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1 Click the link below to watch Daniel Burstein and Todd Lebo discuss and answer questions from the audience. Watch it now!

2 How Webinars Should Fit into Your Content Marketing & Audience-Building Efforts 21 ideas for planning, creating, and leveraging your webinars

3 Today s team Todd Lebo Senior Director of Content and Business Daniel Burstein Director of Editorial

4 About MECLABS More than 10 years of research Over 1 billion s 1,300 major experiments 10,000 sales paths tested Hundreds of publications and conferences 5 million phone calls 500,000 conversations

5 MarketingSherpa is a research and publishing organization serving the marketing community MarketingSherpa s research cycle provides knowledge for continuous improvement of marketing performance 4

6 How Webinars Should Fit into Your Content Marketing & Audience-Building Efforts Pre-webinar developing content and orchestrating preevent promotions During the webinar managing the event in real time, and engaging your audience Post-webinar turning viewers into customers, processing feedback, and reusing content

7 Free webinars aren t free 1 Pre-webinar IDEA #1: Focus on delivering value not selling

8 Is a webinar right for your purposes? 1 Pre-webinar 1. How complex is my purchase? 2. Can I help my audience without selling? The goal with nurturing is not just always be closing or always be selling. It s really, always be helping. Brian Carroll, Executive Director of Revenue Optimization, MECLABS IDEA #1: Focus on delivering value not selling

Top Lead Generation Tactics 1 Pre-webinar Q: Please indicate the effectiveness of the following

Search engine optimization (SEO) Email marketing Very effective Somewhat effective Not

15% Virtual events / webinars 19% 29% 13% Paid search (PPC) 16% 34% 17% Telemarketing 13% 31%

advertising 6% 30% 25% Source: 2011 MarketingSherpa B2B Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology:

9 Top Lead Generation Tactics 1 Pre-webinar Q: Please indicate the effectiveness of the following lead generation tactics for your organization: Website design, management and optimization Search engine optimization (SEO) marketing Very effective Somewhat effective Not effective 31% 29% 26% 46% 53% 56% 9% 6% 10% Content marketing 23% 48% 10% Trade shows 20% 43% 15% Virtual events / webinars 19% 29% 13% Paid search (PPC) 16% 34% 17% Telemarketing 13% 31% 14% Public relations 13% 47% 17% Direct mail 6% 34% 21% Social media 6% 40% 29% Print advertising 6% 30% 25% Source: 2011 MarketingSherpa B2B Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded June 2011, N=1,745 Source:

10 Are other companies using webinars? 1 Pre-webinar Q. Which of the following lead generation tactics does your organization currently use? marketing Search engine Social media Website 81% 75% 72% 68% Content marketing 54% Paid search (PPC) Tradeshows Print advertising Direct mail 48% 48% 42% 40% Webinars 30% Mobile marketing 15% Source: 2012 MarketingSherpa Lead Generation Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded January 2012, N=1,915 Source:

11 1 Pre-webinar Effectiveness of webinars Q. Which of the following have been the most effective for nurturing your leads? newsletters 57% Sales calls 41% Whitepapers Thought leadership articles 35% 35% Webinars Blog posts 30% 29% Direct mail Research-based content Videos 25% 25% 24% Teleprospecting calls Self-promotional content 16% 18% Infographics Podcasts 6% 8% Source: 2012 MarketingSherpa Lead Generation Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded January 2012, N=1,915 Source:

12 POLL: What is your level of expertise with creating and promoting webinars? 1. Haven t started 2. Beginner 3. Moderate 4. Advanced 5. Move over Dan and Todd, I should be running this thing 1 Pre-webinar

13 Who are you targeting? 1 Pre-webinar IDEA #2: Pick a target

14 Identify buyer personas 1 Pre-webinar What is a buyer persona? A detailed profile that represents an actual, real-life group of your target audience. It includes common interests, motivators and expectations, as well as demographic and other behavioral characteristics. 1 IDEA #2: Pick a target

15 Key buyer persona traits 1 Pre-webinar Demographic traits IDEA #2: Pick a target Job title & responsibilities Organization size / department size Primary market (B2B, B2C, B2B2C) Industry Location Budget Behaviors Key concerns for purchase Interests Motivation Expectations Decision-making authority Approvals needed for purchase Urgency Goals Familiarity with product / service Pain points & challenges Validation needed for purchase

16 Researching buyer personas 1 Pre-webinar Qualitative Research Step 1: Ask customer-facing departments Step 2: Ask prospects Step 3: Ask customers Step 4: Mine in-house database Quantitative Research IDEA #2: Pick a target What to look for: Common traits for ideal customers Large deal sizes, short timeframes to purchase, most repeat purchases, etc. Common traits for undesirable customers Returns or refunds, smallest deal sizes, longest timeframes to purchase

17 IDEA #3: Segment your audience 1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case Study SciQuest segmented their target audience Challenge: Weekly webinars were not generating volume and quality of leads needed to meet goals for the collaborative procurement and supplier management solutions company Approach: Properly identify and segment the audience to give them targeted content.

