How To Convert Webinar Attendees Into Customers In 5 Easy Steps
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How To Convert Webinar Attendees Into Customers In 5 Easy Steps Presented by Sponsored by
Executive Summary:
Marketers tap a wide variety of communication and engagement channels to Progressive B2B marketing teams are
build relationships with prospects and customers. Webinars, in particular, are a establishing thought leadership and
Industry research shows a
great tool to compete in today’s buyer-driven market. Nearly half (46 percent) engaging with prospective buyers by using
25% increase in marketers’
of marketers surveyed cite webinars as a primary content marketing tactic, webinars as a channel to share information
according to the CMI and MarketingProfs report B2B Content Marketing: 2012 and advance purchase decisions. usage of webinars in 2012,
Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends. compared to 2011.
Webinars help marketers establish this
- B2B Content Marketing:
More marketing teams are realizing the significant value of webinars as part of necessary dialogue with prospective 2012 Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends,
an overall strategy, as the report also noted a 25 percent increase in marketers’ buyers and ultimately create that CMI and MarketingProfs
usage of webinars or webcasts in 2012, compared to 2011. relevant, valuable experience to offer
richer interactions that supersede the
As B2B organizations are increasingly challenged to get “permission” to interact
typical content offer.
with buyers, webinars offer a unique opt-in opportunity. A webinar registration is
in many ways a declaration of a prospect’s desire to engage and interact with a
Industry research shows that companies conducting multiple webinars per year find
solution or service provider.
them more effective in generating quality leads than those who conduct fewer
webinars, according to MarketingProfs, as nearly half (47 percent) of marketers
indicate that webinars are most effective in helping generate quality leads.
How To Convert Webinar Attendees Into Customers In 5 Easy Steps • 2
“Looking back at my 20+ years of B2B marketing experience, I would consider This E-book will highlight 5 steps to successfully convert
webinars as one of my top three most effective lead-generation tactics,” noted
webinar attendees into customers:
Kelly J. Waffle, Director, Account Strategy, Marketo. “Webinars also are very
effective at increasing brand awareness, building relationships and credibility,
nurturing leads, delivering product training, and providing on-going customer 1. Segment For Success
education. Live webinars appeal to many as it creates a forum for interaction
without having to travel.”
2. Stay in Touch and Nurture
Marketers can take advantage of this online relationship to extend the value of
their solutions and services and present value across a variety of touch points, 3. Leverage Opportunities For Lead Scoring
including email, social and the web.
This E-book will explore the strategies progressive marketers are employing 4. Integrate Your Systems To Optimize Data
to improve webinar conversions, scoring and nurturing tactics, in addition to
enhancing overall webinar content production and impact.
5. Accelerate The Sale
How To Convert Webinar Attendees Into Customers In 5 Easy Steps • 3
Step 1
Segment For Success
The most successful webinars extend beyond meeting the simple criteria of The company’s nurture campaigns
having “compelling content.” Webinars that create impact and ignite prospects’ are aligned to lead stage and score
Eloqua uses some of its
interest have knowledgeable speakers with respected titles and credentials, all and each has a specific theme, so the
directly relevant to targeted audiences. webinar content delivered is always most popular on-demand
appropriate for the buyer stage and the webinars in long-term
Webinar experts advise to drill down subject matter that can be brought to life
theme being promoted.
not only by your individual organization, but also perhaps by a valued partner nurturing campaigns
or third party analyst or source. To tailor webinar content specifically to a target Experts advise that it’s important to to provide early stage
audience, marketers can enlist case study or anecdotal use case scenarios to develop content that is focused and
education on key topics.
validate the information being highlighted. refined, converse to the broad blanket
approach that many marketers might The company’s nurture
By bringing on trusted experts and third-party resources, marketers can take
assume to be more effective for campaigns are aligned to
advantage of their partnerships not only for thought leadership expertise, but
appealing to a bigger audience. To do
also to leverage additional contact and database lists. lead stage and score.
this efficiently, it’s important for marketers
While professional insight is a key component of webinars, experts advise to segment their databases, as well as
marketers to consider the tone and language used to resonate with attendees. personas, to develop the right message,
content and offers.
