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If you've ever produced a Webinar, you know a ton of effort's required.
So it's hugely disappointing when a mere handful of attendees show up.
Marketo's resident blogger Andrew Spoeth recommends these five ways to boost attendance of your next Webinar:
Give attendees access to the speaker. In your promotions, emphasize that attendees can chat with the speaker. And encourage them to send questions to the speaker in advance.
Hold a drawing. The promise of a prize can be the incentive that turns a registrant into an attendee. Offer an item related to the topic, such as a book.
Help attendees connect with other attendees. Have a Twitter chat after the Webinar or invite attendees to join a LinkedIn group.
Make an exclusive offer. Provide an e-book or special report that's available only to attendees after the Webinar.
Phone ahead. A pre-recorded "reminder" sent automatically to registrants will increase attendance.
New research by IBM indicates business executives hold some false beliefs about social media:
- According to the study, 70 percent of executives think their organizations will be “out of touch” if they don’t engage customers through social media. But 55 percent of customers say they don’t engage with brands at all through social media.
- Of the 45 percent of customers who engage with brands, 66 percent say they must feel the organization is communicating honestly before they’ll interact. But 33 percent of executives feel lukewarm about transparency.
- Executives think “getting discounts” and “purchasing products” are the two least likely reasons customers engage with brands through social media. But customers say these are the two most likely reasons.
- Executives are three times more likely than customers to think customers want to be part of an online “community.” Customers want to interact when it’s to their direct benefit.
The researchers urge executives to think like customers. “Recast social interaction strategies to focus on giving customers the value they seek and the customer intimacy will come,” they suggest.
Most event planners focus exclusively on the “onsite experience.”
But a few savvy ones integrate that experience into a series of encounters that begin long before, says event planning expert Jeff Hurt. These include:
Videos. Savvy planners produce a series of pre-event videos that promote features like the headquarters hotel and keynote speaker. The videos include testimonials from attendees.
YouTube. These planners post the videos on a branded page.
Blogs. Savvy planners blog weekly (and more frequently as the event draws near). Guest posts are contributed by speakers, event committee members and the host city’s mayor.
Crowdsourced content. Savvy planners use social media to solicit suggestions for speakers’ topics and ask attendees to vote for or against them.
Webinars. Savvy planners contract with speakers to provide pre-event Webinars. Positive word-of-mouth about the Webinars helps generate attendees for the face-to-face event.
Radio stations. Savvy planners create a radio station and produce interviews with speakers, event committee members and representatives of the host city.
Video FAQs. These produce a video that answers common questions and share it through social networking sites.
“I’m Attending” badges. Savvy planners create digital badges that attendees can embed on their Facebook pages. The badges can link to the event’s Website.
Are you prepared for a social media crisis?
In the event of one, Jay Baer and Amber Naslund, in The Now Revolution, recommend these eight steps:
Acknowledge the crisis. Right at the onset, let customers and social media onlookers know you’re not asleep at the wheel.
Fight fire with fire. It’s imperative to communicate through the vehicle where the crisis started. If it broke out on Twitter, respond first on Twitter.
Apologize. If you made a mistake and want the healing process to begin quickly, start with “We’re sorry.”
Create an FAQ. List the prominent inquiries about the crisis and provide your responses, even if you don’t have complete answers to every question. Update the document in real time.
Build a pressure-relief valve. Open your blog to comments and your Facebook page to discussions. Consider creating a dedicated discussion forum.
Know when to take it off line. Engage people who are extremely upset off line. You can usually reduce the toxicity.
Arm your army. Provide your team with the same information you provide the public. Often, communication professionals are so busy during a crisis they fail to keep employees in the loop.
Learn your lessons. Once the crisis has abated, document it, so you reconstruct and learn from your response.
Are you struggling to get new customers and keep old ones?
In his book The New Experts, adman Robert Bloom offers seven ways to build customer preference in a pitiless world where "buyers no longer care who they buy from."
Benefit. First and foremost, you must offer your customer an immediate, personal advantage that's different from the ones offered by competitors. It must be real and "cannot be something that the customer considers trivial."
Website. No matter your business, besides a benefit, an easy-to-use Website is today's single most powerful buying influence.
Likability. As salespeople know, customer preference is also about likability. Customers seldom buy from someone they can't stand.
Trust. One of the most powerful buying influences, trust (unlike likability) takes time and sincerity to build.
Guarantee. Warranties provide a form of trust, but the key to them is simplicity. Complex guarantees backfire.
Best option. Customer preference can stem from a tiny detail that makes your business the best choice. You're always on time. You're always courteous. Your'e always neat. You're always cheerful.
Brand. Preference can boil down to what your brand says about your customer. "I feel respected as a client." "I feel good when I buy green." "I feel elegant when I shop there."
Now for the best news: it isn't easy, but any organization, of any size, "can create customer preference with big ideas and small ones."
