Webinars have long served as effective lead generation tools, but their value isn't limited to just lead generation. Webinars can provide value across the entire sales cycle.
This presentation will consider the typical sales cycle - Needs, Discovery, Consideration, Decision and Review - and share insight on how to produce webinars specifically designed to help move prospects through each phase faster. We’ll discuss:
- What a webinar might look like in each phase
- Mapping webinar topics based on existing customer personas
- Examples of B2B companies using these tactics successfully
22. Stage: Need
Format: on-demand, optimized for search
Core Message: acknowledge their need, offer advice or
best practices
Who’s the speaker: third party, internal “expert”,
industry thought leader
Call to Action: Learn how to… , download this eBook/
infographic/ white paper, visit our blog
#RTWebinar
@RTWebSem
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24. Example - Marketo
•
Optimized for keyword search – growth strategies,
Inc. 500
•
Awareness of need – how do we become a successful
company? how did these companies do it?
•
Educational – early in the buying process, not ‘salesy’
– just offering insight and thought leadership
•
Well known, respected presenters – industry name,
internal resource
#RTWebinar
@RTWebSem
24
28. Stage: Discovery
Format: Educational, Though Leadership (live or ondemand
Core Message: Here are some resources to help with
your next step
Who’s the speaker: Analyst, partners, credible industry
leader
Call to Action: Download this toolkit, visit our resource
page, sign up for another webinar
#RTWebinar
@RTWebSem
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30. Example - Compendium
•
Live event – ask our experts
content your questions
•
Awareness of need – you’re lacking
content, we’ll help you figure out
how to create more
•
Informational – still early in the
buying process, still not selling,
providing more resources, how-to’s
•
Well known, respected presenters
– industry expert, internal resource
#RTWebinar
@RTWebSem
30
35. Stage: Consideration
Format: Testimonial, use case
Core Message: A live case study - here is how we (the
customer) have used this feature and here are the benefits.
Who’s the speaker: Customer or partner
Call to Action: Sign up for a demo
#RTWebinar
@RTWebSem
35
40. Stage: Decision
Format: Demo, specific need addressed, proof to back it
up
Core Message: Implementation, here’s how to get
started
Who’s the speaker: Internal expert (marketing/product,
training, sales)
Call to Action: Sign up for free trial, use us before you
buy to gain confidence in your decision
#RTWebinar
@RTWebSem
40
47. Stage: Review
Format: Onboarding webinar, on-going training (live or
on-demand)
Core Message: How to use us better, customer focused,
brand loyalty
Who’s the speaker: Internal (training/marketing)
Call to Action: Sign up for the next training or newsletter
with tips/best practices on how to utilize the product
#RTWebinar
@RTWebSem
47
We are trying to help you avoid delivering webinars and presentations that turn the audience off. Since most webinars use Powerpoint as their content container, we’ll talk a lot about Powerpoint - who among us has not been the victim of “death by Powerpoint”? It doesn’t have to be that way.The bigger issue is presenting skill. Just because a person is a subject matter expert doesn’t make that person a good presenter. It’s unfortunate when a lack of communications skills (that’s really what these are) derail good ideas and innovative concepts. The presenter and the presentation materials shouldn’t get in the way of communicating. In fact, it should be that the skills enhance the communication.Presenting skills are not something you’re born with or without. Everyone can learn them and become a more effective presenter. That’s what our presentation is about today.
Let’s start by considering the anatomy of a presentation. There are three main components:The Content: this is certainly the information you wish to communicate, but it must be crafted specifically for an audience. We could have added the audience as a fourth component, but it suffices to say that audience is a key consideration and we put it here, in the Content section.The Medium: the channel, method and tools used to deliver the presentation. Today, we’re using two mediums: a webinar and Powerpoint.The Delivery: the presenter and the way he or she delivers the Content through the presentation Medium.
Before we dive in to the anatomical components of a presentation, let’s look at some combinations and the outcomes they produce.1. I think everyone can agree that having a bad set of content delivered by someone with poor presentation skills is a non-starter. No one wants to be in the room for this presentation.2. It’s a bit more interesting when the content is bad, but the presenter is good. I’ve seen good presenters make up for a lot of bad content. In fact, you even admire the skill of a presenter that can overcome bad content. In my book, it’s less impressive to have good content spoiled by poor presentation. But we can probably all agree that either of these outcomes is preferable to the first combination I presented.3. What is ideal, and what we’re talking about today is how to not only have good content, but good presentation. This combination produces the best retention, makes the strongest impression and results in the most favorable outcomes. And, these are the kinds of presentations we would choose to attend.To achieve this outcome, we must focus on content, medium and delivery.