“Don’t let your own knowledge impact how you deliver your message – not
everyone knows what you know so don’t assume they do,” recommended Elle Segmenting your audience into groups based on key attributes, such as
Woulfe, Senior Marketing Programs Manager, Eloqua. “Be detailed, speak in industry vertical, geography or specific preference, enables you to refine and
normal, conversational language, tell stories and be interesting… don’t just drone craft messaging to resonate with the most impact. Segmenting also helps you
on. Match your content to your channel or target your invitations to people who understand what prospects are most likely to convert and why. Segmenting can
you know have expressed interest in your topic. Don’t cover too much – go help reduce list decay and shorten the buy cycle.
deeper rather than wider.”
Additionally, supplementary thought leadership content, such as an
For example, Eloqua uses some of its most popular on-demand webinars in E-book or Executive Briefing, can help enhance webinar value and extend
long-term nurturing campaigns to provide early stage education on key topics. prospect communication.
How To Convert Webinar Attendees Into Customers In 5 Easy Steps • 4
Step 2
Stay In Touch And Nurture
Webinars are a great way to “stay in touch” with prospects and customers by Each week a new topic and/or product
offering a perfect outlet for education-based drip marketing. Because the buyer functionality was explored. This helped
By utilizing other
journey involves a variety of critical factors, such as relevance and consistent the company demonstrate value in many
automation functionality,
communication, timing is not the only element of essence. different areas of business, and attendees
looked forward to learning more about marketers can have
“A great way to encourage an ongoing communication and relationship with the next topic. greater visibility into what
your customers and prospects is with a combination of live and on-demand web
“When trying to ‘stay in touch’ with stage buyers are in. They
presentations,” noted Ken Molay, President of Webinar Success. “Live webinars
can include canvassing of wish lists and priorities for enhancements, features,
target buyers through webinars and drip can then build drip email
and ‘ask the expert’ help sessions. Recorded presentations can be posted on a
email campaigns, I consider four factors: campaigns to help move
buyer role, buying stage, content, and
regular schedule to introduce new enhancements or to show demonstrations of those webinar leads from
timing,” noted Waffle. “For buyer role,
use in different applications.”
prospects find content targeted to their one stage to the next, and
Marketers are utilizing webinars to cultivate role or industry much more valuable progress to conversion.
loyal relationships by educating and assisting that generic content. You may want to
prospects with tips and tricks to optimize the have one webinar for managers and a
use of their products or services. For example, separate webinar for technical users. You may want to have a series of seminars
one marketing software company hosted a that address various vertical industries such as financial services, healthcare,
webinar workshop series that spanned across government, etc., depending on your business plan.”
several weeks.
How To Convert Webinar Attendees Into Customers In 5 Easy Steps • 5
The Dos & Don’ts For Webinar Conversion
Most webinar marketers make mistakes at the front end and back end of their
Waffle reiterated the need for marketers to consider where the target buyer is in
webinars. To optimize the value of webinars as a conversion tool, experts offer
the buying cycle in order to drip content and offers accordingly. For example,
these “Dos and Don’ts” for converting webinar attendees into customers:
educational content works well during the early awareness stages. Analyst
reports and buyer’s guides work well as prospects start looking for solutions. For • DON’T treat the webinar registration page as a sales
qualification tool.
prospects that are engaged in an active buying cycle, solution-oriented and
company-focused content may be more effective. • DO frame information in terms of your audience’s very personal
and selfish self-interests.
By utilizing other automation functionality, marketers can have greater visibility into
• DON’T think so hard about the facts and data you want to present;
what stage buyers are in. They can then build drip email campaigns to help move
those webinar leads from one stage to the next, and progress to conversion. • DO think about how your audience would use the data and
why they’d care about the information.
Additionally, by understanding average buying cycle length, marketers can
• DON’T get caught up in the product specs, functionality or
change up their initiatives with corporate emails, personal emails from a sales
competitive advantages.
rep, phone calls and maybe even direct mail.
• DO convey why they should be enthusiastic about the concepts
“Depending on your average buying cycle, your drip campaign may run over you are presenting.
many months,” Waffle said. “Try to increase the frequency of the outbound
• DON’T present the usual company overview information in the
communication as the prospect enters the later stages of the buying cycle. If beginning of the webinar.
you are using a marketing automation platform, you can offer the prospect the
• DO realize that this doesn’t so much establish credibility as it
option to ‘accelerate’ and receive information more often.”
violates expectations. The audience has signed up because
they were promised specific value propositions for them.