1 Pre-webinar Marketing Sherpa Case Study SciQuest: Segmentation Cleaned up the in-house marketing database and got personaspecific content to the correct audience: They recognized inconsistencies in

18 1 Pre-webinar Marketing Sherpa Case Study SciQuest: Segmentation Cleaned up the in-house marketing database and got personaspecific content to the correct audience: They recognized inconsistencies in the way contacts job descriptions were recorded. They began standardizing the way contacts were identified. A dozen standard job description categories were created. They hired a summer intern to manually examine each contact and assign them to one of the 12 standard categories. IDEA #3: Segment your audience

19 MarketingSherpa Case Study SciQuest 1 Pre-webinar Better segmentation capabilities from their improved database allowed them to create higher-quality segmented lists for webinar invites. The webinars could now be advertised to the specific audiences they could benefit. An invitation on an advanced webinar for the healthcare industry, for example, achieved a 4% acceptance rate quadrupling the 1% acceptance rate for the company s basic webinar invitation a 300% increase in acceptance rate IDEA #3: Segment your audience Source:

20 Pick a webinar topic for your audience 1 Pre-webinar What will your audience find to be: Relevant? Urgent? Important? Make a choice of topic informed by the questions above and the research you conducted.

21 IDEA #4: Test your title Which title will perform best? Your first inclination might not produce the best headline Once you have a headline in a certain zone, a certain skill zone, there s no way for me to predict which one is going to win, because I can t get in the mystery of the audience s mind well enough to guess that. Flint Mclaughlin, CEO said prior to testing the headlines Based on two hypotheses ( Which is better, a fluid statement or a list? )

22 IDEA #4: Test your title Which title will perform best? Minor Changes, Major Lifts: How button and form optimization increased conversion 166% VS. Minor Changes, Major Lifts: Three case studies, three discoveries, 166% increase Which title do you think won?

23 IDEA #4: Test your title Which title will perform best? Winner: Minor Changes, Major Lifts: How button and form optimization increased conversion 166% Minor Changes, Major Lifts: Three case studies, three discoveries, 166% increase Small differences in wording resulted in a 92.2% increase in conversion Source:

IDEA #5: Repurpose a proven topic 1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case Study HubSpot: choosing a topic that draws an audience Challenge: HubSpot wanted a

24 IDEA #5: Repurpose a proven topic 1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case Study HubSpot: choosing a topic that draws an audience Challenge: HubSpot wanted a high performing topic to be presented by a presenter with a proved track record. Approach: They picked a topic in the vein of previous successful events.

25 1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case Study HubSpot: picked a topic for their audience and got it right HubSpot, a marketing software company, produces many webinars as part of an overall content strategy. One recent event, "The Science of Timing," garnered just shy of 25,000 signups and included almost 10,000 attendees. IDEA #5: Repurpose a proven topic

26 1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case Study HubSpot: knew their audience liked science-y content The importance of "The Science of..." series is that previous events played into the marketing of "The Science of Timing." Through past attendance metrics, they showed that this content had interest for HubSpot s audience: "The Science of Twitter" with ClickZ had pulled in about 3,000 registrants IDEA #5: Repurpose a proven topic "The Science of Social Media" had received around 12,000 registrants

27 MarketingSherpa Case Study HubSpot: answered audience s burning questions 1 Pre-webinar Jeanne Hopkins, Director of Marketing, HubSpot, explained the appeal of this event, "'The Science of Timing' kind of combined 'The Science of Twitter' and the science of social media, Facebook and blogging because it was all about timing This webinar was an aggregate of some of the questions that people really had burning questions to. Results: They achieved a record-breaking registartion of 25,000! IDEA #5: Repurpose a proven topic Source:

IDEA #6: Repurpose live event content MarketingSherpa Case Study Fairchild Semiconductor 1 Pre-webinar Challenge: Good content that got a great audience response didn t

28 IDEA #6: Repurpose live event content MarketingSherpa Case Study Fairchild Semiconductor 1 Pre-webinar Challenge: Good content that got a great audience response didn t reach the number of people they had hoped for in a live presentation format. Approach: Repurposed daylong, in-person seminar into 7 one-hour long pieces, and turn it into webinars

