For B2B Marketers: The 12 Most Common Lead Generation Webinar Marketing Mistakes

Reston, VA, October 7, 2009 – Making lead generation webinars a key component of B2B marketing campaigns is certainly nothing new. Using them optimally, however, is a whole different story.

Michael Cage, B2B marketing consultant and leader in unconventional webinar marketing, explores the common pitfalls that result in poor performing webinars in his latest article, "The 12 Most Common Lead Generation Webinar Marketing Mistakes."

"My testing has demonstrated that the very strategies promoted as 'best practices' in using webinars as a part of lead generation campaigns can cause depressed response rates, poor attendance, and a low quality lead," says Cage. "I wanted to give B2B marketers an alternative way of thinking about their next webinar. Instead of 'here's what to do,' this article highlights twelve costly mistakes to avoid before, during, and after their lead generation webinars."

Among the twelve lead generation webinar mistakes detailed in Cage's article are:

1) Being all things to all people.

One reason this mistake affects sales is because it causes you to do webinars on topics which are broad and generic. The more profitable strategy is to segment your market into clusters of your best customers, and then offer each cluster a webinar targeted specifically to them. Tailoring your message in this way helps to increase response rates, attendance, and the quality of the lead.

2) Being Boring.

In short, the quickest way to lose the attention of your prospects is to recite facts and statistics for 60-90 minutes. Bored attendees don't pay attention. And people not paying attention disconnect. So, what interests people? Themselves. Talk directly to your prospects about their problems, concerns and goals. Talk only about yourself as it pertains to helping them overcome their obstacle or achieve their goal. Utilize stories and other persuasive strategies to command and direct the attention of your attendees.

3) Not having enough proof.

No matter how large your company might be, the question on the mind of your prospects is, "why should I believe you?" Let me be very clear, you can never offer too much proof for the claims you make. Proof comes in many forms. Some of the most common are testimonials, case histories, visual displays (graphs, charts, before and after photos, etc.) Most people are looking for a reason not to take the next step towards buying. When you overwhelm prospects with proof, you make it hard for them to make a case against you and your offer. Think about the different ways you can demonstrate proof and the different times during your presentation you can present it. I'll say it again, you can never have too much.

4) Not defining a clear course of action once the webinar has ended.

Have you ever ended a lead gen webinar by saying, "If you're interested in what we've talked about today, call the office." If so, you're leaving too much up to your audience. Anyone who has already made up their mind about doing business with you or who has just a few more questions before they decide to get involved will respond to that kind of close. But the majority of your audience will not fall into that category. And if all you leave them with is an invitation to call the office if they're interested, they won't.

5) Ignoring non-buyers.

Once your salespeople follow up with non-buyers after your webinar, what happens next? If they don't buy from your salespeople, do you dismiss them and move on to the next lead? Most organizations could be generate 20-110% more sales through time by strategically planning a follow-up process to convert non-buyers. Very few people buy at first contact with a company. Knowing that, do not write prospects off if they don't buy the first or second time around. Know that someone who has attended one webinar but not bought is one of the best prospects for another webinar going forward.

Visit the full article, "The 12 Most Common Lead Generation Webinar Marketing Mistakes," for expanded information about each mistake plus resources to improve your lead generation campaigns.