The future of trade fairs is uncertain. Attendance at corporate workshops is in continued decline, simply because potential visitors have less freedom to travel. Field sales can hardly visit customers at their premises anymore. As a result, communicating with existing and potential customers is becoming increasingly difficult.

All of this leads to a difficult situation. Buyers still want to get informed, but suppliers can no longer share their expertise on new products and applications the way they used to. So the question is: what to do?

In this situation, webinars offer companies an excellent way to keep in touch with their existing and potential customers.

Why webinars? Because webinars are an easy and inexpensive way to carry on sharing knowledge about products and applications and to attract high-quality sales leads.

▶ Webinars are well-established at leading companies
▶ When are webinars the best option for buyers?
▶ Why webinars are better at communicating know-how
▶ Why webinars are so popular among potential buyers
▶ Why webinars benefit companies
▶ How to boost your B2B webinars’ participant figures
▶ Conclusion

Webinars are well-established at leading companies

The technology of offering know-how not only face-to-face but online through webinars has been around for over 20 years. Pioneers like Malvern Panalytical have been successfully using webinars since 2001. In the last 10 years alone, they have held over 700 webinars.

Their topics range from new product launches to new methods to application examples. Participants take part free of charge to learn and make better decisions with the knowledge they acquire.

Number of webinars offered at Malvern Panalytical

When are webinars the best option for buyers?

Before making a purchasing decision, more than 70% of buyers start with gathering information on the internet, in the course of which they go through the following steps:

1. They have a problem to solve but do not yet recognize it clearly

2. They’ve recognized the problem and are looking for a solution

3. Possible solutions and their providers become known

4. The buyer checks the offers of the various solution providers

When potential buyers have recognized that they have a problem to solve and are looking for a solution (step 2 above), webinars are the obvious choice. The big advantage of webinars is that you, as a solution provider, can demonstrate much more than in a product brochure or on a website. Because at this stage, potential buyers are not yet concerned with any technical details.

Instead, your sales specialists can use a webinar to:

• explain the key benefits of your product,
• provide practical examples that demonstrate the benefits of your product, or
• demonstrate how easy to use your product is.

Why webinars are better at communicating know-how

Product brochures, application reports and websites have major disadvantages: they are often far too fact-based, do not show the people behind the solution, and they address potential buyers in writing only – no more than 10% to 30% of the information taken up stays in their memory.

A webinar, on the other hand, allows participants to absorb much more because they do not only read but also see and hear about your solution on their computers.

Webinar participants retain the content 5 times better

Why webinars are so popular among potential buyers

Webinars usually take between 30 and 60 minutes. This suits potential buyers because they don’t have to invest a lot of time to learn about the solution being offered. Unlike for face-to-face workshops, there’s no need to travel, so significantly more potential buyers regularly attend webinars than on-site workshops.

Why webinars benefit companies

If your competitors are only offering written information, a webinar will automatically give you a clear advantage. In a webinar, your specialists convey knowledge in a way that makes it easier to recall by participants. Your company is perceived as competent. This effect is reinforced by the personal touch that your speakers bring to the computer screen.

A further advantage is that you don’t have to worry about finding a venue, making hotel reservations for speakers, or organizing catering.

How to boost your B2B webinars’ participant figures

Webinars allow you to reach more potential buyers than with on-site workshops, and with less effort. This is what our customers in the chemical, life sciences, pharmaceutical, analytical and food & beverage markets tell us. But there are some things to consider:

• How specific is the topic? Topics of general interest appeal to more people.
• How do you invite people to the webinar? Advertising is the key to success here. Without advertising your webinar won’t get many attendees.

It’s hardly sufficient to introduce a webinar only on your own website. This only reaches people who have already been looking for your webinar there.

Four methods of participant advertising have proved successful:

• Mail shots (EDMs) to your distribution list contacts: expect 5 to 20 more participants per e-mail
• Mail shots to newsletter subscribers of external partners: expect 20 to 100 more participants per e-mail
• Placement in a webinar library: expect 10 to 50 more participants per year
• Notifications in the newsletters of external partners: expect about 5 more participants per notice

This means that to attract new potential customers you need to promote your webinar on external channels. Mail shots (also known as EDMs or stand-alone mailings) and webinar libraries are usually particularly effective. We will be happy to talk about your objectives and help you select the most promising channels.

The webinar library on the portal chemie.de

Conclusion

Webinars help you reach potential customers who are already actively looking for a solution. For your sales team, these constitute high-quality, promising sales leads that can be further developed. If you also promote your webinars through external channels, you’ll avoid low participation rates.