by tradesmeninsights | May 26, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
We have used webinars successfully for several years now to promote new services and to share industry information and trends. They are a great tool to get the message out to many people at one time, and then you have the ability to archive them for people to come and view at their leisure.
Webinars are effective, and to get the most bang for your buck, you really need to cross the T’s and dot the I’s. There’s a lot that goes into a successful webinar starting with the topic itself. You need to give the professional tradesmen something they can take and make their own.
Andrew Spoeth from Marketo recently had an interesting post, How to Manage Successful Webinars: A Checklist that has several good points that you may want to look at.
I’m going to outline my top 10 tips on ways to improve your webinars:
- Build a great landing page – Clearly state your value proposition up front so the reader can see what’s in it for him.
- Set the time for the webinar outside of normal business hours – Let’s face it, these contractors have to make a living and they have crews to supervise. Consider doing a webinar later in the day, say around 4 PM. That way a contractor may have some of his tradesmen also sit in on the session. It’s better to inconvenience you than your customer.
- Registration form – Make it easy and don’t ask 20 questions in order for them to sign up.
- Give them an option of getting a copy of the slides without attending the actual webinar – In the world of contractors, shit happens and they may not be able to attend. This will get you their contact info for further follow-up.
- Use Social media – Both in the actual sign-up form so they can invite their friends, but also use it to promote the event.
- Promote – You need to build a schedule and build a good series of reasons why these tradesmen need to attend.
- Get your sales force and distributors involved – Have them pass out postcard size flyers when making calls and talk it up. If a distributor does a monthly newsletter or has a site, have him put it on there as a co-sponsor. You do all the work and he shares in the credit.
- Practice, practice, practice – Try to keep the presentation 20-30 minutes long and allow time for questions even though they may be via e-mail.
- Design a follow-up e-mail– Have yourself graded on the topic, how it was presented and what they might like as future topics.
- Get those names out to your sales force and distribution network for follow-up – Everyone should have at least had a phone message within a week.
Those are my thoughts. The key to a successful webinar is good planning.
If you like this post, you may want to read:
Webinars: Tips on How to Promote using E-mail.
Why Webinars are a Good Marketing Tool to Reach the Tradesman
by tradesmeninsights | Sep 1, 2010 | Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing, Uncategorized
For those of you who are constantly trying to measure ROI on your Advertising/Marketing budgets, things fall short when you can’t say for sure what happened to all those leads you turned over to the sales force. We’re having a free webinar on September 14th at 2 PM EST and you can sign up here.
Here are some highlights:
- Most companies let new business opportunities slip through their fingers… and don’t know it!
- Recent studies found that some 80% of website visitor inquiries are ignored. Earlier studies found that 67% of inquirers are real prospects, yet 72% never hear from a salesperson.
- In this webinar, you will learn how to maximize the sales opportunities in every lead and maximize the return on your marketing investment.
- Learn how to follow-up on all leads quickly, affordably and effectively, how to improve follow-up effectiveness in the field, and how to implement easy-to-use tools to measure results.
by tradesmeninsights | Nov 25, 2009 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
Webinars are a good way to mix up the way you deliver your message to tradesmen. They allow you to set yourself apart as an expert, gives you visibility, credibility and immediate feedback on your topic. They take a lot of work, but if done right will reap you benefits for a long time. You can also repurpose them as webcasts and put them on your web site so the contractors can view them at their leisure. Here are some tips on how to make sure your Webinar is successful:
- Pick a timely subject – You want to not only be topical but timely with what you pick as a topic. Remember, one of your objectives is to be a thought leader.
- Make sure you address “what’s in it for them.” How will your new tool or process help them do their job better.
- Promote it both pre- and post-event – Make the most out of it by using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and any groups you belong to, to generate interest and sign ups. Promote it to your customer and potential lists, as well as through any trade organization or association. After the event, convert it to a Webcast and put it on your web site.
- Keep it to no more than an hour. My rule of thumb is keep your presentation to ideally 30 minutes, but no more than 40, and leave the rest of the time for questions. Also, when appropriate, add some humor. Tell a joke or show a cartoon to help illustrate your point.
- Don’t try to put 10 lbs. into a 5 lb. bag – If you have that much info, break it up into 2 Webinars. Remember, people can only retain so much info, so make your point and then deliver on it.
- Keep audience engaged by taking little surveys throughout the presentation. This not only gives them a reason to stay engaged, it gives you a moment to get ready for the next point.
- Practice, Practice, Practice – This might be the most important point of all. Remember, you’re trying to come off as the “expert” and you don’t want to stumble through the presentation. Prepare and give it to some co-workers or friends and listen to their critiques. You need to be upbeat and engaging in order to keep the audience from clicking off.
Webinars are not hard to do, but they do take time. Don’t be intimidated. You can do a simple Power Point presentation. Remember, content is the important factor here, not some slick graphics or flash presentation.
by tradesmeninsights | Oct 7, 2009 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
I recently put on a Webinar on how social media could be used by B-to-B, and one of the most common questions is what tools should I use? Should I concentrate on Facebook, LinkedIn or is Twitter the best for me? When I ask them why are they doing social media, I get a silent pause. One of the first things we talk about is the “Why” you want to participate in the social media scene. If you can’t answer the Why, then the How doesn’t matter. Don’t get into social because you think it’s cool or that this will be the “silver bullet” that will save your business. You need to treat social like any other marketing program. Define expectations and outcomes. Adopt a phased approach to meet these business objectives. Here are some questions to answer to better understand your goals:
- Why are you participating?
- How can social media improve your customer relations?
- Can social media help you build/reinforce your brand?
- Do your current customers use social and which sites do they frequent?
- How do you define success?
- What kind of metrics are you going to set in place to monitor your success?
- How can social media help you gain more knowledge?
- What kind of social media policy do you have in place?
Like any other program, success is based on developing a plan and then implementing it. If you want to be cool and hip, do your homework and you’ll find out that people respond when you have a plan.
What are your thoughts?
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 16, 2009 | Marketing Trends
I recently attended a webinar where the key speaker, Roy Young, President of MarketingProfs, shared key findings from the study on trends and spending strategies for B-to-B marketers. Highlights include:
- Reduced budgets
- Marketers are sharpening their focus
- New media is on the rise
- Emphasis is particularly strong for search marketing, webinars, emails and company web sites
- Digital and traditional tactics are being woven into an integrated marketing program
The implications are a trend toward the adoption of digital tactics, which started before the economic crisis, but have been accelerated by B-to-B marketers having to do more with less. Marketers have found that buyers want to be in control. The seller’s success depends on engagement and trust.
The study represented a broad range of B-to-B clients in both small, medium and large categories. While traditional tactics still remained the dominant player in 2007 and 2008, 2009 budget tactics now were including more of the social media mix.
To read the entire study, B-to-B marketing in 2009: Trends in Strategies and Spending
