Virtual webinars have become an increasingly popular way to generate leads and promote your financial services, especially considering the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are 10 strategies to make your virtual webinars as effective as live seminars and events:
- Choose the right platform: Pick a robust platform that provides an immersive, engaging, and interactive experience for the participants. Examples include Zoom, GoToWebinar, and Google Meet.
- Create engaging content: Craft an engaging presentation with attention-grabbing visuals, compelling stories, and informative data that appeals to your target audience.
- Keep it short and sweet: Keep your webinar to an hour or less, as attention spans are shorter in the virtual world. Break up the presentation with interactive elements such as polls, quizzes, and Q&A sessions.
- Use a professional setup: Use a high-quality camera, microphone, and lighting to ensure that your presentation looks and sounds professional.
- Promote your webinar: Use email marketing, social media, and other online channels to promote your webinar and generate interest from your target audience.
- Leverage guest speakers: Invite guest speakers who have relevant expertise and industry experience to add credibility and value to your webinar. With non-competing synergies, you could even add their clients to your marketing list.
- Offer exclusive content: Offer exclusive content such as downloadable e-books, templates, or other resources to participants as an incentive to attend.
- Follow up with attendees: Follow up with attendees after the webinar to thank them for their participation, answer any remaining questions, and continue building relationships with potential leads. Develop email drip strategies to nurture those relationships.
- Encourage social sharing: Encourage attendees to share your webinar on social media and other channels to expand your reach and generate additional leads. You might want to offer a replay for those who could not attend the live webinar.
- Measure your results: Measure your results using analytics tools to track attendance, engagement, and conversions. Use this information to refine your strategy and improve future webinars.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies had to shift from traditional live events to virtual events to engage with their audience. While it is challenging to compare the effectiveness of virtual events with live events, some companies have reported getting more leads from virtual events. Here are a few examples:
- HubSpot, a leading provider of inbound marketing and sales software, reported that their virtual events, such as INBOUND 2020, generated more leads than their live events in previous years. They attributed this success to their digital platform’s ability to provide more data and insights into attendees’ behavior, allowing them to personalize the event experience and improve their lead generation efforts.
- Adobe, a multinational software company, also reported generating more leads from virtual events. They focused on creating interactive and engaging content that was accessible to their global audience, leading to increased attendance and engagement. They also leveraged their digital platform’s analytics capabilities to measure their event’s success and optimize their future virtual events.
- Oracle, a technology company, shifted their annual Oracle OpenWorld conference to a virtual event in 2020. They reported that their virtual event had over 80,000 registered attendees, which was significantly higher than their live event’s attendance in previous years. They attributed their success to their virtual event’s ability to reach a broader audience, offer on-demand content, and provide a personalized experience to attendees.
In conclusion, companies that have been successful in generating leads from virtual events have focused on creating engaging and interactive content, leveraging data and analytics to personalize the event experience, and expanding their reach to a global audience.
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