How do webinars generate leads?

A lot of people put off hosting webinars until they have a “big enough” audience. Some of those people genuinely believe you need thousands of connections before you can even start planning a webinar. Others are using it as an excuse because just the thought of hosting a webinar leaves them with sweaty palms and a dry mouth. Whichever side you fall on, by the end of this article, you’ll not only understand the lead generating potential of webinars but be eager to get going with your own.

First things first, you don’t need a huge audience to make webinars work. You need a strong reason and strategy that people will show up for. This includes a follow-up plan for afterwards because this is what will turn your webinars from an event to a lead generating machine.

Leading up to the webinar

A strong follow up can’t happen without a strong start. No matter how many connections you have on LinkedIn, you can guarantee barely anyone will show up if you don’t give them enough notice.

In addition to continuously growing your network, you need to be posting about and inviting people to your webinar regularly 4-6 weeks before the event. However, it’s not enough to just share the topic, date and time. Any promo you do for your webinar needs to be outcome focused. What will people gain from it? That will be their motivation for attending. 

Before you can do any of this, however, you need to set up a webinar page on LinkedIn where you will then be able to invite people from.

During the webinar 

The number one mistake people make during webinars is hosting an event instead of talking to their audience. Don’t spend the whole time reading off slides like a university lecture. Make sure you’re engaging your audience with CTAs and leaving time for any questions during or after the event.

Your webinar doesn’t need to be polished and perfect to be successful. It needs to deliver value and demonstrate why you’re an expert worth listening to and coming back for. You won’t achieve this by monologing your audience but by communicating with them.

After the webinar

Once the event is finished…it’s not over. After your webinar is the time to convert your attendees into potential clients. This doesn’t mean harassing them into a sale but continuing to deliver value.

Share snippets from the event, resources, follow up with the most active participants and start conversations based on what they need. People signed up for your webinar because they believed you had the solution to their pains, the follow-up is where you prove it. 

Even if people didn’t turn up, the fact that they signed up still makes them a warm lead worth following up with. There are plenty of reasons someone might not be able to turn up live (last minute meetings, travelling, family emergencies), that doesn’t mean they’re not still interested.

Don’t let your leads go cold! Do these follow ups the day after the event.

Start planning NOW

Don’t wait until the last minute to start planning for your webinar. You need to be clear on the value it’s going to deliver before you start inviting people to attend - it’s that value that is going to motivate them to not only join live but stick around for what you have to offer afterwards.

Webinars generate leads because they demonstrate exactly how you help people using tangible examples and methods. It’s not the information people attend for but the value only you can provide. Webinars give them a taste of this value and make them more receptive to working with you afterwards.

The PINAKL team can help you set up, run and follow-up your webinar. Head to our LinkedIn page and DM us to learn more.