4-22-2013
Most likely you?ve attend a webinar by now for a sales training. Have you ever thought of hosting one yourself to capture qualified sales leads?
Over the last few years, radio sales reps have told me their number one challenge to selling digital advertising is ?client education.? It?s a euphemism for ?my clients don?t understand what I?m selling.?
I don?t see this as a problem, but rather as an enormous opportunity. Our clients and prospects are just as overwhelmed by digital marketing and advertising as we are.
Most local advertisers have no one to turn to for help. They are desperate for guidance. We can educate them using webinars and, in the process, create a renewable supply of qualified sales leads for ourselves. Here?s how:
1. Pick a Topic
Don?t make the mistake of choosing a topic based on what you want to sell your prospects. Pick something they actually want to learn about. The goal of the webinar is not to sell, but rather to qualify and capture leads.
There are a few different ways you can go about picking a topic. Think of the most common questions and requests you get from your clients and prospects. What are their biggest marketing problems?
Get in the habit of asking your clients what else they want to learn about marketing. You can also send a brief online survey using SurveyMonkey to all your existing clients to get a snapshot of their biggest marketing challenges.
If your clients end up guiding you toward a topic you don?t know much about, then find an expert to lead your webinar. If the topic is about an advertising opportunity your station currently doesn?t offer, don?t worry. Remember, the goal is to capture leads, not to sell.
2. Get a Webinar Service
One of the most widely used webinar platforms is GoToWebinar.com. It also happens to be the webinar service I?ve used the most myself. A cheaper alternative is anymeeting.com. It has a more limited set of features than GoToWebinar but should do the trick.
3. Produce a Training
A great webinar training is one that teaches a specific concept. The content should be pragmatic. Solve one of your prospects? marketing problems. Consider using a step-by-step ?how to? approach. Your attendees want to come away with information they can use immediately and will also have an impact on their business. Keep your training to no longer than 30 minutes with an additional 15 minutes for Q&A.
4. Make it Engaging
Unlike in-person trainings, you can't look your attendees in the eye; you can?t have a back and forth conversation.
To keep attendees engaged, make your content visual. Only use one idea per slide. A visual example is always better than written copy. Try to advance your slides every three to five seconds. It?s almost like producing a video. As you are talking, you always want to make sure what?s on the screen reflects what you are saying.
Most webinar services enable your attendees to ask questions, start a chat, or even take a poll. Use these tools to stimulate conversation, but only when it makes sense for your teaching points.
5. Qualify Leads
Promote your webinar in as many different ways as you can. Email all of your clients. Partner with a local business association. Even consider promoting it on your air, website, and social networks. When people register for your webinar, you?ll be capturing new leads as they provide you with their email address.
The beauty of hosting a webinar is that the topic qualifies the leads for you. For example, if you host a webinar on effective Mother?s Day promotions, then you know all of the prospects attending your webinar are interested in marketing ideas for Mother?s Day. To further qualify your leads after your webinar, send a brief online survey along with a link to the archived copy of the webinar.
Beyond attracting qualified leads, you can make money directly from these marketing webinars. Email me at stephen@inboundarts.com to learn how.
Stephen Warley is the founder of inboundarts.com, a research and training firm dedicated to helping radio broadcasters use digital tools to generate more qualified sales leads. He is also the founded of LocalBroadcastSales.com in 2008. Have a question for Stephen? Email him at stephen@inboundarts.com or connect with him on LinkedIn.
Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend
