Webinars: The New News
Whatever your politics are, I think that we can all agree that how and where we get our news is dramatically changing. We don’t know who to trust, we don’t know where to turn and increasingly we are turning away from conventional choices and moving towards non-traditional channels to get information that we feel is more tailored to our needs.
This behavior in our personal lives is beginning to spill into our professional lives as well. In a digital landscape where we are constantly being bombarded with an endless stream of messages, most aimed at selling us something, we need to work harder to uncover the practical information that we need to get our jobs done.
The New News in B2B
In the business world, webinars have really stepped up to become the “new news” source. Companies from every industry, are beginning to create serialized webinar programming to deliver updates on changing market conditions, to interoperate and analyze current events, provide guidance on hot topics or simply deliver regular best practices and training.
This programming establishes companies as the trusted source or advisor, the thought leaders in their specific area of expertise. And yes, establishing that kind of trust means that prospects will come back often and ultimately be more likely to convert into customers.
These webinars often look different than your standard talking-powerpoint presentations. They often feature presenters, on camera, that become “personalities” for their companies. They may broadcast from a nice studio set, but in many cases, they may simply use webcams to quickly and easily, “get on the air” to deliver the latest updates.
Real-Time Feedback on Breaking News
This type of webinar is often very interactive as well. One well-known financial services company delivers a weekly webinar that begins with a market update, followed by a few polls to gauge audience reaction to the latest news, then they have an entire section dedicated to simply taking questions from attendees so that they can have a conversation about the events at hand. People love this type of engagement; the webinars are informative and the interactivity makes it more authentic, more human.
It is my prediction, that in 2019, we will see “news style” webinars being to appear across every major industry and many sub-industries as well. Where there is a need for information, there will be a webinar series to help people figure it all out. The question is who will get there first?
If you would like to get a deeper look into the future of webinar marketing in 2019, join me for “Webinar Marketing Predictions for 2019.” Looking to get more out of your webinar program? Join us at Webinar World 2019 for in-depth tips and tricks for webinar success.