Company background should almost always be a part of the
sales process rather than the marketing process.
Click to view the Citrix
• DON’T underestimate the conversion power of the archived webinar.
On Demand Webinar
“Whats Working in Webinars: • DO take advantage of the many ways to promote an archived
webinar and the archived webinar is probably the best way to
A look inside the Best Practices
reach a global audience.
of Power Users”
How To Convert Webinar Attendees Into Customers In 5 Easy Steps • 6
Step 3
Leverage Opportunities For Lead Scoring
Having visibility into the buyer’s journey has become an integral component of If marketers record the questions
successful marketing initiatives, and therefore marketers are utilizing webinars asked by attendees during a webinar
and the intelligence they provide to help determine the sales readiness of each and then later integrate that data
buyer. This tactic helps sales and marketing teams develop processes to prioritize into a CRM or Sales Force Automation
and engage with the right leads. system, this can provide sales with
deeper intelligence and context for
For example, in-session webinar polls offer a great way to gauge an attendee’s
follow-up calls, and help to further
current objectives and strengths, as well as understand their weaknesses. This
qualify that opportunity.
knowledge provides marketers with the information they need to modify or
maintain their current messaging to most effectively resonate with buyers based
Webinar platforms that integrate
on their key attributes.
with marketing automation, sales management or customer relationship
management (CRM) software enable marketers to include attendance and
“Interactive polling during a live webinar can point to key areas of interest
registration data in their prospect profiles. Additionally, marketers can in some
among prospects,” Molay said. “This can help to focus further marketing efforts
cases export key information, such as comments or questions typed during the
and give you ideas for future webinar topics. Many webinar technologies allow
webinar, to enhance the current prospect file.
you to drive attendees directly to post-webinar surveys, which can give you the
opportunity to ask some of the qualification questions you previously tried to put To increase the value of marketing automation and improve the performance
on registration pages. If people feel they have just received value from you, they of campaigns, marketers are realizing it is imperative to integrate their
are more likely to reciprocate in a meaningful way.” marketing automation platforms with their databases. With an integrated
data process in place, marketers can improve key performance indicators
(KPIs) in their campaigns including open, click through and conversion rates
from leads to opportunities.
How To Convert Webinar Attendees Into Customers In 5 Easy Steps • 7Step 4
Integrate Your Systems To Optimize Data
Webinars help marketers automate their lead nurturing and scoring campaigns
to improve the conversion rates of new inquiries to qualified leads. In order to
increase efficiency, marketers need one central database to store and share Using APIs To Enhance Data Collection
updated lead and contact information.
Marketers also are using application programming interfaces (APIs) to add
Ideally, the information collected in this database should not be limited to flexibility to their data collection methods, to optimize the information available
webinar engagement data, but should be integrated with intelligence on form from a variety of sources, including social platforms, mobile, email and web
submissions, page views, web site sessions and email engagement, among sites. This helps integrate customer touch points and develop seamless data
other attributes. management processes.
While many marketers use webinars as a means of demonstrating thought
If marketers have their databases fully integrated, they can take campaign
leadership, experts warn that just because someone made contact and engaged
initiatives a step further and calculate which activities either before or after the
with an organization by attending a webinar, they may not be a prospective
webinar contributed to higher lead quality and close rate.
buyer. In many cases, unqualified buyers are looking for valuable, free educational
By integrating webinar platforms with a marketing automation solution, marketers content. Scoring helps marketers separate the leads from the rest.
can ensure that webinar leads meet agreed upon qualifying criteria, before
passing them along to sales. “Without scoring the names generated from webinars, your sales team will have
to place a lot of calls to bad leads, which hampers productivity and harms
Integrating automation systems with webinar platforms also connects what
the relationship between sales and marketing,” Woulfe noted. “Many of the
was once a series of separate, time-consuming, manual data-collecting
names sourced through webinars are early stage – they might not be ready
steps. These steps can now be integrated together for webinar invitations,
to engage with sales today but lead nurturing will ensure those names are
registrations and follow-ups.
cultivated over time and scoring will ensure that once they’re ready for sales,
“We also use webinars to wake up segments of our database or to re-engage they automatically get routed to the right person for follow up.”
them,” Woulfe said. “We align the content to core challenges our product
can solve to help prospects understand how our solution could be used in the
scenarios described in our webinars – without making them product pitches.”
