Webinars are an essential tool for ingredient and equipment suppliers looking to showcase their solutions, engage with key audiences and generate leads. But without the proper planning, promotions and speakers in place, these events begin to malfunction.
To ensure your next virtual event launches without a hitch, avoid making these common but preventable mistakes.
Mistake #1: The topic combusts
In most scenarios, the webinar’s topic will drive attendee registrations. Steer clear of played out topics and focus on pressing challenges faced by your prospects. In addition, stay away from subject matter that centers around your products. While it’s great to deliver a solution, a webinar should be used to educate and build trust with customers and prospects.
When developing a webinar’s topic, keep your target audience in mind and research their current pain points. Is a new trend impacting their production processes? Are there any recent changes in consumer preferences affecting their sales? Will a new regulation reshape how their business operates? By concentrating on a current problem, your brand can position itself as an industry thought leader with trusted solutions.
Mistake #2: Benefits go unidentified
Don’t overlook opportunities to highlight the advantages of attending your virtual event. The webinar’s title, registration page, invites and promotional content should all call back to the event’s benefits in some way.
For example, the event description on the registration page should be summed up in one to two sentences and include a bulleted list of two to three things an attendee will learn. This bulleted list could then be used in the webinar invites and in social media posts.
Mistake #3: Promotions fall behind
You can’t rely on e-mail invites alone to spread the word about your event. Reach your target audience at key touchpoints by launching a cross-channel campaign three to four weeks before your webinar’s launch. The campaign should tap into the mediums your target audience interacts with regularly. For many decision-makers in the food industry this includes trade-based magazines, newsletters and websites, LinkedIn and e-mail.
Regardless of the route you take, remember to keep the branding and messaging consistent and to clearly outline the webinar’s benefits when possible.
Mistake #4: Marketers forget to switch gears
When a webinar framed as educational suddenly morphs into a sales pitch, attendees tend to feel cheated out of their time. As tempting as it may be to only highlight your brand’s products, focus on providing value and showcasing expertise. You can do this by selecting topics that are top of mind for your target audience but still tie into your company’s offerings. In addition, highlight your staff’s knowledge by enlisting speakers from your team who have experience in the field but also have a knack for storytelling and breaking down technical concepts.
Mistake #5: The journey ends too soon
Forgetting a clear call-to-action (CTA) at the end of your webinar is an opportunity many marketers tend to neglect. While you shouldn’t expect to immediately drive sales when the event ends, you can keep moving a prospect through the buyer’s journey by offering them a related piece of content or by inviting them to an exclusive follow-up event.
With the amount of planning and resources that go into hosting a webinar, it can be easy to make a few mistakes along the way. To ensure a smooth ride, reach out to a Sosland Publishing media expert here for more tips and best practices on launching a virtual event.