Let’s start by looking at the content component of presentations. This quote reinforces a principle, that when violated, can really wreck the effectiveness of your content, and that is trying to create a set of content that appeals to every possible audience.
This quote comes from none other than that classic rocker and marketing communications consultant, Gene Simmons. When we’re creating presentation content, we need to live by his words, which means that we have to start the content development process by understanding the audience for the content and the presentation.
If the goal of your presentation is to appeal to everyone, you’re probably going to fail. To communicate effectively, we have to know our audience:This begins with who they are. Having a demographic understanding of the audience is fine, but psychographic understanding is even better: how do they think? What do they feel? Put your consultative sales hat on and find out what their needs are, what information do they seek? Your content will find a fast path to understanding it if addresses their needs.
The medium is the presenter’s tool or channel for conveying the content. The medium is important, yet, it isn’t the fault of the medium if your presentation is poor. At the same time, the medium it’s important to choose the right medium for your audience.The 2013 content marketing benchmark report for North America was recently issued, and it provides some good insight into effective mediums:It’s no surprise to me that in person events are ranked at the top. Most of us, if we have a mission to persuade or inform, would do this in person if we could.Case studies are effective forms of content that you can deliver through several mediumsWebinars are ranked third. I recently blogged about this for ReadyTalk – I encourage you to visit ReadyTalk.com/blog to see this post. These rankings are helpful as you consider what medium works best to convey your content to your audience. As you select a medium, you should also consider factors like the size of the audience, the venue and even technical considerations. Choose the medium that will best convey your content, not the one you’re most familiar with.
In the mid 1960s, Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase, “the medium is the message” to tell us how influential the medium is. It is true that the choice of medium has an influence on how the message is received.
As presenters, we understand that the medium is a critical success factor.The medium has a symbiotic relationship with the message, meaning it should help communicate our content, not hinder its communication.
The proper choice of a medium serves to amplify and project our content, not obscure or interfere with it in any way.
(Read slide text)Here’s what you should remember about presenting: if the materials and the presenter say the same thing, then one of the two is redundant. Granted, it’s okay to read some things to the audience – such as a quote – but to consistently read off the slides will just frustrate your audience.Ideally the presenter is the color commentator to the slides, adding helpful and useful detail.
Lincoln was a secondary speaker the day he dedicated the cemetery at the Gettysburg battlefield. He followed the main attraction, an orator named Edward Everett, who gave a 13,607 word address that took two hours, and which no one talks about today, except as a bad example. Lincoln, in just over two minutes, eloquently summarized the war and the cause for which the Union was fighting in 10 sentences, delivering in his own words, “just a few appropriate remarks”.Lest we think what Lincoln did was easy, there’s a good chance that it took Lincoln longer to craft his 10 sentences than it did for Everett to write his 13,000 word speech. But the results, as history shows us, are memorable.
The ideal rate of speech is between 140 and 160 words per minute. When we present, sometimes factors influence this speed. Nerves or time pressure often cause a presenter to speed up, making speech difficult to discern.
Format – on demand, easy to access and optimized for SEO – Corporate Executive Board statistic that today’s buyer doesn’t engage with sales until they are 57% of the way into the buying process. So they’ve done their homework. buyers are doing their own research beforehand so you want to know what keywords/phrases they’re searching forAnd can you offer advice on these words? Start building those into your abstractsCore message - you may or may not know if they are a potential buyer yet – you’re giving a message for the ‘good of _____ community’ (marketing, business exec, tech, etc)Here are some issues to condsider, Like Jerry said. And here is what we know about solving them. Establishing your expertise.CTA – you’re offering additional resources, this is not a sales pitch or demo
Marketo is a marketing auotmation platform, similar to Eloqua or Pardot. They are also customers of both Demand Metric and ReadyTalkProduce a TON of content for the marketing buyer so they are establishing themselves as a thought leader in the marketing space (content/automation/lead gen)Webinars are a part of their resource page, they have an entire library of past and upcoming events.This one that I’ve highlighted in red is speaking to how a company might get on the Inc500 list and giving us two real examples – so a person registering for this event isn’t necessarily looking for marketing automation but they do want to know what kind of successful best practices Inc500 companies use and I can almost guarantee you that the majority of these kinds of companies have implemented some sort of marketing automation platform. So Marketo has identified a an “in” point to talk to this audience.
