Here are some tips for expanding your webinar reach. The first five come from consultant Leslie Davidson (pictured here) of Davidson Direct.
1. Your speakers! Ask them to get the social media word out to their customers and prospects. Have them write a blog post for you. Ask for a brief video interview that you can post on your YouTube channel and then on your blog.
2. List exchanges. Do an exchange of lists with a competitor or other company that targets the same or similar audience.
3. Trade associations. Strike a deal with an association whose members you want to reach with your message.
4. Incentivize. Give your speakers an incentive to spread the word by providing an affiliate link for registrants they refer.
5. Social networking. Join LinkedIn groups whose members belong to your target audience and let them know each time you offer a new webinar.
6. Higher price points. One SIPA member increased their webinar prices from $190 to $290 about 18 months ago and never looked back. They’re actually getting more attendance now. They also offer an unlimited site license for about $400 which is also doing well. This way you can also show the true value but still offer lower early-bird pricing. And it also makes it much easier to charge more over time.
7. Panel discussions. SIPA member Bulldog Reporter uses a moderator and panels for many of their webinars. In an upcoming webinar on pitching business and financial media, they have panelists from the Los Angeles Times, Fortune Magazine, Barron’s and San Jose News plus a former Huffington Post reporter. For a half-day webinar on measuring PR ROI, they have “practitioners” from National Wildlife Foundation, Hill & Knowlton, Research Data Insight, University of Miami, Dlvr.it and PRIME Research, among others.
8. Discounts (10-20%) for premium subscribers. If your system can recognize them upon registration and give them the discount automatically, all the better. You will be showing them the value of paying for the publication subscriptions.
9. Bundling. Instead of selling just your webinar, sell an annual or monthly membership to your site that includes the webinar. It’s good road to renewal to be able to start off a membership with that benefit.
10. Know your audience! One audience may like short pauses to have group discussions, another may need more time for Q&As—especially if you have a lawyer speaking. Be sure to survey your registrants to know that you are giving them what they want.
11. Be prepared. Have a good system in place to handle those last-minute desperate calls from people who don’t look at any of your information until the last minute.
12. Recordings. Decide whether the recording is important to your business. A recording link the day after the webinar can often boost sales significantly because you catch all of the people who can’t make it live.
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Ronn Levine began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post and has won numerous writing and publications awards since. Most recently, he spent 12 years at the Newspaper Association of America covering a variety of topics before joining SIPA in 2009 as managing editor. Follow Ronn on Twitter at @SIPAOnline