In this series on successful webinar funnels, we’re cutting through the complexity of webinars and breaking down the steps for creating a successful funnel for your event.
In Part 1 of our All-In-One Guide, we put our marketing efforts into perspective, looked at the necessity of a deployment schedule, and went through using Facebook Ads to drive traffic.
What more could there be?
We’re so glad you asked!
We’re just getting started, and in this part 2 of our guide, we’ll learn about extending our funnel even more for maximum effect.
Because putting on a webinar gives you an excellent opportunity to give value really to your industry, it’s also an absolutely awesome chance to show your marketing chops.
And with some industries reporting that it sometimes takes up to 13 marketing touches to develop a lead fully with a high chance of converting…
Well, you get the picture.
Your webinar is a prime occasion when your audience is expecting more communication.
And with more communication comes more ability to get exposure for your brand and strengthen your sales funnel.
Today, we’ll review how a landing page factors in with your webinar, the importance of capturing lead information for retargeting, and the way to generate some buzz.
With these steps, you’ll be able to pack the house when you fire up your webinar.
Captivating An Audience with your Landing Page
Image Source: Hubspot Blog- 16 of the Best Landing Page Design Examples You Need to See
Once you have your Facebook Ad set up, you don’t just want to drive that traffic to your regular website, where your audience might get lost or confused.
When it comes to having a webinar funnel, you want to make things as clear as possible.
A good landing page serves exactly this function.
Check out our dedicated guide to optimizing your landing pages here.
But, in addition to keeping the page clean and straightforward, here’s some additional tips to make sure this step is successful:
Your Page Headline Serves a Big Purpose
When it comes to content on the Internet, you might be surprised to discover that 8 out of 10 people, don’t even read past the headline.
Incredible, right?!
Those headlines are some very valuable content real estate.
The takeaway here is that creating a killer headline is absolutely essential to conveying your point quickly.
Focus on writing a short headline that generates excitement for attending your event, but also prompts your audience to enter their information (which we’ll get to below).
The Right Image Sets the Right Tone
Just like with your Facebook ad, your image says a lot about your webinar.
Use images that generate interest for your audience.
A boring image of a computer won’t do much to get them motivated, but a vibrant picture can go a long way to connecting them to the content.
Make sure the image is easily related to your webinar theme as well as being appropriate and unique.
Keep the Action to a Minimum
It’s probably pretty obvious: the more you convolute the steps to signing up for your webinar, the lower your success rate will be.
Single action pages are the preferred method in the marketing world when it comes to landing pages.
By making the process simple, you’re able to keep your visitor’s engagement better long enough to get them to complete the action you want (in this case, signing up and providing lead information).
Protip: When selecting your landing page image, you can reuse the image you may have used for your Facebook ad, but to create a more dynamic feeling, consider using a related image in a series instead.
Capturing Lead Information for Retargeting
Image Source: Zibaba – Facebook Retargeting: Why it’s Important for SMBs
In today’s world, when many people sign up for an event, they don’t just want to follow up before the event, they expect it.
In fact, 43% of customers report that they’re more likely to convert during a marketing campaign that unfolds over time and includes additional follow-ups.
This is where retargeting comes in, and it’s going to be a big part of our funnel in Part 3.
Retargeting is a way of continuing to use marketing touches leading up to your event to remind and excite your audience.
Retargeting can include any means of follow-up, from emails and SMS (which we’ll focus on) to in-store push notifications and consultation calls.
But the stats don’t lie: there’s evidence that retargeted content greatly increases searches for your brand and site visits for up to a month.
And a large percentage of customers report a positive reaction to retargeted ad material.
Here’s how to best capture that info:
Asking for the Right Information
For our landing page, we’ll want to collect useful information for our retargeting efforts.
For our webinar, the most effective pieces of information are the attendees name, email, and phone number.
That’s it!
Remember, we’re keeping things simple and as non-intrusive as possible.
This information will also let us leverage the power of email, but also of mobile.
And Asking for it in the Right Way
Capturing our info isn’t just about asking for the right things; it’s also about the way we ask.
This step is all about creating a sense of trust and a feeling that there’s a relationship with the brand.
Use all the tools in your arsenal to make this point.
From stating the benefits to using positive language, you want to give them a reason to give up their info to you.
Protip: Depending on your webinar service, you can also ask visitors if they’ve attended one of your past webinars and have them skip this step entirely. By offering a link to log in to their already existing account, you shorten the journey for them to opt for your event.
Generating Buzz
Buzz! It’s a simple concept: we want people to have a feeling of anticipation about your webinar.
We also want them talking about it with coworkers and friends.
This aids the chances that they’ll attend, but it also means that we’ll be getting more visitors to our landing page as well.
Developing a Thank You Page
They’ve signed up for your webinar, but don’t just have them enter their information, and that’s it!
Once they’ve submitted their info, have them taken to a thank you page.
Even a simple page thanking them lets your audience know that they’ve successfully signed up to attend.
But you also have the chance to generate more buzz.
For example, research also proves that pages like these which also include video will increase conversions by nearly 90%.
If you have the resources, definitely consider adding a fun video about what they’ll see at your webinar.
Giving Out a Worksheet to Increase Stickiness
Once you’ve set up your thank you page, another awesome method to increase the stick rate for your webinar is to offer a worksheet.
By including something they can complete on the webinar, it expands the experience and helps to further their interest.
It also serves as a powerful reminder of the event, especially if you include the date and time on the worksheet.
How Contests Can Drive More Webinar Traffic
Sometimes people are leery to provide their information when signing up.
However, when paired with a contest, your page can be far more successful in this regard, especially if the prize is more unique.
And when you let your audience know that you’ll be announcing the winner at the webinar, it almost guarantees they’ll want to go.
The best part is that this step is also good for generating more buzz about your webinar, as anyone who signs up is more likely to share the contest too.
Add Those Social Media Buttons
Speaking of sharing, including social media buttons on your thank you page is a surefire idea for increasing conversions.
This way, they’re able to spread the word on Facebook and Twitter about your event and your contest and spread it to people they know will be interested.
And if you’re using a dedicated page on your own website, you’re also generating crucial linkbacks for your SEO building efforts.
Protip: Get creative when it comes to pairing other marketing ideas with these steps of your webinar funnel. You can also get some ideas from our article on simple ways to drive higher engagement to your funnel.
We’re nearly there, and our webinar funnel is almost complete!
In Part 3, we’ll learn how to create our retargeting campaign from start to finish.
This campaign will really do some of the heavy liftings for converting those registrants into actual attendees.
But we want to hear more from you: what’s the biggest buzz you’ve ever created for your brand and how did you get people talking?