I hear it said all the time, “Webinars, as lead generators, are dead!” But this, my friends, is a marketing myth! In general, every myth holds a grain of truth… and this myth definitely holds a bit more than a grain of truth. Let me explain.
The way online entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants, and course creators have been doing webinars in the past, is dead. However, the idea that a video-recorded training won’t grow your business is definitely a myth!
What’s the problem with webinars?
The way webinars have been done in the past might be considered a little old-fashion. Many were done using the “Bro-Marketing” approach – a whole lot of sales and very little content. And THAT is what is dead about webinars.
Additionally, over the course of the past two years, people have spent A LOT of time online doing Zoom calls and such. I’m sure you’ve heard the terms Zoomed out or Zoombie. This also introduces a need to be mindful of the length of a webinar.
So, what needs to change?
Here are the top five things we need to change when it comes to creating a webinar-based funnel:
1. Consider the name
Seriously, stop calling it a webinar! The word “webinar” is not sexy. It’s not something that someone wants to attend. Generally, nowadays, webinars are associated with something boring done in the corporate world and nobody wants to attend that! Webinars evoke the same emotions in many as meetings. It’s not fun.
Rather than calling it a webinar, in your marketing, rename it as a Masterclass, or training, or something that will entice your audience to come and learn!
2. Consider the length
How long is your training going to be? At this point, we’re all online a lot. We’re already doing a lot of Zoom calls and trainings. So, keeping the training as short as you can while still providing valuable and actionable information, is of the utmost importance.
Twenty-five minutes or less would be ideal. Do your best to not go over sixty minutes. I’m telling you right now, you’re going to have people bounce if you have a training that is longer than an hour. If your training needs to be longer than an hour, split it into two days.
3. Consider the format
Here’s the thing about past webinars… they were a sales-fest! People would set up a webinar, train for a few minutes on one topic, then spend the other 90% of the webinar pitching their product, service, or solution.
People are so tired of that format! When they sign up for a masterclass or a training, they expect to actually learn something useful. Flip the script on the old way of doing webinars. Instead of 10% training and 90% sales, do 90% training and 10% sales.
Listen to me – 90% of your webinar should be valuable content!
Keep your intro short too. The honest truth is, your attendees don’t care about your story. They care about the problem they have and if what you’re teaching can fix that problem. Then, keep the meat of your training at the beginning and only sell at the very end.
4. Consider adding pre-work
This is a newer idea that some of my clients are doing and it’s working really well. It sets the stage for the webinar, while also helping to grow excitement and buy-in.
Have your attendees fill out an assessment before attending the webinar and it will get them more focused, invested, and excited about what’s to come. Plus, if they’ve already put some work into it, they’ll be more likely to show up!
5. Leave them with action items
Make sure that, during the training, you are giving really actionable information. I mean items that your attendees can walk away from your training with and make immediate and positive changes to their life or business.
Be sure that your content will actually create a difference for those who attend. I’m talking about small wins that they can complete on their own. If they make small wins off of your free content, they will trust you and come back to you for your help implementing the larger shifts. This will help to establish you as the expert that they want to work with.
A pet peeve!
Please, please, please… stop trying to make people think your webinar is live if it’s prerecorded! We can tell! For real.