Top Tips to Double Your Webinar Attendance Rate
Anyone who’s worked with me in the past knows that I’m a big fan of webinars for b2b lead generation. While some may say they are a thing of the past, I believe there are few lead generation tools as powerful as a well-run, well-designed series of webinars.
However, there is a bit of science involved in generating the kind of return on investment you might expect. Simply reusing an old sales deck or quickly putting together a few PowerPoint slides and expecting participants to magically turn up isn’t going to cut it.
In a world where remote training has become the norm and customers are bombarded with content, most webinars have an attendance rate well below 25%. But anyone keen to maximise their ROI and to generate quality leads can easily double this figure to 50% attendance rate by following two simple steps.
Here’s how I did it.
In this article, you will learn how to improve your B2B webinars:
- What makes webinars such great lead generation tools
- Step 1: The systems you need to double your webinar attendance rate
- Choosing the right webinar platform
- Getting people to sign up, attend and stay engaged
- Step 2: How to create great webinar content
- A few pro B2B webinar tips
What Makes Webinars Such Great Lead Generation Tools
Now that our working lives are spent behind a screen, businesses and attendees alike have been reluctant to invest their time or resources in in-person events. And for good reason. Why prioritise traditional event marketing when webinars can achieve the same results with less effort and at a lower cost?
Online webinar sessions are:
- Cost-effective: While the same marketing effort is required to get bums on seats for both webinars and in-person events, the former’s set-up costs are minimal. A small budget will provide you with an opportunity to reach a wide audience face-to-face, to showcase your expertise and to engage with potential customers afterwards.
- Easy to set up: You likely have the knowledge needed to answer a key problem faced by your customers. It’s just a matter of designing it in a way that flows well. And a good platform (more on this later) will make managing the promotion, hosting and follow-up processes a piece of cake.
- Low-commitment for attendees: Logging on for an hour rather than travelling to an event will make participants much more likely to turn up to find out more about you.
- A great source of data: A webinar platform will provide you with valuable insight into the effectiveness of your promotion and follow-up efforts. It will also offer an opportunity to gather post-event feedback from participants.
- A good way to showcase your brand: People are more likely to trust you after watching you demonstrate your expertise. Even better, make sure you bring in case studies to show off your work.
Step 1: Setting Up the Right Systems and Processes to Get People to Turn Up
Choosing the right webinar platform for your webinar
Functionalities will, of course, vary from one platform to the next. Some are basic in terms of marketing support, others have superpowers.
“Forget all the bells and whistles. Your webinar platform should just be super easy to use.”
Look for something that allows you to record your session, and to send the recording afterwards. The registration process should also be really simple for people, and provide the option to add the event to their calendar. Participants should get a personal invite link (so you can track who actually made it to the session), which will then add the event in their diary so that time will be safeguarded.
Now if you want to go a bit further, you could look for a system that allows for email sign ups, shares links live, or provides more detailed data dashboards. But before investing in the Cadillac of webinar platforms, check that it integrates with the rest of your tech stack, and your CRM system in particular.
Getting People to Sign up, Attend and Stay Engaged to your webinar
Webinar attendance rates usually stagnate below the 25% mark, but there are several things you can do to influence that number.
Focus on the promotion of your b2b webinars
- Start promoting your webinar at least six weeks in advance, on all your channels. Especially if you are targeting senior audiences, as these people get booked up quickly.
- Pay for advertising. Choose a platform that will help you get the best attendance rate.
- Send email reminders, and more often than you think. If your webinar is a value-add for your prospects, you don’t have to worry about annoying them. Bonus points if you’re bold enough to ask people to opt out if they can’t make it to make space for others. This reminds them that your content is valuable and in demand.
My suggest email reminders schedule:
- 1 week out
- 1-2 days before
- 1 hour before
- 15 minutes before (and this is the one that gets the highest click rate!)
Nurture prospects that couldn’t attend just as much as those who did
They may have been busy and missed your webinar, but they’re still in the market to buy something from you. In fact, this is the challenge most B2B companies face: most of your clients are not looking to buy right at this moment. But when they are, they will remember how you made them feel, and how you helped them on their journey.
Spend time nurturing everyone who showed an interest in finding out about you, whether they showed up or not. Share the session’s recording, along with some resources that may solve a problem they have.
Here are a few examples of follow-up emails you could send:
- Sorry you missed it, here’s the recording
- Hey, were you still worried about X? Is this still a challenge for you?
- Here are some additional resources
- Here’s a special offer
- Let’s have a complementary call to see how I can support you
Step 2: Create Great Webinar Content
While marketing and promotion matter, content matters even more. The worst mistake you can make is to turn your webinar into a sales pitch. Spend the bulk of your efforts on creating brilliant content that adds value for your users. The better the content, the more people will recommend it and tag others.
You are looking to solve a problem for your customers, so don’t worry about giving too much away. Most people will only remember one or two things from the session, but they will remember this feeling of “Wow! That was amazing.”
The second mistake businesses make? Doing one webinar and disappearing. You’ll need to keep them at a consistent pace so people know to look out for them and visit your website regularly.
Quick Pro B2B Webinar Tips
- Send more email reminders than you think!
- Don’t tell registrants you’ll record the webinar, or attendance is likely to drop. However, you do want to have these recordings on hand to use on YouTube.
- Once you have the recording, break it up and repurpose the content. Write a blog, create short videos for your social media platforms, etc.
- Use the transcripts from your webinars and use them as a base for long-form blog articles or social media posts.
- Think of any other assets you have that could be shared with your attendees.
- Be generous: give away slightly more than you feel comfortable with. Remember that people only remember 10-15% of the information shared during your session. Maximise what people take away.
- Ask yourself what you want people to do next, and make it easy for them to take the next step.
- Follow up! For goodness’ sake, do remember to send follow-up emails. Pack them with extra tips, offers, resources and a way for people to book a meeting with you.
Webinars Are Dead… Long Live Webinars!
Webinars don’t have to be boring. While it’s true that they can sometimes be overused, add little value or end up as a sales pitch, they can also be your best lead conversion asset. It’s up to you to turn them into your best conversion tool.
And don’t worry if the first one sucked. You just have to stick at it, learn from your mistakes and get better.
If you’d like to set up an effective webinar strategy or to review your current one, just book a chat with me.
