Opinion 41
Webinar worth
Informa ’ s director of event marketing , Kathryn Frankson urges planners not to neglect webinars as part of virtual event programmes
For # eventprofs , the last two years have spelled an unprecedented and rapid transition to virtual . From the now much maligned P word (# pivot ) to the new talking points around # zoomfatigue , virtual event formats , data capture , digital footprints and 365 community development , the role of virtual is in constant flux . Add in the current transitional buyer behaviour as mask mandates are lifted and the recent omicron surge wanes and the question looms large – what ’ s worthy of a virtual event and where does the tried-and-true webinar fit into the mix ? Yes , webinars !
Well , that ’ s where data and audience behaviour tell the real story . We know that attention spans have shrunk , there ’ s more digital content saturating the market than ever and to run an exceptional virtual event that truly meets audience needs , you need to invest in the right tech , creative and promotion . To ensure the right value exchange for your audience ’ s time , a virtual event needs to deliver both in live content and engagement opportunities , which can be a real lift from your team .
And yet , we know the way for brands to stay relevant is to provide incredibly valuable content , at scale , for audiences . So , where does that leave brand and marketing teams for options ?
Webinars , when executed correctly , can offer more bite-size , consumable content and a more manageable lift for programming and execution teams ; however , to get the best return on investment or effort , you want to drive maximum attendance .
How is that achieved with so much marketplace noise ?
Our team recently ran a webinar with 2,369 people signed up and a 66 % live attendance rate .
The promotional cycle was three weeks pre webinar . Why the strong results , I hear you ask ? Because the speaker was that good . It wasn ’ t a celebrity but someone our audience revered . The marketing was solid but there are no secret channels . We used organic social , email and select partners .
The answer to getting results is simply knowing your audience well enough to create hyper relevant content that they actually want to consume .
The days of repeated speakers or general content that serves every persona are gone . You need to think critically and have an internal marketplace expert or repeatable process for deeply understanding buyers . Their needs have never changed faster . What was impacting them last month is not the case this month . If your competitors already covered it , they don ’ t need to watch . If the speaker is oversaturated through other events , they don ’ t need to watch . If they can google and find the topic covered in a blog post that they can read in one minute , they don ’ t need to watch .
You have to ask yourself – why are we asking for 45 minutes of their time ? Every audience is one click , one Teams or Slack message away from just minimising the browser , promising themselves they ’ ll watch on-demand then dropping off completely .
Brands have to truly challenge themselves to deliver such relevant value , that your audiences will set aside everything else in their day to join live because they simply cannot get this timely information easily in other channels and formats .
Audience research , advisory boards , surveying , and market expertise will allow you to create a product and customer-led model for content that resonates in webinar formatting .
Then your marketing teams can do what they do best – deploy , distribute , and amplify . And by landing in this sharp , relevant topic , you can turn on a digital model , strategically select what is worthy of a virtual event , and lean into webinar creation that puts you front and centre with something to say while managing your team ’ s bandwidth and generating a strong return .