B2B Lead Generation Webinar Objectives And Targeted Audiences
Imagine that someone told you that you'd be required to compete in a major race 6 months from now—either an endurance swim or a marathon—but you have no idea which of the two it'll be.
How would you prepare? Faced with 2 events that require significantly different training and preparation, you'd have no way to effectively practice for either. You could choose one and hope you chose correctly, but if you make the wrong choice, you could come home worse for the wear.
Approaching your next live webinar without a clear idea of your end goal would lead to a similar outcome. Hosting a business webinar requires time and detailed planning, from determining its topic to designing the slide graphics to determining technical details. All of that will prove trivial, though, if the webinar doesn't support your end goals.
Without a clear idea of what you'd like to achieve [1] and which audience you need to address [2], you will likely get lost in the details and end up with disappointing results. But if you begin by focusing on these 2 things, you'll be well on your way to hosting a successful business webinar.
Set Your Targets And Webinar Objectives First
Well-defined webinar objectives provide you with a road map for it. Start by determining what your company's broader objectives are at the moment, and go from there.
Once you've identified that broader set of goals, you will be able to set specific targets. Remember that different webinar objectives require different approaches.
Think of it this way: If you're aiming to educate your audience, you'd likely saturate your presentation with data or information that showcases your knowledge. If you're building an email list, though, you'll want to share the success stories of other eLearning users who use your email content as a key part of what they do.
Because your goals should shape your planning, you need to know your webinar objectives early. While this demands more of your time at the outset, beginning with clear goals will prevent wasting any time preparing a live webinar that doesn't actually serve your business needs.
Whatever your goals are, be sure you make them SMART [3]: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. Don't be content with vaguely defined targets that won't deliver real value to your business right now. Reach for more.
Identify Your Audience
Defining your webinar objectives will only get you halfway, though. You also have to know your audience, and that involves having a full understanding of your various buyer personas and the different stages in the buying process.
A buyer persona is an in-depth description of your ideal customer. Is your persona someone at a small company implementing a basic Learning Management System or someone at a major corporation in need of a multifaceted eLearning system? Are employees digital natives or not? Answers to these and other questions will help shape the details of your webinar [4].
As you define the persona, or personas, of your particular audience, pay special attention to the daily challenges and problems these people face. For instance, if you identify that they are experiencing difficulties with employee training and development, show them how the LMS you offer will alleviate those issues.
Keep in mind, however, that even if you find 3 buyers with the same persona and pain points, it's possible that you could meet them at 3 different points in their buying journey [5].
Let's say your first buyer is in the awareness stage—he has noticed a need or problem and is looking for a solution. Your second buyer is in the consideration stage, and after discovering some options, she is weighing the choices in front of her. Finally, your third buyer is in the decision stage and is ready to choose and implement a solution.
These buyers need radically different content because they're looking for radically different things. While the first one would need general educational material, the second is ready to engage with content that highlights your product or service. The third is ready for a brand-specific and sales-oriented business webinar.
Knowing both the buyer stages and the personas allows you to cater your session directly to the needs of your audience.
Specify Segments
While it would be simpler if your entire audience fit one persona, it will likely consist of several, which also means there won't be just one webinar approach that will work for everyone. This is where segmentation comes in.
Segmentation is simply breaking your audience down into smaller groups that you can target with certain messages. This is particularly necessary for a B2B setting [6], where companies of various sizes serve vastly different customers.
Consider customer behavior patterns that reveal whether customers are driven by price, quality, service, or other factors at the start. Knowing these preferences can help you create more relevant distinctions and increase the accuracy of your targeting, thus having more focused webinar objectives.
Remember that when you're segmenting, you're trying to determine a few key audiences, not a million different ones. Differences between the segments should be meaningful and easily defined. If you find that the same message [7], like "Our service will save you thousands in annual training costs," works for multiple audience segments, share it with each other.
Once you have a few clearly defined segments, you can decide which is the right one to target for your business webinar. Which of these most closely fits the business webinar objectives you defined earlier in the process, and which has the greatest potential?
When you can answer those questions, tailor your content to ensure your live webinar will attract and connect with your audience effectively.
Webinars are an immensely effective tool that can help you achieve your business goals and connect with your audience. Once you determine exactly who is in that audience, you'll be ready to plan and execute your business webinar successfully.
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] Agnes Joswiak, Are You Setting Goals As Part Of Your Webinar Planning?
[2] Agnes Joswiak, Identifying The Needs Of Your Audience For Webinar Presentations
[3] Webinar Press, Setting Webinar Goals And Objectives
[4] Craig Rosenberg, Webinars: The Ultimate Guide To Producing World-Class Online Events
[5] Christopher Pappas, 6 Tips to Use Buyer Personas To Create Content Marketing For Your LMS Company
[6] Paul Hague & Matthew Harrison, Market Segmentation In B2B Markets
[7] Philip Gavrilakis, 5 Keys For Finding The Right Target Audience For Your eBook
