5 Tips For The Creation Of A Successful Webinar Funnel
There are countless data-driven tools available that have made it easier than ever for marketers to engage with consumers—but they can't do that well if they aren’t sure where consumers are in the buying journey [1]. Even the most engaging and insightful content will always miss the mark if it isn’t geared toward the right audience. The same happens when creating live webinars. You need to set your goals and objectives in order to reach the right buyer personas and lead them through the marketing funnel.
This above-mentioned disconnect comes when brands don’t understand their audience. But this understanding is essential when creating any form of content marketing—even more so when it comes to creating a webinar funnel. Optimization and foreseeing what is needed is key to creating live webinars that convert.
1. Funnel Your Live Webinars From Top to Bottom
Webinars are some of the most intricate forms of content marketing, and their value is higher because of it. They don’t just deliver a message. Much more than that, they offer valuable educational information and help you connect on a deeper, more meaningful level with your audience.
Nevertheless, webinars are only valuable when they're seen and engaged with. For that to happen, they have to be tailored to the audience's needs, so it's key to determine where in the buyer's journey your prospects are at any given moment—whether it be the top, middle, or bottom of the webinar funnel—and then create your live webinar based on that.
2. Top-Of-Funnel: Generate Awareness Through Your Live Webinar
For prospects at the top of the webinar funnel, your goal is to use your live webinar to capture the attention of your audience and position yourself as a knowledgeable, trustworthy thought leader. This will not only increase awareness of your brand but also generate interested leads you can guide through the webinar funnel [2]. In this stage more than any other, it’s critical to make your value clear.
Your audience will be at its broadest at the top of the webinar funnel, so you have to ensure the title and subject matter of your webinar are eye-catching. Self-promotion shouldn’t be part of your top-of-funnel strategy—your audience members won’t be willing to hear more from you if the first webinar they sit through comes off as one long commercial.
Top-of-funnel webinars are meant to be useful, so use them to give your audience the information it needs in an easily digestible format. Instead of making as much content as you can, make fewer webinars that each dives more deeply into specific topics, and make each one a blockbuster [3]. This way, your webinars will have a far greater impact on your audience and move them further down the webinar funnel from the top.
3. Middle-Of-Funnel: Present Your Expertise
Consumers in the middle of the webinar funnel are at the point where they've learned enough to be interested and are more sales-ready than those at the top [4]. At this stage, it's more appropriate to present your expertise in a promotional way, nurturing that sales interest with more specific information about the solutions you offer.
The middle of the webinar funnel is where sales and marketing come together, but keep in mind that your audience is still seeking information at this point. Because of this, make sure your middle-of-funnel webinars are focused on educating your audience [5], which will set you up to turn more of them into high-quality leads. Delve deeper into the information you introduced at the top of the webinar funnel, and emphasize how your solution can help.
Because middle-of-funnel audiences are already interested, it’s a good time to pair more detailed content [6] with your live webinar, like white papers and case studies. You’ve increased awareness and gained trust, which makes it possible to use your webinar and other content to guide them in the right direction.
4. Bottom-Of-Funnel: Demonstrate Your Solution
At the bottom of the webinar sales funnel is the smallest and most exclusive segment of your audience. These prospects are more than just interested—they are on board with your message, have identified you as a potential solution to their problem, and are ready to engage [7]. However, until they make a purchase or sign a contract, they haven’t decided on your solution just yet.
Consumers who’ve reached the bottom of the webinar funnel are the ones who will be the most receptive to your sales pitch. Map and follow your audience members’ journey all the way from the beginning to the end, understand exactly who they are and what they need, and then engage.
Use your live webinar to provide that demonstration and prove that your solution is the right solution. Tie back to the concerns and expertise you introduced to them in the previous phases of the webinar funnel, and be sure to include input from your sales team [8] when creating and distributing this content; they will know best whether your webinar will be a helpful tool for generating conversions.
5. Don't Forget Your Call-To-Action
Following this guidance on how to create a live webinar that aligns with the buyer journey will help you ensure the content is the most relevant and impactful it can be. Remember that as your prospects move from the top to the middle to the bottom of the webinar funnel, their transition between each phase is important too. Every good webinar ends with a strong, relevant Call-To-Action [9] for this reason. Keeping audience members engaged and giving them a reason to stay interested is key.
But just like your live webinar has to be tailored, so do these Calls-To-Action. Never end your top-of-funnel webinar with a call for consumers to buy something, for example. Instead, invite those prospects to your next webinar, offer them exclusive content, or ask them to take a short poll to determine how useful they found what you just presented.
Remember, live webinars only fulfill their potential if the right audience engages with them. Knowing that audience, where it is, and what it needs is the best way to make sure your webinars do exactly that. In other words, you need to choose your audience before planning the appropriate webinar.
Wondering how to create top-notch lead generation webinars? Download our eBook Creating Webinars That Convert: Complete Webinar Marketing Guide For eLearning Companies and discover how to identify potential partners for your B2B lead generation webinar, among other superb tips on business webinars.
References:
[1] Oracle, Matching Webinar Content To The Buying Cycle: Evaluation And Purchase Stages
[2] Birbahadur Singh Kathayat, Guiding B2B Prospects Through The Funnel With Webinars
[3] Amber Tiffany, 5 B2B Marketing Trends That Will Make You Rethink Your Webinar Strategy
[4] Taylor Freitas, How (And Why) To Use Webinars At Every Stage Of The Funnel
[5] Jacinda Santora, How To Nurture Leads With Mid Funnel Marketing: 8 Smart Tactics
[6] Erin Nelson, Everything You Need To Know About B2B Mid-Funnel Content
[7] Andrew Raso, How To Create Content For Every Stage Of The Buyer’s Journey
[8] Jimmy Daly, What Is Bottom Of The Funnel Content?
[9] Amber Tiffany, How to Get Your Webinar Audience To Take The Action You Want
