our clients an easy transition to working with an agency.
Jessie holds a B.A. in Public Relations from Auburn University and a M.A. in Mass Communication with a concentration in Qualitative Research and Argumentation from Auburn University.
JESSIE KING
Owner/Technical Writer
TRINDGROUP
