- Identify Your Target Audience – You want specific types of people to attend your webinar, people who need your service and are likely to convert. Define the characteristics of these people are and what they need.
- Pick an Appealing Topic – With your target audience defined, find a topic that will appeal to them, something that fills an information need they have. Find out what they care about and what they struggle with by talking with them directly and participating in social media conversations.
- Use an Easy Webinar Platform – Ideally, use a webinar platform compatible with most computer operating systems and browsers, one that does not require setting up a special account or installing software. A platform that uses little Internet bandwidth or system resources will also keep the experience pleasant for your users. Having a phone-in option is also helpful.
- Set an Attendance Goal – How many attendees are ideal to achieve your business goal while functioning well on the webinar platform? Work backward from that number to define your marketing contact goals, calculating in typical webinar signup and attendance rates.
- Pick a Convenient Time and Date – This will vary depending on your audience, but typically mid-day, mid-week is a good choice. Mondays and Fridays tend to get hectic in most offices. Lunch time or right after is often the best time.
- Invite Your Prospective Attendees – The two best ways to contact likely attendees are email and phone. A 1-5% conversion rate for email is typical, but phone appointment setting can easily double or triple the conversion rate. “Scrub” email lists first to ensure you have current information. However you contact your prospects, emphasize the benefits they will receive from the webinar. Make them feel special, as if this webinar was created just for them.
- Offer Something Special – Sweeten the deal by offering an e-book, white paper, industry report, sample, demo or other “prize” for attending. Everyone likes free stuff, especially if it is useful to them.
- Market Widely – Targeted invitations are your mainstay, but do not neglect social media, and referrals. Your target audience will know others who should attend, and good prospects you might not have targeted will self-select.
- Make Registration Easy – Web registration is simplest. Design a compelling landing page that sells the webinar’s benefits and is simple to use with few steps.
- Remind Your Registrants – Send out regular, automated emails reminding registrants about the webinar, teasing their curiosity each time with new information about the event. Make sure you send at least two reminders: one a few days before and one the day of the event. Personal phone calls are even more effective!
All 10 tips above are useful, but the most important dimension of any event recruitment strategy is the “human touch”: talking to prospects as fellow human beings and showing that you want to help them.
For a free consultation on how 3D2B can optimize your webinar event recruitment efforts, call us now at +1 718-709-0800 (Americas) / +39 06-978446-60 (EMEA).
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