In today's fast-paced digital landscape, webinars have become an essential tool for demand generation.  They're a great way to attract potential buyers and introduce them to your product or service. But with over 60% of B2B marketers reporting reduced or stagnant budgets, marketing teams are feeling the pressure to find more uses and ROI from their tech-stack or risk losing them completely, including tools like webinar platforms. This makes it imperative for marketers to use webinars in many more ways in the buyer journey. Let's dive into how tools like Webinar+ help attract qualified leads into your funnel, convert them to SALs, drive more sales meetings, and beyond.

Fill your sales funnel with quality leads

Webinars can be a great way to fill up your pipeline. 

This top of the funnel (aka ToFu) tactic is the most common webinar use case for a reason. These help in attracting greater MQLs. You can even analyze your content’s performance. For instance, how many people watched your webinar, how engaged they were during the session, and so on. All of this information can help you fine-tune your webinar strategy and make sure you're putting out content that resonates with your target audience. These typically bring together demand gen and events teams to showcase your brand’s expertise for target audiences through thought-leadership sessions, expert panels, fireside chats, or AMAs. 

Build interest and consideration

So you've managed to get people interested in your product - nice work! Now it's time to give them more solid, trustworthy content. The idea here is to build up your credibility with potential customers and keep them engaged as they move further down your sales funnel. Doing so not only helps in greater MQL to SAL conversion (that's "Marketing Qualified Leads" to "Sales Accepted Leads"), but also helps in closing greater demo requests from your webinars.

There are a lot of different topics that can work well at this stage. Client success stories show people how your product has helped others in similar situations. Use case examples give prospects a concrete idea of what your product can do for them. And if you really want to impress audiences, you can host webinars that showcase the latest and greatest developments in your industry.

Of course, you'll want to make sure all of this content is actually working for you. Look at the engagement analytics to see if your audiences were truly engaged, did they chat, participate in polls, ask questions, and so on.

Convert, convert, convert!

Now we're getting to the really important stuff: conversion! This is the stage where you want to give your prospects a taste of what it's like to be a customer of yours. One great way to do that is through product demos that are specifically tailored to their interests and goals. Speaking to their needs ensures faster deal acceleration, pipeline generated, and sales meetings closed.

Read and Learn: How to Harness Webinars for a 2X Pipeline Boost

Putting these demos together is a team effort. Your field marketing and sales teams will work together to tell relatable and compelling stories in an engaging way.

Frequently asked questions

1. Why are webinars considered essential for demand generation in today's digital landscape?

Webinars are an effective way to attract potential buyers, introduce them to your products or services, and engage them with valuable content. They provide a platform for thought leadership and engagement with target audiences.

2. How can webinars help attract qualified leads into the sales funnel?

Webinars can serve as a top-of-the-funnel (ToFu) tactic to attract Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs). By analyzing webinar performance metrics, you can fine-tune your strategy and create content that resonates with your target audience.

3. What types of webinars are typically used to build interest and consideration among potential customers?

Webinars at this stage can include client success stories, use case examples, and industry updates. These help build credibility and engage prospects as they move down the sales funnel.

4. How can webinars help in the conversion stage of the buyer journey?

Webinars can be used to offer tailored product demos that address prospects' specific interests and goals. This stage accelerates deal closure, generates pipeline, and leads to more sales meetings.

5. What is the role of field marketing and sales teams in creating effective product demos for webinars?

Field marketing and sales teams collaborate to tell compelling stories and conduct engaging product demos that resonate with prospects' needs, leading to faster deal acceleration.

6. How do webinars contribute to brand advocacy and customer loyalty?

Webinars can be used to engage with existing customers, answer their questions, gather feedback, and highlight excellent customer service. This builds loyalty and creates brand advocates.

7. What are the benefits of having the right webinar tools, like Webinar+, for planning and tracking the entire marketing funnel or customer flywheel?

Having the right webinar tools streamlines the process of planning, executing, and tracking webinars at various stages of the buyer journey. It enables cross-collaborations, measures performance metrics, and ensures success.

8. How can Webinar+ assist in planning and tracking webinars for every stage of the buyer and customer journey?

Webinar+ provides the capabilities to strategize webinars for different stages and helps in tracking and measuring success. It offers a comprehensive solution for optimizing your webinar marketing efforts.

9. How can I request a demo and learn more about how Webinar+ can fit into my marketing stack?

You can contact the Webinar+ team to request a demo and explore how it can be integrated into your marketing stack to enhance your webinar strategies.

Create brand advocacy

A signed contract is just the beginning! You can keep customers are happy and satisfied with their experience, too, which translates to lower churn, higher retention, and greater brand advocacy, and loyalty. That's where the field, client experience, and product marketing teams come in.

At this stage, you can give and get more love from your customers by unlocking more benefits to your product, answering their questions, and gathering feedback. Best practice content that highlights excellent customer service can also be really helpful here.

To go the extra mile, you can build a customer advisory board and get their input on key product questions which builds loyalty and keeps your customers engaged with your brand. Happy customers are loyal customers, and loyal customers are your best brand advocates!

Working the entire marketing funnel or customer flywheel can be overwhelming, as it involves various cross-collaborations and critical performance metrics. That's why it's so important to have the right webinar tools for the entire team to help plan and track it all.

Webinar+ not only lets you build out strategies for every stage of the buyer and customer journey, but it also helps you track and measure your success along the way.

Contact us today to get a demo, and learn how Webinar+ can fit into your marketing stack.

Get the latest research from Forrester Consulting and Hubilo on the Top 5 Challenges Marketers Face with Webinars