What does this prospect want to know – how to become a successful company, make Inc 500 list. Is there a way our product (marketing automation) could help them achieve that goal – absolutely. Am I going to try and sell them something w/ this presentation – absolutely not. Just want to make them aware of how my company and another industry leader have accomplished this benchmark.At some point a successful b2b company will likely look for a marketing automation platform – I am creating brand awareness, offering advice - but not selling. Your advice is built around your understanding of what customers must know to advance to the next stage of the sales cycle, ideally with a favorable impression of your brand. (Jerry’s blog)Go over bullets -
Sometimes, nervousness will cause a presenter to slow down. Either way, the audience is likely to pick up on it and it becomes a distraction.There’s no substitute for practice and experience when it comes to the speed of your delivery. The difficult thing is that the presenter usually has a blind spot where this is concerned. What helps is to have an ally in the back of the room (or otherwise listening in if it is a webinar) that can monitor your speed and cue you to speed up or slow down.
Who will disagree that engaging your audience is important? What exactly does this mean? In my experience, it is interaction through whatever means available to attempts to create a two-way communication experience, or at least tests the interest and comprehension of the audience.This is much easier to do in live, in-person presentations, where you can see the audience, make eye contact, invite participation, ask questions, observe body language, etc. It’s not impossible, however, to do this in webinars. Voice inflection, the use of interactivity features, such as polls or Q&A features, can all help you engage with your audience.
Format – very educational, you’re providing valuable thought leadership – NOT a sales pitch, still earlyCore message – here are some additional resources to help you start narrowing down your choicesSpeaker – third party/valid perspective that again will help them start to make a short list, partners can kind of play a role of and outside view but also give you an extra bump in promotion (especially if it’s a well recognized company)CTA – download more resources – like a case study (maybe you can collect some additional info on them), visit X page for more tools, sign up for another webinar.
Compendium is a content management and blogging /editorial calendar platform founded by Chris Baggot who also founded ExactTargetHere is an example of a couple webinars they’ve put on, one is a live event format the other is an on-demand webinar.Again both are very educational topics – not directly related to their product platform but related to what their product can manage (Content) and can eventually be tied back to their product by providing thought leadership in the space.Keywords – to put in your abstract : highly informative, overview of trends, sharing data
Speakers– Jay Baer (author, content expert) / Chris Baggot founder of two very successful content management companiesFree, intriguing Telling you “how to” - still not selling, giving resources and advice
A great strategy to keep a webinar audience engaged is the use of two presenters. Having different voices breaks up the audio landscape a bit and helps keep attendees in listen mode!
Format – build some credibility here, lower their decision risk like Jerry said – “social trust”Core message – here is some insight/success factors and hopefully you find it helpful in your decision process – perceive the vendor as reliable and the differentiators Speaker – customer, not over salesy just gives the facts – partners can also be good for this because they have a vested interest in you doing well also (next example)CTA – next steps, sign up for a demo – download our checklist or competitor comparison grid.
Exampl is NewsGator they are an enterprise social networking software for Sharepoint , integrated social computing platform (RSS reader, social sites, etc)Speaker – Customer > American family and This webinar is going to Show us they used social to drive CommunicationHighlighted key works – how you can use it, AmFam did just that (action), Takes us on a tour All messaging for a live case study – here is our customer and they are going to give an example of how they used our tools successfully in order to validate our messageTrustable resource/thought leader – Corporate Publications manager at AmFam – oversees 18k employees in their social media efforts so she’s got credibility
As we have done today, using polls in webinars is effective for pulling attendees into the dialogue, and the polls provide valuable context for both the attendees and the presenter.
It’s best if a presentation is not just a dry delivery of facts and data. Stories are powerful mechanisms for connecting with an audience, creating context, and grabbing attention.Stories that illustrate the messages and provide examples are very helpful when it comes to making a point. Quite often, the audience remembers the stories that accompany a presentation, even when the other content is forgotten, so choose and use stories that help convey your messages.
The purpose of a business presentation is not to deliver a stand-up comedy routine, but delivering information in an entertaining way is to everyone’s advantage. Much in the same way that stories make an impression, having an entertaining presentation boosts retention and audience satisfaction. There’s always the question of taste here: my advice is to know your audience. Your primary goal should always be to inform, not to get a laugh, but when you can mix humorous anecdotes, jokes or illustrations that help you connect with your audience, their receptivity to your message increases – they will want to listen to you. But, be warned – offending their sensibilities will have the opposite effect. Use good judgment and keep your priority to inform.