29 MarketingSherpa Case Study Fairchild Semiconductor results 1 Pre-webinar 30-50% of live webinar registrants actually attended, but of the remainder, 80% checked in later to access the archive. A remarkable 75-80% of live webinar attendees stayed through the entire presentation. They repurposed content that was already created, so these webinars were not as hard to make. Source: IDEA #6: Repurpose live event content

IDEA #7: Test frequency and timing 1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case study SciQuest: fewer webinars, more attendees Challenge: Weekly webinars were not generating volume and

30 IDEA #7: Test frequency and timing 1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case study SciQuest: fewer webinars, more attendees Challenge: Weekly webinars were not generating volume and quality of leads needed to meet company goals. Approach: Respect the audience s time: avoid oversaturation and put your webinar at a time when it s easiest for people to watch it.

1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case Study SciQuest: timing matters Events were no longer scheduled for every week, but every other week. Webinar starting time was changed from 2 p.m. to 11 a.m. to attract prospects in Europe while also reaching West Coast attendees first thing in the morning.

31 1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case Study SciQuest: timing matters Events were no longer scheduled for every week, but every other week. Webinar starting time was changed from 2 p.m. to 11 a.m. to attract prospects in Europe while also reaching West Coast attendees first thing in the morning. Webinar day became Thursday instead of Tuesday. No webinars were scheduled for July and August, when attendance was typically lowest. IDEA #7: Test frequency and timing Results: This tactic in combination with others increased viewership 422% Source:

32 Pre-event promotion 1 Pre-webinar IDEA #8: Think beyond the invite Source: MarketingSherpa

Idea #9: Create a promotions template MarketingSherpa Case Study IDES: a framework that produces results Challenge: IDES, a plastics industry directory, was making high-quality webinars that drew

33 Idea #9: Create a promotions template MarketingSherpa Case Study IDES: a framework that produces results Challenge: IDES, a plastics industry directory, was making high-quality webinars that drew a good audience. They wanted to expedite the process and get the same good results. 1 Pre-webinar Approach: Create easy to use templates for a webinar communication plan that can be used and reused.

Idea #9: Create a promotions template 1 Pre-webinar

prior to the webinar, ads placed throughout the website and

Webinars Page: Listing and ad link to the webinar reg page.

34 Idea #9: Create a promotions template 1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case Study IDES: Promotion Ads: 6 weeks prior to the webinar, ads placed throughout the website and link to the webinar platform s registration page. Webinars Page: Listing and ad link to the webinar reg page. Social: They create a blog posting which updates LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.

Email alerts are sent to this list 1 to 2 days prior to the presentation.

35 1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case Study IDES: Promotion Newsletters: Include the upcoming webinar as a featured story in newsletters beginning 6 weeks prior to the webinar. Alerts: Have an opt-in list of people who have asked to be notified of upcoming webinars. alerts are sent to this list 1 to 2 days prior to the presentation. alerts are also sent to recipients based on past downloads of white papers from website and newsletter click tracking on topics associated with the webinar presentation content. Idea #9: Create a promotions template

36 1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case Study IDES: Promotion Registration Form: Gathers minimal information: first and last name, . Viral: After 5 seconds, the registration page redirects to a Tell-a-Friend page created with SurveyGizmo. The form also asks if they would like to be added to our webinar alerts list. Idea #9: Create a promotions template

1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case Study IDES: Promotion Viral Emails: emails include summary information for the webinar and a link to register.

They include connection and calling instructions, and the ability to add the event to their Outlook Calendar.

37 1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case Study IDES: Promotion Viral s: s include summary information for the webinar and a link to register. Webinar Reminder s: Through the webinar platform, reminder s are sent 1 day and 1 hour prior to the event. They include connection and calling instructions, and the ability to add the event to their Outlook Calendar. All post-webinar items are also produced prior to the webinar: On-demand video page, Landing page to download slides, Follow up s to attendees and non attendees. Recipients receive a link to the webinar recording and slides within 3 hours of the presentation ending. Idea #9: Create a promotions template

38 1 Pre-webinar MarketingSherpa Case Study IDES: Results 73% of registrations coming from its newsletter and special webinar alert messages 24% of registrations coming from Google searches 37% attendance rate on live webinars "Like all things, the upfront investment is hardest part creating all the templates, figuring out the process," says Nathan Potter, Marketing Manager. "But once it s a process, it s dialed in. One person can handle it and bang it out fast. Idea #9: Create a promotions template Source:

39 MarketingSherpa webinar template 1 Pre-webinar IDEA #9 BONUS: Use our promotion template

40 How Webinars Should Fit into Your Content Marketing & Audience-Building Efforts Pre-webinar developing content and orchestrating preevent promotions During the webinar managing the event in real time, and engaging your audience Post-webinar-- turning viewers into customers, processing feedback, and reusing content Review

41 Continuously provide value 2 Mid-webinar Your audience has limited time and even more limited attention. Present your content with this in mind. Idea #10: Every slide is a microconversion Based on Richard Mayer's research search/research...

