Introduction to Webinars

As travel budgets shrink and marketing teams scramble to keep up on the latest trends – webinars offer quick and often inexpensive, if not free, opportunities to learn what other people are doing well without traveling anywhere to attend a conference or event. They are also a heap more sustainable than flying around the country!

I attended a nice, simple webinar last week hosted by Mobile Dialog entitled “Restaurant Social Media Marketing 101” and took away a few pointers. 

If you have ever created a Powerpoint presentation, you can host a webinar! Don’t hesitate to give your customers an opportunity to learn something from you. Learning something is the key – this is not the opportunity to make a sales pitch – stay focused on content. You have knowledge that can help your customers.

Once you have your topic ready and an outline for your presentation, pick a hosting site such as GoToMeeting or Webex, and get yourself set up. Take some time to learn about all the webinar technology that is available, and the associated perks like registration assistance or post-event reporting. 

Hosting an internal webinar for your staff is a great way to get some practice in and work out the kinks. Showcase some new products for your sales team or pick a topic for a training seminar. Make sure you use the actual equipment you’ll be using for your webinar – the same phone, computer, etc. That way you can check for small distractions too, like a rattling overhead fan or other background noises. Ask your staff for detailed feedback to help you identify and correct any issues.  

Once you’re ready, pick a good day and time for your audience. Experts generally agree that Mondays and Fridays are lousy choices, and you want to be aware of what hours work for your customers.

Use your outstanding social media network to drum up some attendees! Tweet like crazy, send out a Facebook invite, and coordinate an email assault. I like the idea of limiting it to the first 10, 15 people – create some buzz when it sells out!  

Want to see it all in action? Check out the SeafoodSource.com hosted webinar on 11/05! 

Let us know if you have attended any recent webinars and what your thoughts or impressions were!

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