How To Convert Webinar Attendees Into Customers In 5 Easy Steps • 8Step 5
Accelerate The Sale
Webinar follow up is a critical point in the conversion process. Similar to initial personalization and batch signatures
points of engagement highlighted earlier in this E-book, a prospect’s impression is to make it more of a one-to-one
“Don’t paralyze them
dependent upon the offers and value proposition demonstrated after a webinar. communication,” she said. “This also lets
with an abundance of
a good lead start a direct dialogue with
“At the end of marketing webinars, you advance conversion by giving the choices as to what they
the rep.”
audience one and only one explicit and concrete call to action,” Molay
can do next. Drive them
noted. “Don’t paralyze them with an abundance of choices as to what they The company also offers additional,
can do next. Drive them to a single web page that focuses on whatever ungated, value-added content to a single web page that
you were talking about. Or tell them you will be contacting them within the collateral, such as an analyst report, focuses on whatever you
next week and you would like them to read the email or take the phone call guide or video, that is paired with some were talking about.”
because they can get additional value. Pick one thing and make that a clear product information, typically an online Ken Molay
expectation of their next step.” demo. Leads are then scored based on President
Webinar Success
their behavior as soon as it’s recorded.
According to Woulfe, Eloqua has a standard, automated webinar follow up
Sales reps follow up with the marketing
process, which is typically the same process for online and in-person events. The
qualified leads (MQLs) and the other
company automatically sends a relevant follow up email based on someone’s
leads are entered into nurture programs.
attendance status, their lead
stage (including opportunity “Webinars can be very effective, especially for vertical marketing,” Woulfe
stage) and their account noted. “If you have a very targeted message for a finite group of prospects, a
type. “Everyone gets a version webinar is a cost effective way to deliver that information. Similarly, for target
of the same email but it’s accounts, you may want to do something more high-touch, like demonstrate a
tailored to them and we use specific use case on a private webinar.”
How To Convert Webinar Attendees Into Customers In 5 Easy Steps • 9Understanding The Journey To Conversion
Marketers can leverage automation platforms to understand which phase Marketers should pay close attention to
webinar leads are in the buying process, as well as conversion time between the conversion rates of webinar leads
“With this dashboard view,
each phase. They can then build programs to accelerate the conversion at the various buyer-cycle stages to
marketers can spend more
times if necessary. Marketers can also see how many webinar leads became understand KPIs such as:
opportunities with a CRM platform and what the potential revenue will be. of their time developing
• How many webinar leads have
strategies to improve
Similarly, Waffle noted, marketing automation also should show marketers multi- become sales opportunities;
touch attribution on an opportunity. This helps marketers understand, for example, conversion rates and
• How much revenue has been
how a recent deal that took nine months to close actually evolved. “Organizations rollout more webinars.”
generated from webinars over
can see all the times marketing ‘touched’ or ‘influenced’ an opportunity along its Kelly J. Waffle
a given period of time; and
path to become a deal,” he said. “A marketer can see where a specific webinar Director, Account Strategy
Marketo
played a role in the success of that deal. Marketers can also see performance • Which webinars were the most
data at a program level to see how much influence a specific webinar or webinars effective for particular buyers.
in general had on a corporation’s revenue pipeline.”
“With this dashboard view, marketers
can spend more of their time developing strategies to improve conversion rates
and rollout more webinars,” Waffle noted. “They also are better prepared to
show the overall influence of marketing on revenue and have more informed
discussions with management to justify budget and headcount increases to
support webinars. Knowing the impact of marketing on revenue is a key tenet,
regardless of the marketing medium.”