Format – Demo, address specific need related to product – proof on why it worksCore message – again assure them why implementing is the next best step, get started and start seeing these resultsSpeaker – Internal expert (maybe someone who helped design/create the product idea), sales (higher up/VP), training – external expert in the space (next example)CTA – Need a little extra assurance? Sign up for free trial (maybe an extended on as like a webinar special offer – 60 days instead of 30 etc)We’re so sure of our product we’re going to offer you an added bonus.
ExactTarget is a SaaS company that provides digital marketing resources for marketing teams to optimize email/social/mobile/websiteThey do a great job in their resource center of listing different types of “tools” you can access before/after you’re a customer. This orange one indicates their “Solutions Webinar Series” that speaks to obviously a solution – here’s what we have that will solve your pain point, this one is an on-demand format
Just highlighting some of the points in the abstractIt’s based on a study done by an expert in the space (assurance)Two internal experts (director of product/ deliverability) they KNOW the product and why its effective, Plus the external expertLearn how to – they are telling you how solve your problem of email deliverability success or failure, they’ll walk you through the process of how their product helps in that area
Just screen shots from the presentation:Presented a case study to validate the problem or issues they want to fixShow you a couple screen shot from the actual tool – dashboards, etc (again assurance, see it in action)
Calls to Action –Download report (extensive information/proof)Sign up for a certification course (this is what you’ll have access to after you’re a customer – see the benefits)Join a peer group that you can share best practices – so not only do you get a tool, you get an expert community
Format – if the goal of these is to help train or provide use tips/support, it can be a live event (maybe the same day each week – I’ll show you an example in a second like that) or on demand so they can access on their schedule.Core message – similar to Jerry’s previous slide, customer focused – how can you use better and how can we create stickiness or brand loyalty by providing you with these types of trainingsSpeaker – who is the expert on this particular topic internally use them (often training or marketing), this could also be a customer example that you’ve invited to share how they use the tool successfully to spark new ideasCTA – come back and do this again (next training, next session in series), sign up for some additional resources (maybe a newsletter that you have a specific section for this type of info)
Kapost is a Content Management Platform (marketing cal, workflow, analytics) / readytalk customer and this is an example of their webinar series like I mentioned before – it’s the same day each week, they created a hashtag, keep them coming back for more – create stickinessThey state the goal of these events are to share various content marketing BPs and then how to accomplish your goals with them now that you’re a customer and using their tool.
The description is mapping out what task you’re trying to accomplish – building and analyzing the content grid within KapostThe presenter has created an agenda so its very clear as to what will be covered during the time so you know you’re attending the right event to solve your specific needThey dive into the actual platform during the webinar to give you a hands-on feel of where you’ll need to go to do whatNotice it’s recorded to people can come back to this to review
Last example is HubSpot – assuming most people are familiar with HubSpot but they are a marketing software, kind of “one-stop-shop” for inbound and outbound marketing tools with a little bit of marketing automation mixed in. Produce MASS amounts of content – most of you have probably received something from them at some pointSo they have this Academy, just like what it sounds – provides tools/content for you to get better at your job, via all sorts of mediums – webinars being one of those, they have these #inboundlearning webinars
They also give you an idea of what to expect with the type of webinar you signed up for (beginner/intermediate/advanced)Here they tell us what these webinars are for – designed for marketing who are familiar with inbound marketing and Hubspot’s software (customers) but still need to build up their “resume” on how to actually execute those strategies using Hubspot – give their customers more resources and actionable takeaways to implementAgain – archived for convenient access
To summarize:Start with content and the audience that your contents seeks to inform. Build your content around a core message.
Let the audience and venue determine the medium. Be prepared to use different mediums in different situations. Provide visual interest in your presentation materials, but not too much!
As presenter, make sure you and your materials are not redundant. Your goal should be to engage, inform and lastly, entertain.If you follow these practices when creating and delivering webinars and presentations, you’re sure to be judged favorably!
Before we leave you, Simone and I wanted to share information about some tools that can help you put together an effective webinar program. Demand Metric, which is a marketing advisory firm that also provides marketing tools & templates, has collaborated with ReadyTalk to create a series of tools to help you plan, assess, manage and track your webinar programs.Simone to share more… I’ll tell them about the Topic Mapping tool that they will get in the post-event email and then where to also access the full toolkit if they’re interested