Webinars are one of the most effective strategies you can use to grow your business…
With some studies saying that the average webinar generates between 500-1,000 new leads…
And converts at 55%…
Thinking of creating a webinar for your business? In the blog, I’m going to show you exactly how to build a webinar funnel from start to finish.
Hey, Posse! What’s up? It’s Alex.
This week, we’re going to get into the nitty-gritty details of planning and executing a high-converting webinar.
Now I LOVE marketing.
But I especially love webinars.
They are one of my favorite tools to use in marketing and over the years, I have written a LOT of webinars for my clients.
I have seen first-hand just how effective they can be at bringing in qualified leads AND converting those leads into paying customers.
Now if you love learning marketing as much as I do…
And you want to learn more – then make sure to subscribe to my Copy Posse newsletter.
Now, when it comes to planning and executing a successful webinar funnel, it’s important to first have a general idea of WHAT a webinar’s purpose actually is…
A webinar funnel is a marketing strategy that involves attracting leads to sign up, nurturing them through a series of emails, and then converting them into customers through a highly valuable FREE webinar. Sometimes called an online training, workshop or masterclass.
Your main goal is to attract as many QUALIFIED leads to your free webinar as possible…
…wow them with crazy good value…
…then convert them into customers by making a relevant and irresistible offer.
But in order to do that, there are some pretty specific steps you need to take… and I guarantee you most people completely forget abbott the last step.
So let’s get started with the FIRST part of your webinar funnel…
#1 – Define Your HOOK
Yep – just like ANYTHING you do in marketing, the very first step you need to take is to identify who your ideal audience is for your webinar…
And more specifically, what they actually CARE ABOUT.
If you need help defining your ideal customer, I have a FREE customer avatar worksheet that I’ll link for you in the description box below.
Once you know who your ideal audience is, come up with a juicy hook that will make them think, “omg I have to watch this!”
A hook is…. is exactly what it sounds like — a concept or an idea that HOOKS people’s attention, and gets them interested in what you have to say or offer.
So a GOOD HOOK will take into account who your target audience is and what they ultimately want… and it will speak directly to those two things.
But here’s one really important thing to keep in mind when crafting your hook…
Don’t *just* consider what the webinar is about…
Consider the end game as well – what are you going to be promoting at the END of your webinar?
Then reverse engineer your positioning by clearly defining the biggest desires and pain points of your ideal attendees. Remember, the point of your webinar isn’t JUST to get as many people as humanly possible to attend…
It’s to get as many QUALIFIED LEADS as you can.
You don’t want to waste your time, money, or resources on people who would never actually buy from you.
That’s why it’s soooo important to create a hook that will really resonate with them at every step of the marketing funnel. Which is KEY – not just for ensuring people actually show up…
But also to increase your chances of converting them into customers.
Alright, now that you know WHO you’re webinar is for and what will get their attention, it’s time to move on to the next step of your webinar funnel…
#2 – Create A Landing Page
You need to build a dedicated page where leads will LAND to sign up for your webinar.
Aka – a landing page! (Here’s the tool I use).
Because your webinar is free, you really shouldn’t need to make your landing page overly complex or complicated.
You want to make it quick and easy for people to register…
So not a whole lot of copy is needed!
All you really need is a clear and benefit-focused headline that uses the hook…
A compelling breakdown of what the viewers will learn in the webinar…
Making sure to highlight the benefits of attending – THIS is where knowing exactly who your ideal audience is and WHAT they *really* want comes in handy.
And of course, you need to end with a clear Call-to-Action.
That takes the lead to an opt-in form, where they can complete registration by entering their email address.
Easy peasy!
#3 – Drive Traffic To A Landing Page
Once your landing page is ready, you need to drive traffic to it.
The way in which you do that will really depend on your budget and how you typically connect with new leads.
But here are some ideas for you to consider…
Email your current list
- Free.
- While technically these aren’t “new” leads. But attending this webinar COULD be the thing that converts them into paying customers. So don’t ignore the leads you already have.
Post on social media
- Free.
- You should be posting about your upcoming webinar as much as possible, across ALL your social channels.
- This will capture the attention of both your current audience AND can bring in new leads as well.
Run Paid Ads
- Not free.
- If you have the budget then running paid ads is a GREAT WAY to attract new leads.
- Make your ads benefit-driven and focus on the big problem or solution that you’re going to help your viewers solve during your webinar.
