Marketing WilesUsing Wiles to Market Your Brand

With the constant push for everything online, it is only natural that product training seminars or brand demonstrations have moved to the web.  According to Webopedia, a webinar is a web-based seminar, presentation, lecture, or workshop that is transmitted over the web.  But webinars are much more than that.  They are a cost effective way to communicate your brand visually and audibly to potential customers that you may not have been able to reach in a traditional person-to-person fashion.

Typically, a webinar combines a visual element, such as a PowerPoint or picture show, and an audio element such as the voice of the speaker heard over the phone or computer.  A third element can be introduced in webinars and that is of ‘audience feedback’.  Within a webinar the presenter usually has the option to have a Q&A session with the listeners allowing for feedback and an open dialog on the webinar topic.  This is especially helpful in complex training webinars where the topic may need further explanation to be understood.

What are some ways to market your brand/product using webinars?

• Choose a relevant and interesting topic to entice. You have to entice people to come.  Just like with your website, if the content isn’t useful, people will not come.  Choose a topic that both appeals to an audience and reflects your brand or company strategy.  Make sure the speaker is well versed and really adds some flair to the presentation. No one likes to sit still for 3 minutes, let alone 30 or more, listening to a hum-drum speaker.  If the speaker is reading directly from a paper, the listeners will know.  Look for someone who entices, excites, and engages.

• Capitalize on the webinars by building your brand awareness. You have an audience.  You have their attention.  Take the time to really showcase your brand and company.  Highlight benefits and things that show your brand is a leader in its industry.  Show its innovating qualities, not to mention all the benefits they could receive as consumers.

• Expand your Market. Use the webinar to reach niches or groups you may have not been able to reach in a typical person-to-person setting.  If you run your business 9-5 and host trainings only during those hours, then you may miss out on all the people who work at those hours or may not be able to attend.  By having after hour webinars or pre-recorded webinars for download you may be able to reach those you have been missing.  Additionally, if your market focus is Gen Y, then hosting webinars may appeal to their technical preferences and make them more likely to notice your brand.

• Market your company’s Green side! I personally think this point is a stretch thought up and spun by some of the webinar provider’s marketing teams, but it does air true so I have included it.  If your company hosts more web trainings then people are not forced to drive to a training and burn fuel.  Who doesn’t love a green company these days?  This can only build positive PR and who doesn’t like the warm fuzzy feelings you get when you participate in something green?  You can read more webinar green benefits at GreenICT.

With web based meetings you have the opportunity to reach hundred instead of a handful.   Additionally, think of how much it costs to run a physical meeting (room costs, AV rental, travel fees, food and beverage, etc.)?  With a webinar your main costs are what you pay to have a speaker (which are sunk costs and would be incurred anyways) and the small fee to use a webinar provider’s services.  If you are a corporation looking to share your brand with more people while cutting costs, then webinars may be a good solution.

Some of the more popular webinar service providers: Adobe Connect, Gotowebinar, and WebEx.

When selecting a provider be sure to keep the following considerations in mind:

Number of attendees allowed per webinar
Number of webinars (do you get unlimited webinars?)
Ability to run attendance reports post-webinar
Ability to record webinars (post to your website for people who missed it)
Ease of use (If you don’t get it, you won’t use it)
Mac AND PC usability (some services don’t work with Mac)
Ability to play audio over computer and/or phone line
Cost to call in to phone line (is the call number toll-free?)
Ability to brand the webinars (because you want them to not only sound good, but look good!)

Tags: marketing, webinar