Automatic Merchandiser serves the business management, marketing, technology and product information needs of its readers including vending operators, coffee service operators, product brokers, and product and equipment distributors in print.
Issue link: http://automaticmerchandiser.epubxp.com/i/697335
way (because we're all busy people, right?). For instance, you could call it "The 20 Minute Executive Brief- ing on [insert your topic]." If you're going to have 5-10 min of live Q&A; at the end (which you might want to work your way up to…your frst few webinars might just focus on delivering content with no Q&A;), make sure you have a moderator who can be watching the comments and questions box and be selecting the best questions for you to answer or the best com- ments to share at the end. Using a product like Citrix GoToWebinar makes the process easy, but it does cost a few bucks to buy the Citrix system. The moderator can also directly answer questions that you and the moderator don't believe are relevant to the entire group of attendees, or handle questions/ comments that are off topic while you're delivering the content. You can also use the execution of your webinar to "seed" upcoming con- tent, either about additional upcom- ing webinars, or content you will be posting on your website, blog or other online locations where you're actively promoting your business. And like any good PowerPoint presentation or slide deck, be sure that you switch up the format of your slides — some with colorful, appealing bullet-pointed material, some with only a compelling visual that reinforces a point you're making verbally, and some that have both content and visuals. Try to make the slides light on copy; after all, you will be delivering the majority of the content verbally (from your script if you choose to use one). "The Offer" At the end, offer some bonus content such as a "Tip Sheet On Healthy Vending" or an online guide about "How To Pick The Best Products For Your Micro Market," for instance. In order for the attendees to receive the bonus content, direct them to a URL on your website or a landing page you may have created to highlight key content points and to redeem that special offer by opting in with their name, email address and possibly a phone number. (Keep in mind that a complicated opt-in form can drive people away.) For it to be meaningful, your offer has to be appealing to your attendees. You can create the con- tent, or you can curate the content of the offer — such as a third-party expert who has given you his/her permission to "borrow" their con- tent because it's good for you and good for them. Ultimately, it's about driving attendees to take action, so have a call-to-action at the end of your webinar, such as "Go to [URL] to learn more about..." or "Take advan- tage of our special offer by pasting this simple link into your browser today! You'll be glad you did!" And if your URL is long and compli- cated looking, remember that you can always shorten it by going to https://bitly.com/ — it's a fantas- tic tool to shorten a URL so your attendees don't miss your offer by typing the wrong URL into their browsers. Bit.ly URLs work really well in Twitter posts, too! Follow Up Conducting a webinar and all it entails, creating your "offer," promoting and indoctrinating potential attendees will be for naught if you don't follow up immediately after the webinar has concluded. The most important aspect of follow up is hav- ing it all thought through and planned out before you even launch your initial attraction campaign. The frst step is to "park" the webinar content on your website or a landing page, which should be recorded through the Citrix technol- ogy, and let it just auto-play anytime someone who couldn't attend the live webinar wants to view it at a time most convenient for them. Tip: Be sure to delete the Q&A; from the original webinar because it obvi- ously won't make sense — Citrix can help with that. Most successful online market- ers follow up their webinars with an email campaign that relates to the subject matter, but moves the customer or prospect to the "next level," whatever that may be for your business. What's the next prod- uct you can sell them? What's the next topic on which they need to be educated? They may not buy what you're selling or sign up for the very next webinar, but that just means you will need to nurture them along like any of your prospects until they are ready to move to the next level. Finally, put your webinar(s) on a timeline, or they will never happen. Like everything in our businesses, we have to commit and then follow through. Plan your frst (or next) webinar with the simple milestone- based timeline above. And don't forget to make the webinar process and the webinar itself fun. Webinar Plan & Timeline Outline completed Script drafted PowerPoint/Keynote created Revisions to script & slides completed Registration page live Rehearsal completed Citrix (or similar) tech all set up Webinar set to be recorded for auto-play Webinar goes live! 20 Automatic Merchandiser VendingMarketWatch.com June/July 2016 O N L I N E O P P O R T U N I T I E S