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The sheer size of the prospect universe for most companies is daunting, and pursuing unqualified leads is expensive, time consuming and ineffective.

Thankfully, marketers can help sales narrow their focus by implementing initiatives, such as webinar campaigns, that generate inbound inquiries from interested prospects.

Successful webinar campaigns can:

• Strengthen corporate/executive thought-leadership positioning
• Educate target audiences on key industry and value drivers
• Increase traction with existing prospects
• Identify and deliver new qualified leads to the sales team

At Zer0 to 5ive, we have been leveraging webinars to help our clients generate leads for nearly a decade. As a result, we have identified a set of best practices to help ensure your webinar is a success:

• Preparation: Create a plan that includes objectives, strategies, campaign theme, target audiences, participants and all the other tactical details to support the strategies. As a rule of thumb, Zer0 to 5ive allows 4 – 6 weeks prior to the first email drop for proper planning and coordination.

• Content: The single most important aspect of a webinar is the actual content of the presentation. Content must be compelling, relevant and significant to the audience, enabling them to gain new, valuable information, without coming across as a sales pitch. Consider engaging third-party sources, such as partners, customers or industry analysts, to provide added credibility.

• Promotion: Promote the key value proposition or takeaways; if your content is really of value, the audience will come. It is also important to remember that promotion is a team effort, and coordination from the marketing, sales and public relations team members is necessary. Consider all methods of promotion, from social media to more traditional methods.

• Lead Identification: The goal of webinar campaigns is to capture leads, which makes the registration form critical. Be sure to use a registration system that allows you to customize the form so you can capture all the information you feel is pertinent. Be sure that you have a method set up in advance to transfer the leads to your corporate sales database for ongoing targeting.

• Event Management: Webex has all the features and functionality you need for a truly interactive webinar and, in our experience, it is the most reliable. Technology issues cannot get in the way; be sure to have a system in place that you are comfortable with and know how to use.

• Follow up: This is key in terms of lead generation, as leads are turned over to the sales team. There needs to be a plan in place for follow up by the sales team within a specific time period. Also, be sure to provide attendees with follow-up materials they can use to educate other internal colleagues.

MaryBeth Sheppard
Zer0 to 5ive Principal
Twitter: @MB_Sheppard
Image courtesy of iStockPhoto/JLGutierrez