A couple months ago we pointed out the latest research that shows that webinars outperform every other distribution channel besides in-person events. The point was to dive into why.
And as I argued, one key reason is because the science of real time human interaction is compelling -- and that real time human interaction is missing in whitepapers and blog posts and many other channels.
In light of this, I was a bit intrigued in a webinar today when Content Marketing Institute's latest research on marketing to marketers pointed out that when they (marketers) are the audience, only 8% ranked "interactivity and engagement" (in a webinar) as important to them (chart below).
Ironically, though, Hubspot's latest research says 94% of marketers "say personalization boosts sales."
Wouldn't it make sense, then, that personalization in a webinar or virtual event would have a positive effect (even if you're not selling something)?
You can use people's names as you comment (even if there are 1000 people there), but there are a LOT of ways to dial in a session for the audience that's in front of you.
Usefully, science shows that personalization and interaction do improve attention and connectedness.
This long-form post, therefore, will
offer a (hopefully!) more nuanced view of that 8% statistic,
present a case for considering different types or styles of webinars, and
offer actionable ideas along the way for how to take your webinars and virtual events to the next level (even assuming that B2B marketers are not your target market).
You must know YOUR market
There's an old adage that "you are not your target market." It's a nice way of saying, "Your preferences aren't what's important; it's your prospects' and customers' preferences that should drive your marketing."
I fear that's a bit of what that 8% number is -- marketers who generally see one-size-fits-all webinars and are thinking, "I'm just here to get information, I don't want to interact."
(Ironically, interaction is often a faster way to zero in on that which is most relevant to you, but that's another post).
In other words, the "I just want information" folk see the medium in one way, but perhaps not with the nuances we'll draw out below.
In another bit of irony, the same CMI survey showed that at an in-person event, "49% want to meet the people behind the product/service."
(Warning: Sarcasm ahead)
But people aren't people when ON24 or Zoom or GoToWebinar is involved? They do NOT want to "meet the people behind the product/service" when online?
That's hard to believe, particularly because that very same CMI report said
"Nearly half of marketers (45%) prefer to discuss solutions on a video call. Forty-five percent of marketers prefer a video call while evaluating vendors, followed by email (27%), no contact (preferring that the information they need is online/on the vendor’s website) (17%), a phone call (7%), and an in-person meeting (4%)."
Do. Not. Miss. This. Point:
The very same technology marketers significantly favor at one point in their buyer's journey is the one they don't favor in another part of their own buyer's journey.
And this points to a lack of nuance in how the CMI report asked the question.
Let me be clear. I love me some Content Marketing Institute. Our circles overlap quite a lot. But they also don't live in "webinars" (or virtual events) like we do. They're wide; we're deep in our space, just like we're shallow and they're deep in theirs.
This next thought won't be new to you, but it has to be said (and take it from a crew who's been looking at data on webinars for more than 20 years):
We see variance in preferences even between departments in single org, let alone variance within a vertical or target market.
Put another way: generalization can be deadly.
Maybe someone else's statistic is true for you, particularly if you're a B2B marketer marketing to B2B marketers (as in the case of the 8% statistic above). But I'd argue there is a greater chance that the CMI statistic is probably NOT useful to many while the Hubspot statistic IS. Particularly when, generally speaking, attention and action are so hard to come by.
A prospect's role, industry, vertical within that industry, geolocation, company culture, and a host of other things drive their webinar preferences at a seriously granular level. You must know -- or discover -- what's relevant to the very specific persona YOU want to create connection with.
Takeaway
The good news is that there's nothing like webinars or virtual events for gathering data that is specific to your audience (see point 2 here).
Bonus thought: Add an extra question or two to your registration page as a "mini survey" of sorts. Consider a poll or other interactive mechanism in the same way. (You dropped a lot of dough on driving people to a reg page and you don't ask them a research question in exchange for cost-free content from a SME? <ahem!> Somebody has already showed up...engage them in 'dialogue' literally or figuratively and capture the results!)
One example is this: Just because most webinars occur on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Wednesdays (in that order) doesn't mean that your audience prefers that. The solution is simple! Ask! Then run with what best serves your audience and to heck with those other surveys.
You're probably missing out if you don't consider "type" of webinar
When you consider a medium, do you think there's only one way of using it? Put another way, if you open Microsoft Word, do think there's only one way to write?
No, the style or type of writing, formatting, etc. will vary a lot between a poem, academic paper, or software manual.
There's a difference between the medium and the way you use the medium. A zillion examples from Shakespeare to Jimi Hendrix abound.
To the best of my knowledge, I'm the only person who ever did research that included asking about how frequently people attend webinars that have different purposes.
The survey (sponsored at the time by GoToWebinar) asked respondents -- among other things -- to note how frequently they attended webinars of different types.
This survey confined those webinar types to events external to the organization (as opposed to internal meetings or training sessions). It defined those types of webinars as defined as "thought leader," "how-to/training," and "product/sales demonstrations" as seen in the following table:
On a five-point Likert scale, on average people attend how-to/training webinars more frequently any other (mean = 4.0). By sheer frequency, they want actionable knowledge. This is likely the bias in the 8% number noted before.
Less frequently they attended thought leadership types of events (mean = 3.2). My gut check here is that while thought leadership events may be interesting, getting attention for that which doesn't seem immediately actionable is slightly less attractive -- and if something has changed in the last decade since the research was done, attention is probably at an even higher premium now than then.
Finally, they also attended webinars that were related to directly communicating about an organization's products and solutions (mean = 2.2). Duh. Of course people don't attend sales demos as frequently...until we're ready to connect in a specific context. This happens less frequently (but it DOES happen for almost all of us).
Obviously this data is aging, but I believe this data is still consistent with how people more generally “consume” information.