How To Convert Webinar Attendees Into Customers In 5 Easy Steps • 10Case In Point:
Webinar Platform Helps Inspired Marketing Drive Conversions & Revenue
One classic example of how webinars can help influence conversions else because they allows us to
and drive revenue is Inspired Marketing LLC. Based in Columbus, OH, the ‘introduce’ ourselves to potential “Webinars are an
company sells digital materials and online training programs about using customers for a longer period of incredibly efficient way
social networking tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. time and help us close the sale more to generate business. In
Co-founded in 2010 by Lewis Howes and Sean Malarkey, Inspired
effectively,” he added. January 2011 we had sales
Marketing offers free, educational webinars on social media strategies, Another new area for Inspired of $250,000 from just seven
its core business, and also presents fee-based training webinars for Marketing is the use of automated GoToWebinar events.”
Lewis Howes
client companies. Webinars are recorded and made available as webinars. Recognizing that live
President
home study courses. events are far more effective Inspired Marketing
than recorded trainings, Malarkey
In 2010, the partners presented more than 300 webinars (both their own
explained that they have found
and through other people), and the platform has helped the company
a way to offer what appears to be a fully live webinar yet seamlessly
grow its business to a projected $2.5 million in sales for 2011.
incorporate a recorded segment.
“Webinars are an incredibly efficient way to generate business. They are
By scheduling the event for a specific time and providing a live
extremely powerful tools. For example, in January 2011 we had sales of
introduction and question and answer period, they retain audience
$250,000 from just seven GoToWebinar events,” said Howes.
interest while sparing themselves from having to present the same
The partners attribute their high conversion rates to live, online training. material over and over.
“Webinars increase leads and help us convert better than anything
How To Convert Webinar Attendees Into Customers In 5 Easy Steps • 11Conclusion 7 Best Practice Webinar Tips For Conversion
Webinars offer marketers a unique opportunity to engage with prospects on an To optimize the value of webinars as a key conversion tool, Woulfe offered 7
exclusively opt-in basis. Cited as a primary lead gen tool for many successful B2B tips for marketers:
organizations, webinars also are very effective at increasing brand awareness,
building relationships and credibility, nurturing leads, delivering product training
1. Make sure your webinar campaigns include a few reminders and that
logging into the platform is clearly explained and easy for the user.
and providing on-going customer education.
To enhance the impact of marketing initiatives, many organizations are
2. Use ICS, or iCal-compatible files, so users can easily put the date in
their calendars.
integrating their technology systems with webinar platforms to align webinar
data with email and drip marketing efforts, automatically segmenting prospects 3. Use pictures instead of words to show, rather than tell, your story. No one
into targeted campaigns based on the events for which they registered, whether wants to see slide after slide of bullets.
or not they attended and other common factors. Marketers can then create
targeted marketing messaging based on a prospect’s exact interests. 4. Use anecdotes, make it relatable and don’t use lots of jargon, to keep
people engaged.
Marketers can effectively cater to today’s time-starved B2B buyers, who now
expect interactive content and seamlessly integrated engagement at every 5. Your follow up should account for lead stage and should be prompt.
possible touch point. By integrating the reporting and intelligence from webinar Send a follow up campaign as soon as possible and don’t use a one-
platforms with marketing automation systems, progressive marketers are realizing size-fits-all message.
more efficient means of “connecting the dots” between campaign efforts,
6. Personalize your follow up messaging for customers, people who registered
content offerings and driving real conversions.
but didn’t attend, people who did attend and contacts who already have
open opportunities.
7. Use the follow up as an opportunity to convey a relevant message to each
group and provide a piece of value added content instead of making it
just a “thanks for coming” message.
How To Convert Webinar Attendees Into Customers In 5 Easy Steps • 12About GoToWebinar® Webinars Made Easy® About DemandGen Report
GoToWebinar is an easy-to-use do-it-yourself webinar tool designed to increase DemandGen Report (DGR) is a targeted e-media publication spotlighting
market reach by enabling presenters to connect with up to 1,000 attendees the strategies and solutions that help Business-to- Business (BtoB) companies
online. With GoToWebinar, you can reduce travel costs, generate more qualified better align sales, marketing and disparate teams to support growth and drive
leads at a lower cost and enhance communication with customers, prospects revenue. DGR content and news coverage focuses on the sales and marketing
and employees. All You Can Reach® – for one low monthly flat fee. automation tools that enable companies to better measure and manage
multichannel demand generation efforts. DemandGen Report is the only
information source directly focused on this rapidly emerging business discipline.
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