Webinar Marketing Pro

Seven Biggest Webinar Marketing Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Them

Mistake #1: SEX! Now that I have your attention...That was a dirty trick. Not to mention hokey. But since you're reading this, I guess that old chestnut still works.

Remember the old sales adage - A.I.D. A. - Attention - Interest - Decision - Action

On the web or in person, to reach your intended outcome, you must first capture your target audiences Attention. Ideally, you capture Attention because you have a compelling offer that appeals to your target audience, arousing enough Interest and allowing them to make a Decision to accept your offer which leads them to take Action and attend your webinar.

Today, because of information overload, most of us have what I call "short attention span theatre." We're scanning only for the information on our personal radar that were interested in and the rest gets filtered out. Even if yours is the most compelling offer ever given for your target audience, you have to be sure you capture your prospects' Attention, get them Interested enough make a Decision to sign up for your event, and take Action by actually following through and showing up.

Mistake #2: Not Using a Marketing Sequence to Build Your Attendance

Many people assume that just because they are putting on a webinar, and perhaps even offer it for free, that your target audience will drop everything their doing just to hear and see what you have to offer. You're too smart for that and you know people are very busy. Today, people need constant reminders, repeated exposure and you must provide valid reasons why they should continually subject themselves to ongoing communication from you.

A well designed marketing sequence builds momentum and critical mass along each step, creating greater interest and anticipation for those who have already registered and those who haven't yet but are likely too with enough emotional and logical triggers that resonate with them, where they are right now.

Mistake #3: Having Boring Presenters or Death By PowerPoint

In a virtual setting, having an engaging, energetic, well-spoken presenter is critical because your attendees can easily lose interest, get distracted or simply "click" a button and leave your session. In a live setting, that requires a few extra steps and is not quite as anonymous as in a webinar. Another good idea is to rehearse and review the content and do a few dry runs with someone to get your flow down and test out the mechanics of delivering a webinar -especially if you’re new to webinars.

Equally important is your presentation. Too many people use slides as a crutch, simply reading them verbatim on the screen, overloading people with data points, too much text and too many slides. Remember the KISS principle? Keep It Short and Sweet. You can liven up your presentations and keep attendees attention and interest at a high level by adding small doses of things like video, polling, guest speakers, Q&A and more when appropriate.

Mistake #4: Use the Wrong Provider for Your Webinar

Webinars, web conferencing, web collaboration and web meetings have been around for about ten years now. There are many providers all having some similarities and a few with some significant and important differences and features you should consider.

First of all, if all you're concerned with is price, you're approaching it backwards. Price is always a component of value but when you're talking about using webinars as a strategic tool to grow your revenues, expand markets and better serve your customers, the real question is what's it worth to you?

Meaning, if successful, how much would using webinars, web meetings etc. save and or make your company? How much would you save on travel? How many more sales or new clients could you get because your sales cycle is now shorter using webinars? How important is it to make a good first impression with your webinar? How important is support and reliability?

Are features like multi-point video, recording, application sharing, VoIP, integrated audio etc,. a must or are they just nice to have? How else do you plan on leveraging your webinar for future sales, marketing, PR, etc?

Seems like a lot but there are many ways to make money from webinars beyond the event itself. You can record events for future playback, create a passive eCommerce income stream, license your sessions, use as Press Releases, redistribute on CD to your lists, etc. Are you getting the picture that webinars can go way beyond simply desktop sharing and PowerPoint? Choosing the right provider can mean the difference between a smashing success or crash and burn failure. By using the appropriate tools for your goals, you can promote interaction, participation, and ultimately, gain more sales.

Mistake #5: Not Using Direct Response Marketing

Most attempts at building attendees for your webinar make all of the mistakes pointed out in #1 above. Using proven direct response methods includes having benefit driven headlines within emails, websites and other media. Well-written copy that speaks your audiences language, compelling offers and a clear call to action with incentives, multiple ways to register, testimonials etc.

Mistake #6: Not Using Off-line Media To Build Attendance

What? You mean use things like letters, postcards, "lumpy-mail," premiums, creative packaging, telephone, and the fax machine? Yup. Goes back to #1 and #2 above and for the plain fact that today, relying on email to successfully reach your audience is harder than ever. SPAM is pervasive, people mass delete in-boxes, junk folders steal correspondence even with your own customers…all the more reason to multiply your touch points for maximum exposure and boost your chances of scoring high on the A.I.D.A quotient.

Mistake #7: Failing to Design the Post-Webinar Marketing Plan

Too often people view a webinar as a one-time event. You'll see a lot of work and money wasted on what I call the "front-end" and little time planning for the "back-end" where you can leverage off your event for additional sales, up-sells and other income opportunities.

Make sure the follow-up plan gets as much attention as the webinar itself. Each step in the process should be well mapped out from salespeople’s roles to post-event websites, materials, touch campaigns and more. There is a short window of opportunity for you to take advantage of all your hard work . . . if you recognize and can avoid these costly errors and if you have a proven system to help you get the results you want.