We look for content “to help us do our day jobs more effectively” more frequently than other types of content. However, it does NOT mean that we don't also show up to hear luminaries, trend setters, or subject matter experts, AND it doesn't mean we don't show up -- when appropriate -- to webinars that might otherwise be considered "sales pitches" or "product demos."
If anything, the research validated that people attend "webinars" for different reasons at different times. In fact, when it comes to "type," 94% of the 407 respondents noted that they attend all three types of webinars listed in the survey.
So...
...when does your audience want to talk to someone?
...when do they just want to listen in?
...when is it important to engage with the myriads of tools built into ON24 or Zoom or whatever?
I could go on and on. But let's put an exclamation point behind this section of this post:
Takeaway(s)
We know adults learn more effectively when there is interaction. We know there are times when someone does want to talk to a salesperson.
Does this mean every webinar should have high interactivity? Not necessarily.
But if you run all your webinars the same way, you're likely missing out.
One key is to begin by considering YOUR audience at THEIR particular stage of the sales cycle and asking, "If this person in this stage of their journey was in-person, what would their need be?" There is certainly an instructional-design art to then taking it online. But assuming online is second-rate is itself a second rate assumption.
Implied in the research above is that
the awareness phase is a time to a build trust and establish your brand, making thought leadership events about trends, common challenges, and insights related to the buyer's problem useful. Be educational, informative, even interactive, but avoid being overtly promotional.
the comparative phase is a time to introduce solutions by way of case studies, success stories, and "how to accomplish X." It's a great time to show (vs tell) how to achieve a result in a way that positions your solution as the leading option by showcasing effectiveness and relevance to a particular segment of prospects.
the decision phase is then when it's okay to be overtly focused on your own products and persuasions thereof. Be prepared not simply to present, but also defend, your solution relative to competitive alternatives (whether implicitly or explicitly).
Again, if you open ON24 or Zoom or equivalent and only run your webinars or virtual events in one way the same time/every time, you may be leaving money on the table.
It's only one category of the event design process -- answering the question about style of and level of interaction -- but it's a big one. There is not a one-size-fits-all answer.
(BTW, we LOVE to help think through this stuff with you -- give Aaron a ring at +1.855.286.3581 or shoot him a note at aaron@virtualvenues.com).
Set expectations in your registration page copy
Because many webinars are "talk AT you" experiences instead of "talk WITH you" experiences, audiences have generally been conditioned to expect they'll be passive (if not unseen).
No wonder so many people just register so they'll get the recording! They don't perceive any value in the higher personal cost option of showing up at 11am on a Thursday.
But here's a problem YOU have, perhaps demonstrated by your own experience:
Have you ever gotten a recording, intending to get to it later, only to find it months later (unwatched) because you never got around to it?
We've all done it!
If you do that, isn't it likely that your audience does as well? It means that your message fails to get delivered.
It's useful to remember that live events, including webinars, have an inherent sense of urgency -- attend, or you'll miss something.
One solution is to set an expectation in the registration copy.
This is particularly true if you really want or need your audience to be interactive (and you do need that if you care to get serious about the potential data intelligence possible over the lifecycle of a webinar).
Takeaway
Will you take questions throughout the webinar?
Will attendees have a chance to interact directly with the thought leader or subject matter expert?
Will there be a particular giveaway at the live session that they only get if they attend (notice the bold text on this example)?
Will you configure the viewer console such that someone clicking on something renders actionable data? I could go on and on.
Answer the question: Why should someone attend the live, real-time event?
Don't miss this next point:
On your registration page, don't just describe the content of the event, also describe the experience they will have.
P.S. Here's a bonus thought: ALSO customize your confirmation and reminder emails. Registrants may not remember what they registered for or why they found it compelling when they registered weeks ago.
Consider sharing these practices with your presenters
As noted above, my survey’s evidence bore out that webinars serve multiple communication needs well. The main question, though, was why people left webinars early (assumption: if they bail out, you miss an opportunity). I asked them what their largest annoyances were. Their top pain point? “Content not as advertised.”
Can you use webinars to sell your products or services? You bet. Just be sure to advertise it accurately.
For you, this point corroborates that you should consider having more than one approach to the "type" or "style" point previously stated. Don't push presenters to sneak in a product or sales message if that wasn't clearly identified up front. Participants smell that from a mile away.
When we analyzed the data by type of webinar, participants in different kinds of webinars had differing tolerances and preferences for various practices (as seen in the following table):
Takeaway
You can't force a presenter to be someone they're not (and you wouldn't want to). But generally speaking, producing webinars is a team sport. Ask the presenter how they'd normally interact with an in-person audience and see if you can get them to consider adapting that to an online audience. And if it helps, show your presenters the table above to add third-party credibility to your request.
Importantly, if 94% of marketers say personalization boosts sales, then personalizing a webinar attendee's experience with relevant interactions (even using their name as you respond) is likely a good move.
Moreover, your V2 producer can help you execute interactions in various ways as they ride shotgun with you -- even if the presenter isn't so good.
The bottom line
A webinar is a medium that can be used in different ways (like the Microsoft Word example given above). Not every webinar needs massive interaction.
As noted above, not only are there times when your audience wants to interact and again, and Hubspot's 2024 research says 94% of marketers "say personalization boosts sales."
But don't just take Hubspot's word for it -- you don't have to be "selling" to follow the science: interaction improves connection, and connection moves the needle in your favor.
If your webinars are "one size fits all," it might be time to consider taking them to the next level.
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Again, we LOVE to help you think through this stuff, and we don't send you an invoice just for having a conversation. Give Aaron a ring at +1.855.286.3581 or shoot him a note at aaron@virtualvenues.com.
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