42 Help your audience connect with each other 2 Mid-webinar Idea #11: Start a conversation

43 2 Mid-webinar Idea #12: Go light on the selling

44 Two tiers of webinars 2 Mid-webinar Promote sales webinars in a straightforward manner (so your audience doesn t confuse them with content webinars. Focused on sharing your solution with attendees. Better for farther down the funnel. Idea #13: or create a second tier Content Webinar Sales Webinar Focused on providing value to potential customers. Good for higher up in the funnel.

45 Two tiers of webinars 2 Mid-webinar Promote sales webinars in a straightforward manner (so your audience doesn t confuse them with content webinars. Idea #13: or create a second tier Source:

46 Engaging + information speakers From MarketingSherpa case study about IDES Presenter: The sponsoring company provides 2 presenters: An Expert and a Personality to add flavor and interest. 2 Mid-webinar Idea #14: Don t overlook showmanship Source:

47 Engaging + information speakers Or in our case Idea #14: Don t overlook showmanship 2 Mid-webinar Subject Matter Expert Personality/Moderator Todd Dan

48 Manage the event in real time 2 Mid-webinar Have staff on hand to conduct Q&A through your platform since you won t likely have the time to address every question on the call. Assign staff members to answer attendee questions and monitor tweets. Give the staff answers to common problems: I can't get in I can't register I don't know what the telephone number is Idea #15: Have a support team Encourage the audience members to have a conversation with each other by using a Twitter hashtag, like.

49 Before, during, after: a webinar on making good webinars Pre developing content and orchestrating pre-event promotions Mid managing the event in real time, and engaging your audience Post-webinar processing feedback and reusing content

50 Share the slides 3 Post-webinar Idea #16: Easiest way to share slides is on SlideShare You can download these slides from

MarketingSherpa Case Study IDES 3 Post-webinar Exit Polls: Audience members are automatically directed to a short exit poll with 2 questions: Would you like to receive email alerts for upcoming

51 MarketingSherpa Case Study IDES 3 Post-webinar Exit Polls: Audience members are automatically directed to a short exit poll with 2 questions: Would you like to receive alerts for upcoming webinars? What topics would you like to see in the future? On-Demand Video Recording: Recordings are produced and posted. Then they are embedded onto a page on website optimized for search engines and available for people to view (and share) anytime from the comfort of their office. Idea #17: Have a follow up campaign

52 Follow-Up After the Webinar 3 Post-webinar Follow-Up Specific s are sent to attendees and non-attendees providing them with a link to view the webinar video and download presentation slides. These are sent approximately 3 hours after the event, once the ondemand video recording is available from our website. On-Demand Webinars are promoted in future newsletters. Past newsletter links are changed rather than linking to the defunct registration form, they link to the recorded webinar page. Idea #17: Have a follow up campaign

Archive and Persistent Lead Generation 3 Post-webinar Landing Page: from the on-demand webinar page, people can click a link to a landing page where visitors can complete a short form to download the

53 Archive and Persistent Lead Generation 3 Post-webinar Landing Page: from the on-demand webinar page, people can click a link to a landing page where visitors can complete a short form to download the slides. The form on the landing page is CRM cookie-based for contact information most visitors just see the questions which include inviting them to join the webinar alert list. If a visitor is new, additional contact data is collected one step prior to the form with questions. Than You Page: The customized landing page links to a downloadable PDF copy of webinar slides. Idea #17: Have a follow up campaign

54 3 Post-webinar MarketingSherpa Case Study IDES: results 55% lead capture rate from visitors who view an archived presentation Source: Idea #17: Have a follow up campaign

55 3 Post-webinar Reward attendees while continuing to nurture and repurpose Idea #18: Attendee thank you gift

56 Leverage the second-largest search engine Idea #19: Upload replay to YouTube Source:

57 Repurpose webinar information 3 Post-webinar Blog Posts Photos Podcasts Videos Presentations ebooks News Releases Idea #20: Anywhere you have content, you can repurpose

58 Now that you have all this value in your webinars Idea #21: Communicate hidden value Source:

59 Now that you have all this value in your webinars Idea #21: Communicate hidden value Source:

Mastering Content Marketing

Mastering Content Marketing (while juggling 97 other tasks) Presented by: Danielle Gray Keep in Mind Be Social! Tweet using hashtag #ContentWhisperer @dgmarketingco Connect on LinkedIn: Danielle Gray,