February 12, 2020 Michael Mayday
Webinars are powerful lead generation tools that capture attendee interest and give marketers the insights they need to what audiences genuinely want. But webinars are only one part of the audience’s content journey. With the right eye and the right tools, scrappy marketers can use webinars to craft unified digital experiences that audiences love.
To see how marketers can use webinars to push digital experiences forward, we asked some of the smartest people we know: our #Webinerd community. Here’s what they had to say about transforming basic webinar marketing into captivating digital experiences:
Use Webinars for Podcasts, Branded Series and More
With the right vision, webinars can be more than webinars. One webinerd said that, since podcasts are so popular right now, they’re using the ON24 platform to create and record short live video podcasts. With these recordings in hand, they can then extract the audio and share it across multiple podcast platforms.
Learn how you can turn your webinars into podcasts here.
Podcasts are great, but there’s a lot to be said for running a great webinar series as well. One webinerd said their organization is testing out a “webinar-a-week” program for its major product line and will use simulive webinars to run the same lead generation or thought leadership webinar throughout the month. It’s a great way to kickstart a simple webinar series, test post-webinar engagement tools like surveys and polls and — as this webinerd points out — make the most out of limited speaker time.
Kickstart your own webinar series with WBPS: How To Create Engaging Webinar Programming.
Drop the Slides and Pick Up Video
Webinars ought to be exciting, engaging affairs. But too many webinars are simply presenters calling in and speaking to a set of slides. Dull.
Well, the webinerd community it changing it up with video. Multiple community members say they’re not only dropping slides in favor of video, but incorporating video elements throughout the entire audience content journey. One webinerd said they’re moving away from slides in favor of speaker panels, video podcasts and short video clips that play before a live webinar.
Another webinerd is planning to turn away from slides in their presentations and use videos instead while others say they’re using video clips to point audiences towards other webinars of interest. Regardless, integrating video in your webinars isn’t as difficult — or expensive — as it seems. Learn how you can easily incorporate video into your webinars here.
Focus On Audience Engagement
By far, the number one thing webinerds do to enhance digital experiences is focusing on the audience’s engagement. For example, one webinerds has created an early access program that requires an orientation webinar with their company’s product manager. The result: exclusive features for engaged members and a direct line between the end-use and product manager.
Other webinerds are mapping out engagement opportunities throughout their customer journey using the ON24 CTA tool. This tool allows marketers to direct audiences towards the next step in their content journey, flag important assets to download or directly schedule meetings with a member of the sales team. One webinerd said they’re getting scrappy and using engagement tools — like polls and downloadable resources — to support email campaigns and product launches.
So, next time you find yourself wondering what you can do to enhance your marketing program, take a page from the webinerds and think about how the creative ways webinars can help enhance your digital experiences.