Behind every webinar is a lot of effort: writing, planning, presentation preparation, and marketing. As the host, you’re constantly wondering if your efforts will be rewarded with good attendance and feedback, because these two are evidence that your product is valued. Hosting a webinar is an effective way to get more leads for upcoming events and other products you’re selling. But for many webinar hosts, low attendance is a major source of heartache—an opportunity for lead generation forgone.
Getting audiences to attend your webinar is not automatic, it requires building a strong brand reputation that is founded on trust and credibility, and social media is a good way to achieve this. To build a strong brand reputation on social media is not as hard as some people think. So long as you remember these three things: quality, trust, and care, you’ll be getting audiences to not only like your webinar ads but take the right step by signing up for, and attending, your webinar.
In this article, we’ll share ways you can market your webinar on social media and get the right results.
1. Engage with your audience
Don’t be too distant from your audience. It’s important for them to feel that you value them and not just viewing them as useful for lead generation. While cold emailing is a good marketing tool, engaging potential leads via social media, and building a rapport with them is another effective way to market your webinar.
Go live on your social media pages, invite some of your audience to co-host.
Use emojis as much as your brand will permit, they portray you as approachable.
Try to respond to comments and ask your audience questions.
Be aware of the pulse of the people and speak up against social injustices. You can’t be quiet during a time of injustice and expect your audience to take you seriously when you post your ads.
Share inspirational posts that address the subject of your industry. If, for instance, your webinars are about startups, you can share stories of successful entrepreneurs.
Ask your audience what they would like you to talk about. This way you’re sure that your content is truly relevant. One good way to engage with your audience is to share tips that can help them to improve their work efficiency.
Encourage feedback on your posts and content.
As the day of the webinar draws closer, build momentum, don’t be discouraged even if you’ve had only a few people register. Whet your audience’s appetite. Talk about highlights from your upcoming event. If you will be hosting a special guest, talk about it. If there will be a giveaway, talk about it. It might amaze you how many people will respond to your ad at the last minute, simply because you’ve made them more aware of the benefits and they don’t want to miss out on an expiring opportunity.
2. Consistently deliver quality content
Talk is cheap, and anyone can come up with a bunch of words to make themselves look important on social media, especially if they have the right picture to back it up. But most people know what’s valuable and what’s superficial. For you to get a good attendance for your webinar, you have to give audiences a reason to attend, and a good way to do this is by consistently posting quality ideas and content that keep audiences returning to your social media pages.
Don’t joke with your social media accounts, always stay true to your brand essence, even if it’s a fun post. Keep the content of your posts relevant to the audiences who have followed you for a reason. This way, when you have a webinar coming up, they know they will get quality from you and they’ll respond positively to your ad.
Ways to ensure that you consistently deliver quality content
Always compare the content of your post with your brand essence: is it true to your brand?
Ensure your posts are industry-related. It’s important to be consistent.
Schedule regular publishing times. Give your followers something to look forward to.
3. Make interesting videos of your product
According to this study of over 10million Facebook posts, videos make up over 15% of content on the platform, as more and more brands use them to promote their goods and services. So be sure to include videos in your content strategy. This can include explainer videos (which you can pin at the top of your social media page) for the most discussed topics in your industry. This is a valuable marketing tactic that will yield positive results in brand loyalty and reputation.
Videos are more engaging than images, and you can talk about all the awesome benefits of your webinar much more than you can with an image or a text post. Remember to keep the video captivating, otherwise your audience will just go on to the next item on their feed.
Quick tips for making a good video ad for your webinar
Use good music that’s relevant for your product. Something upbeat usually works to attract the audience’s attention.
Use a good color theme. Red, orange, yellow, and bright shades of green usually feature in popular video ads.
Keep it short and simple, especially on Instagram. On Facebook, you can have longer videos (longer videos have a higher engagement rate).
Feature in the video, even if you’re just speaking for ten to fifteen seconds. It makes it more personal and newer followers can put a face to you and your product.
Remember to stress what they stand to gain if they attend. E.g. a rich network of like-minded professionals, vouchers for an exclusive event.
Include contact information for more enquiries.
4. Always include results from your past events
People want to know why they should part with their time or their hard-earned money. Give them a reason by sharing feedback from your past events. If a past participant has gotten a C-Suite job after a past event, mention it. If startups have seen an increase in sales, include that as well. If teams have boosted their productivity as a result of your webinar, include that.
