The Definitive Guide to the Death of Webinars

This week, I hosted a livestrem/podcast I called: "The Definitive Webinar on the Death of Webinars". (you should watch or listen - it was fun!)

I’ve been a long-time fan of webinars - coupled with a great content strategy, b2b tech companies have been successful in mapping to the buyer journeys and engaging prospects with webinars for many years.

My ego still uses the wrong metric to measure success: People who signed up for an upcoming event/webinar/livestream.

Webinars have been a saving grace during the pandemic to keep the spark alive, transfer knowledge and build community in some cases.

SO, WHAT'S DIFFERENT?

1. We’re burning out and getting Zoom fatigue. At the same time, in office meetings are heading back to their pre-pandemic nauseating levels

2. Now that we’re over with the pandemic (but is it done with us?), we’re getting out and about again

3. Our content consumption tastes have changed drastically

4. We’re sick and tired of hearing “Free” Webinar - as if hearing a product pitch is surprisingly free, and the we should be glad that the only cost is the most valuable cost of all - our time

5. We have even less patience than ever before

6. We’re sick of 'death by powerpoint'.

7. We want to engage with content as a two-way street - not a one direction vomitorium of stuff.

8. We need to talk about long-term/long form content - that sticks/lasts and gets to people when and where they are.

9. The content needs to be where people are - not at a fixed time on a fixed day, but on a podcast, a YouTube video, a blog post, anywhere but at a fixed time on a fixed day.

So, if webinars are dead, then what’s replacing them?

Become a production studio. In addition to a content marketing machine, have a production management machine. It will be the most fun and successful part of your marketing program when done right.

The tools are there (Podbean, YouTube, Vimeo, Blog). All you need to do is build a process around them. A regimented process that leverages the content normally used for webinars, but puts it where people are and not the other way around will get you a LOT of mileage for your content.

1. Record video, or do livestreams and publish to the places that THEY ARE). Not you. It’s a process, but a fun process you’ll get to iterate each and every time.

2. Let the landing pages for the content evolve - what was used to promote the livestream can now be the place where the recap and recording lives.

3. Publish the livestream on Podcasts, Youtube, Vimeo, as a summary blog post

4. Share the content and make it a part of your overall content cadence.

5. Make it available as a part of workflows/sequences when certain buyer types signal an interest

6. Share it with current customers, get their thoughts. Better yet - have them as guests on your show.

7. Most importantly - don’t just bring a talking head of boredom. Bring personality, energy and ideas.

8. Avoid the slides if possible - let the story tell the story (time to dust off those user stories)

9. You must bring the content to where your buyers are - don’t make them come to you.

10. Invest in your own production team - it’s a small investment, but can have a huge impact. It should be an extension of your content marketing program.

11. Infotain. (Inform while entertaining). It will keep your audiences from dying of boredom.

In the immortal words of Marcus Orelius, Are you not entertained???? Gladiator, anyone

Audience vs. community

I recently was at an event, where the topic of building an audience vs a community came up. An audience is somewhere you're selling. A community is somewhere that you're sharing. Are you building a community or an audience. Webinars look for audiences.

As a reminder, if you’re a CMO looking to have more flexibility and make more money by having more fun, set up some time with me- I’d love to chat! You can find us at: growpowerful.io. You can also book time on my calendar.