Why Running Webinars Will Increase Your Sales

You may have heard that offering a free webinar to your audience is a great way to increase your sales. Webinars are getting increasingly popular year by year and many businesses are using them to reach entirely new markets around the globe. But how exactly does a webinar boost your profits? 
 
Boost Your Content Marketing Efforts 

The webinar is an essential part of your content marketing strategy. The idea behind content marketing is that you offer your audience free content with no strings attached in order to build a relationship with them.  

Because the content is free, it allows you to draw a large number of leads into your sales funnel. If you can offer real solutions to their problems, you’ll build a solid, trusting relationship with your audience. Then later, when you pitch products and services to them, they’ll be much more likely to buy.  

How to Monetize Your Webinars 

There are a few ways you can earn directly through your webinar if you choose to do so. One is to charge people a fee for signing up. But keep in mind that the market is glutted with free content and educational opportunities. You’ll have to market your webinar well in order to drive home the unique value it offers. You also may not get as much exposure as you would with a free event. 

Another way to earn through your webinar is to pitch products at some point during the presentation. While teaching your participants how to do something, you can talk about products you offer that are relevant to the topic. 

You can also use your webinar as an extended advertisement for paid educational opportunities. For example, offer a month-long course that goes deep into a specific topic. You can then take one part of that topic and offer it as a free webinar to give people a taste of what the full course covers. 

How to Earn Money from a Free Webinar 

The best way to get the most out of running a webinar, however, is to offer it free of charge and free of advertisements or other monetization. If you think strategically and place this content within your overall marketing mix, you can use it to boost your sales. Here are some best practices for doing this. 

Tie Your Content in with Your Products.

Create a webinar that tackles a certain problem your audience faces that your products can solve. You can teach your participants how to resolve the issue themselves, but also offer products and services that will solve the problem more easily for them. 

Offer True Value to Your Audience.

Pack as much value into your free webinar as you possibly can. If they feel they’ve received great value from your content, they’ll buy from you whenever they need your products. 

Keep in Touch.

Always end up your webinars with ways people can keep in touch with you. Use those channels of communication to stay on their radar. The more you create opportunities to stay in touch, the more likely they’ll buy from you. 

Offer Incentives.

Offer incentives that are exclusive to your webinar participants as a way of saying thanks. This could be a discount, access to exclusive content, or anything else you think they could use. 

Pay It Forward 

The whole idea behind content marketing is to pay it forward with genuine help and education for your audience. Lend your expertise and experience to help people solve their problems. There’s no need to push products and services on them. If you build a strong relationship through your webinar and other content, they’ll buy from you when they’re ready. 
 
About The Author    
   
Pat Simes  is a Business Strategist, blogger and Founder of Innovative Business Solutions and Innovate Academy. She currently resides in the Midwest and is committed to inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs to transform their vision to reality.