Audiences want to see concrete results, so they respond positively to numbers. Include statistics in your ad. Percentages of growth, recruitment, leads, profit—these numbers make your claim more real to your audience. They will be more inclined to believe that your webinar will benefit them, since it has worked for others—and that’s the whole point of your webinar, to share insights that can better your audience’s lives.
5. Edit your audience
To get value for money, a social media ad has to be targeted to the right audience. To do this effectively, you need to think of the kind of attendees you want and understand their demography. These question might help you:
What are their ages and genders?
What are their interests?
Where are they located?
What are their behaviors?
What type of devices do they use?
Facebook ad boost page, showing detailed targeting options.
As seen above, Facebook ads make it easy for you to target the specific people you want to see your ads, using several categories, including what type of network connection they have and how long they may have used a device.
The key to the right placement of your ad is specific targeting, so take your time to narrow down the type of audience that will find your ad valuable. It’s one of the tricks that can guarantee a positive response to your marketing.
More on ad placement
The whole point of an advert is for the right people to see it. Sometimes this will mean taking more steps in the direction of where these audiences might be. So you’ve got to be strategic. Join groups and pages on Facebook and LinkedIn, be an active member and make useful contributions, and if the rules permit, place your ads there manually.
Joining these groups will help you to know your customers and how they think. This is such a valuable insight that will help you to tailor your communication appropriately and explore the right communication channels to get a positive response for your webinar ad.
You should also try to connect with group admins who wouldn’t mind posting and putting in a word about your webinar. This option is the product of successful relationships built over time and adds credibility to you and what you offer. Consider building long-lasting relationships that are founded on trust and loyalty, and watch the results manifest in your business success.
6. Improve your social media profile
When audiences come to your social media page (because they are interested in your ad), your social media profile will determine whether they will take your ad seriously or ignore it. Therefore, it’s important for you to keep a clean, impressive social media profile—image is everything. Do you—and your social media page—look like you can deliver quality? Before you answer that, here’s a checklist you might want to review:
Is your profile picture impressive enough? It’s best to get a professional shot that will capture you at a good angle and have the right lighting.
Have you included an interesting description of yourself and your brand? People should be able to know what you’re about from your profile description.
Are there posts of activities and events related to your webinar and other speaking engagements? Your new audience will want to see examples of what you do.
Are there reviews of your work on your social media pages? Audiences won’t always take your word for it, but they might find reviews hard to dismiss.
7. Offer a last-minute discount
I’m telling you this works. People respond positively to deals, especially for a product that they don’t think they could have gotten otherwise. In fact, just the very idea of paying less for something that could have cost more is a big incentive for many people. According to this article, an estimated 35% of participants register for webinars within a few days of the event, with a significant portion registering on the very day of the event. Long story short, don’t give up marketing until it’s over.
My brother was hosting a webinar and hadn’t gotten as many participants as he would have loved, so here’s what he did: two days before the event, he got a sponsor to pay half the price for five participants, and then advertised a 50% discount. To his amazement, five participants paid within the hour. Since then, he’s always found at least one investor to sponsor participants and been able to advertise a discounted price at the last minute. Some of his audience who have financial constraints now look forward to this discounted fee as an opportunity to be a part of a program they couldn’t have fully afforded.
On the other hand, his sponsors see this situation as an opportunity to do some philanthropy—my brother’s webinars are for veterans dealing with PTSD. This certainly wouldn’t work for everyone, but he’s been able to do this consistently for three years. You too can find a way to offer a last-minute discount to audiences who can’t afford your webinar but would love to be a part of it.
As I said before, you can build a good brand reputation for your webinar without too much stress. You may also choose to use social media marketing tools to simplify your marketing efforts. Whatever you do, remember these key values: quality, trust, and care. Give them quality content, show you genuinely care about them and build trust.
As you take advantage of these tips I have shared, you’ll find that you’re not only getting results from marketing your webinar on social media, but also building a strong brand reputation.
About the author:
Nikola Baldikov is a Digital Marketing Manager at Brosix, specializing in SAAS marketing, SEO, and outreach strategies. Besides his passion for digital marketing, he is an avid fan of football, and loves to dance. Connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter at @baldikovn.
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