Webinars have been shown to be a high-converting form of content marketing—as many as 20% of webinar users convert, according to BuzzSumo. But what if you’re not seeing those numbers?
If you’re not, there are steps you can take to fix the issue—but first you have to pinpoint the cause. Here are a few of the most common causes of low conversion in webinars—and how to fix it.
You didn’t pick a topic that resonates. This is the single most important step to take—make sure your topic is one your audience really cares about. If your sign-up numbers are low—especially if your marketing is on point—this is most likely part or all of the problem. If you think this may be the case, go back to your audience. Ask for feedback. Send out a survey asking audience members what topics interest them the most, monitor conversations on social media, or sit down with a thought leader to interview them on what challenges your audience faces today. Take the time to do this, and you’ll come away with a more solid understanding of what they need—and the topics to cover.
You didn’t make it relevant to your services. No webinar should function as a sales pitch—that’s not the point. But by the end, hopefully your audience will see a clear need for your services. If your topic is too far away from the type of service or product you offer, likely your audience won’t see a connection between the webinar content and signing up for your newsletter or buying from you. Make sure your webinar content is very clearly related to what you sell—and how your audience can solve a key problem that’s relevant to that.
You didn’t hold their attention. The Internet offers endless distraction. To keep people on board with you, you need to keep them engaged. One way to do this is to build in interactive features—a poll, a question-and-answer section, opportunities for webinar attendees to critique something—that draw them in and keep them focused. Keep them with you the whole way through, and they’re more likely to sign up at the end.
You didn’t focus on solving problems. It’s easy to keep the focus of your webinar on something like your product and its features. But your audience isn’t there for that. They’re there to learn how to solve a problem. It’s your job to show them how to solve that problem first. Bring in how the features of your product solve that problem second. Be sure they understand, at every step of the way, exactly how you or your product helps them resolve some issue they face every day.
You dumbed it down. It’s easy to make the mistake of trying to be sure your webinar is as clear as possible—so even those with less experience will follow. In fact, you should do the opposite. Don’t be so unclear that nobody gets it—but think about the smarter, more experienced audience members, too. If you don’t hold their attention and teach them something new, they’ll wander off. The best way to combat this is to bring your A-game—aim to teach the more experienced audience members a thing or two, but provide references back to background information for less experienced members as well.
If your webinars aren’t converting, there could be any number of reasons. These are just a few. The fix may involve getting a better handle on your topics, building in more interactivity, focusing on problem-solving or being sure to keep your experienced audience members on their toes. If you do, you should see a boost in conversions—and get the most out of every webinar you post.
