In a recent interview on PRMM, Ken Molay of Webinar Success shares some insight on webinars.  In his years of writing about webinars, Ken has seen attendance rates drop from 50-60% to an average of 33%. 

To combat this, Ken recommends:

"Companies who host webinars need to 'up their game' and concentrate on creating value for their attendees in both content and presentation."

He also shares three things marketers should consider when using webinars for their programs:

1. Frame everything in terms of audience interest and benefits.
    
2. Don't take a successful webinar over the top until you reach "list exhaustion."
    
3. Turning attendees into prospects is greatly influenced by your speed of response after the event.

Ken's suggestions for marketers may seem like common sense, but people fall into the trap over and over again.

• Audience interest and benefits: We love talking about what we do. S why wouldn't everyone else enjoy it too? 

  Unfortunately, in the same way we like talking about what we do, others like to focus on their interests and areas.  If your webinar doesn't appeal to them, it doesn't matter how interesting it is to you, and they won't feel inspired to attend.
   

• List exhaustion: Makes sense, take something that "works" and repeat it over and over. 

  Sadly, it's hard to see when that should end.  People already have an incredible amount of content to pick from. If you appear to be just running on replay, there's little interest.  Fresh content is important for your web marketing efforts, apply the same rule to your webinars.
   

• Conversion: It seems everyone is offering webinars. 

  That's great for attendees, giving them a great variety to choose from.  As the company offering webinars, it makes your challenge even more difficult.  If you were able to get them attend your webinar, don't let the connection cool.  Your webinar may have been wedged into their schedule on a day chock full of meetings. So… get back to them quickly.

Ken also says that as usage becomes more common, presenters spend less time and effort on preparation and that companies who host webinars need to “up their game” and concentrate on creating value for their attendees in both content and presentation.

And in my humble opinion, these are two of the most important points made in the article.

If you've been reading my stuff for any length of time, you already know that I am constantly encouraging my readers and customers to spend some time planning ahead and put together presentations that are content rich, educational, entertaining, and above all else interactive.

Not sure how to accomplish all this? Check out my Webinar Best Practices article and video about keeping your audience engaged with interactive presentations. 

Ken shared some really great advice in this interview. You can read the full interview here.

What do you do to deliver value and avoid audience dissatisfaction?

Web Meet Live makes it a snap to host truly interactive, online webinar events. For more information about Web Meet Live, please don't hesitate to contact us today!

Hope to speak with you soon!

Tim Romero
Owner – Founder 
Web Meet Live Web Conferencing

P.S. Got questions, contact us!