Let’s face it, we’re all fighting for the ear of the stakeholder and it’s increasingly difficult to stand out amidst the noise from social media, non-stop emails, and all the cold calls. Historically, benefits advisers have been unkind to prospects — making unrealistic promises, blasting cheesy emails, hijacking networking events.

I began hosting webinars for prospects and clients to provide value to those who wanted to listen. I also did it to stop feeling guilty about wasting people’s time, and in turn, wasting my own time. Yes, cold calls, direct mail, and cold emails still work … if you’re lucky. In truth though, value needs to be experienced to be understood. Webinars are a great way to create value for your prospects while also positioning yourself as an expert and luminary in benefits.

Are you interested in taking the plunge and hosting your first webinar, but unsure where to start? After hosting multiple webinars now, I’ve put together four steps to creating a successful webinar.

Planning Process:

Choose your platform. GoToMeeting? Zoom? YouTube? I utilize Zoom because it’s inexpensive and has a modern look. For the first time around, take advantage of the free trial.
Pinpoint your audience. Consider job title, age, experience, location, type of buyer. Be realistic — you will likely not get an entire audience of CEOs.
What is your format? Is it a Q&A session? A panel discussion? Are you taking it on solo? I recommend relieving some of the pressure by bringing in a co-host for the first one.
Determine the topic. What are your clients’ areas of concern? Go ahead, ask them. Search #hashtags on LinkedIn and Twitter. Find out what your desired audience is interested in. Look at recent legislation around HRA rulings, health care transparency, and paid family leave. The options are endless.
Decide the time and day.Tuesday — Thursday, from 9–11 AM are your best bet for high attendance.

Content creation:

Follow slide deck rules 101. Keep the intro short. No one cares about your experience. Be engaging. Include questions and polls throughout the presentation. Tell stories. It’s about the connection and ability to understand and solve the real problems your prospects and customers face every day.
Promote across channels. Utilize social media, email, cold-calling, centers of influence, current clients, agency team members, your mom … whoever. Just get the word out! If you have built a good reputation, then your connections will be happy to share.
Creating the content. Hootsuite can be your friend for scheduling posts. This will save you time during the week. Canva can be your friend for (easily) creating graphics. MailChimp can be your friend for sending out bulk emails.

The webinar itself

Practice. Practice. This is the secret to everything, right?
No sales pitch. The quickest way to lose an audience is to sell. Focus on providing value and you will come out on top.
Find a friend. Something will go wrong. Sorry, it’s true. Have a friend available to help with any technical issues that may arise during the webinar, leaving you to focus on the audience.

Follow up:

Same-day email. This needs to happen within an hour of the webinar. Save yourself the headache and have the email template ready to go before the webinar even starts. Have one email for those who attend, and one for those who missed the webinar.
Include a call to action. An e-book or white paper to download. A link to schedule a consultation. A download of the webinar or presentation.
Get feedback. Zoom and GoToMeeting allow you to create a survey which will appear after the webinar. Keep it short and sweet. Would you recommend this webinar to a colleague? Do you want to learn more? What topics are you interested in for future webinars? Done.

That’s it. You’ve hosted your first webinar! Now what? Well, are you ready to put on another event, or do you prefer your standard marketing approach? Write down the lessons learned, the data gathered, and the ways you can streamline the process for the future.

Webinars take time to create, market and execute. Put quality time and effort in, on a consistent basis, and you will see your relationships deepen and your close ratios increase.

Jessica Du Bois is a benefits consultant at Business Benefits Group, located in the D.C. metro region. She focuses on personalizing the employee education experience to enhance the ease of use and understanding of employee benefits.

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4 steps to creating a successful webinar

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