Webinars: here, there and everywhere

Webinars are everywhere. I think last week alone, I have received somewhere between 15 to 20 invitations. Webinars seem to really fit in with the way people now make decisions—they want to do the research to educate themselves first and then ask questions. But, with such oversaturation of this medium, what are the best uses for webinars?

An overwhelming trend is the development of webinars, demos and case studies to complement business-to-business marketing activities. We are finding that this form of marketing can help act a surrogate to the sales process but also can be used for lead cultivation and relationship building. Most sales organizations want individualized control over the communications their prospects will receive, but they generally “love” excuses to communicate with people.

Demos are the leading area that seem to have the greatest uncontested use for the webinar format. Users expect to find “how-to” content on the web in a self-serve format without having to pick up the phone. Whether it is a demo for lead generation purposes or a demo for ongoing customers/users, webinars seem to be key in the marketing/sales mix. We also are currently working on a resource analysis for a client to “prove in” that the webinar could reduce the need for certain FTEs. Sometimes the appropriate metric is the lift in leads, in this case it was cost reduction and using webinars provided all of the cost savings they needed.

Probably the greatest area we have seen gaining traction is with webinar-based case studies. I think it’s human nature to want to learn from others’ mistakes and successes. Case studies satisfy that basic human interest to know what others are doing. I am amazed by how simple or sophisticated the content can be executed. YouTube has made “raw” footage very acceptable. Many camps will argue that in the future, YouTube will be the most utilized searchable source of information sometime in the future. When video footage is out of reach, still shots with voiceover and music can often appear as interesting and engaging as video. And stock video can usually supplement the need for original footage.

Are you using webinars, and if so for what? Please go to my linkedin page  and take the webinar quiz. I will be reporting the results in a future blog.

The Funnel has Changed

The traditional sales funnel has changed, but does it still exist? In my mind, the answer is a definite “yes.” People still go through steps before jumping into a buying decision. The process however, is so much more fragmented than it was before. Information can be accessed through so many different sources.

From this standpoint, search engine marketing is directly related to social media, and other parts of the upfront part of the “funnel.” It’s undeniable that the majority of people search and seek out information as a first step in their purchase process. In an ideal world, we like to look at all the places a prospect or customer will seek information, to create the most comprehensive touch point plan. The process however needs to strongly consider direct and indirect channels.

This includes consideration of paid and unpaid media, and all places a prospect will gather information during their initial process. Technology and analytics help us determine what all the appropriate sites are that need to be considered, however it generally takes more than one data source. Generally, we use a combination of web analytics, search engine analytics and our social media monitoring platform to create the comprehensive picture.

We recently worked with a client that focused on their paid search engine marketing efforts but didn’t consider their organic search or what other sites were influencing prospects opinions of them. We explained to this company that:

• In focusing only on paid search, they were ignoring their organic search, which meant that they were not maximizing the relationship the two have with each other (I will talk more about this relationship in a future post)
• That users consider multiple avenues in doing their research; therefore, it is essential to identify paid and non-paid outlets, including social media outlets
• Organic search has a high level of credibility and needs to be the touch point map design
• Content is king, and therefore educational and thought leadership content will help complete the circle and deliver a vehicle to drive engagement leading to the next stage of the “funnel”
• Even though their brand isn’t always the focal point of discussion, their category does have some discussion that could be influenced

Using our social media monitoring platform and search engine data we were quickly able to identify the sites that have the greatest traction and areas of opportunity. In designing the touch point map, it turns out only a handful of sites currently drove the majority of the traffic, which in turn drove the focus of our plan. Even where the breadth is greater, we are able to easily isolate which sites have the greatest presence, priority and require the greatest investment. A great example of how combining analytics and behavior helped deliver a streamlined and effective contact strategy and plan.

More to come on analytics, the changing funnel and information harnessing in future blogs. I would love to hear your thoughts so please feel free to comment below.