Alright, so now that you’ve got some leads registering for your webinar, it’s time to move on to the next step…
Which is VERY, VERY important…
# 4 – Confirmation & Reminder Emails
After someone registers for the webinar, you need to immediately send them a confirmation email that thanks them for signing up and provides the details of the webinar.
Like the date, time if it’s LIVE and HOW the person can access the webinar. Remember people are BUSY and got like a million things vying for their attention…
I know even with the best intentions I often forget about something I committed to even if it’s only a day away…
So if you’re not sending reminder emails, then chances are that your attendance rate won’t be great.
So I always recommend sending out a few reminder emails as well.
One the day before…
AND another 30 minutes before your webinar starts.
Make all of these emails short and to the point. With all the information they need clear and easy to find…
I also recommend you test an on-demand video webinar where people can watch as soon as they sign up!
Alright moving onto step 5 of your webinar funnel…
#5 – Pre-Webinar Engagement
Depending on when people sign up for your webinar, it’s possible that they won’t only forget about the webinar…
But will also lose excitement about attending.
Remember, humans are creatures of instant gratification.
So if they have to WAIT for your webinar, then you need to keep them excited and engaged otherwise, they will quickly lose interest and even if you do send them reminder emails, they may no longer be interested enough to attend.
Leading up to your webinar, you should be posting on social media AND sending pre-webinar emails to the people that signed up.
Make your pre-webinar emails highly valuable and build anticipation by touching on the benefits of attending…
EVEN BETTER would be to drive engagement with the people who signed up by encouraging them to submit questions that you’ll answer LIVE on the webinar.
A whopping 92 percent of webinar attendees want a Q&A at the end of the webinar.
So asking your leads to submit questions in advance is a GREAT WAY to ensure they show up to the webinar AND that they stay until the end.
Okay, now that you have qualified leads signed up, you’ve reminded them and gotten them excited about attending…
It’s time to move on to the big event…
The webinar.
#6 – Deliver High-Quality Webinar
When the webinar takes place, you don’t want all your hard work of finding the right leads and keeping them engaged to go to waste by delivering a shitty webinar that makes them all bounce in the first 15 minutes…
You need to make sure your webinar delivers GREAT value and most importantly…
Is highly engaging.
Well over 50% of webinar attendees say the #1 factor in whether they stay on a webinar or leave is that the presenter is passionate and engaging.
So you NEED to make sure you take the time to create a webinar that accomplishes these things.
And I do recommend scripting or at least OUTLINING your webinar. Do not wing it completely.
Chances are – no matter how well you know your content and offer – you will ramble and wander and lose attention.
And I have an entire video where I break down exactly how to create an engaging webinar script, which I’ll link to at the end of this video…
Moving onto #7…
#7 – Webinar Follow-Up Emails
After the webinar, you want to follow up with attendees.
Because MOST people won’t attend LIVE, so you want to recap why it was awesome and incentivize them to watch the replay…
And you also want to deepen the relationship with the people who did attend and move them further down the sales funnel.
So to do that, I recommend you send a thank you email that includes a link to the replay…
Then another 3-5 emails after that including making a special webinar offer and, of course, highlighting the benefits of taking the next step with you.
Your goal is to convert your attendees into customers! So these emails should be benefit-heavy, speak to their biggest desires, provide an enticing offer, and ideally include scarcity or urgency to encourage immediate action.
These are sales emails in action – but to an already engaged audience!
#8 – Nurture Ongoing Relationships
Even if attendees don’t convert into immediate customers, you need to CONTINUE to email them and nurture that relationship.
This is the step that MOST people completely forget.
But the fact is, many marketing experts now agree that it takes as many as 13 touchpoints to convert a lead.
I see even higher in my business… So don’t be discouraged if a new lead doesn’t convert right away.
People want to take time to get to know you BEFORE they commit.
Keep engaging with them on a regular basis, provide awesome value, keep your brand messaging consistent, and position yourself as *the* authority figure who can help them.
And eventually, they very likely will convert into a paying customer.
For more help with creating effective marketing campaigns for your business, check out my step-by-step marketing video program – STORM…
Where you’ll get insider strategies, proven and repeatable processes, and customizable marketing blueprints that you can apply immediately in your own business to see AMAZING RESULTS.
Until next time, I’m Alex. Ciao for now!
