Online Events: Is Your Business Following the Latest Trend?

Once the Coronavirus pandemic started to impact society and businesses in particular, everyone’s attention moved to the online content. There are many reasons why individuals started paying more attention and becoming more engaged in online events. 

From getting educated on the pandemic status and its impact on certain industries, to simply becoming part of communities that share common interests. In this context, businesses that wanted to promote themselves more than others, to keep their pipeline floating, had to start creating quality content that answers their customers’ needs. 

Earlier in April 2020, Microsoft MVPs stated that their strategy envisioned a shift towards online events-only until July 2021, internal, as well as external.

And at that time, there were many other businesses following the example above, since it seemed like the most officiant solution in such uncertain times. 

As the pandemic continued, and its consequences became ubiquitous, online events, such as webinars have proved to be a great engagement instrument for most marketers trying to keep businesses at the float. More than that, they became a great ally for business growth. 

Let’s take a look and see why online events are so efficient right now!

Why online events are so important in a post-pandemic era?

There are many reasons why individuals prefer attending online events during these times when social distancing is clearly making space in their lives, even though most of the people need social interaction right now. 

Beyond this obvious reason, professionals are looking to keep up with their work and business development. For this reason, they have to be constantly engaged with other peers and companies from their environment. Here is where online events come into the picture!

For those of you looking to host these online events, here is a brief list of benefits that will encourage you to invest resources in organizing them: 

• • Cost-effectiveness

• • Scalability

• • Engagement

• • Flexibility

• • Data & Analytics comprehension

B2B marketers making the best of online events!

There are a few types of online events, each one of them being tailored for a different purpose and goal: 

• • Virtual Open Days

• • Online Career Fairs

• • Virtual Trade Show

• • Digital Benefits Fairs

• • Online Conferences/ Webinars

For the B2B business environment, webinars have become one of the main assets to attract leads and engage with peers. No wonder why, according to recent data, 77% of B2B marketers use webinars as part of their marketing mix.

There are 2 core benefits on which we can agree to be visible when discussing the efficiency of webinars for B2B marketing:

Webinars connect and they engage!

According to HubSpot, webinars are a great content marketing tool that can efficiently be used across the entire customer journey, from the awareness stage to closing sales and increasing loyalty. 

To prove the effectiveness of webinars use, statistics show that during the awareness stage, 73% of B2B sales and marketing leaders admit that a webinar is in their top lead generation tools. 

At the end of the day, most of the people interested in your business will appreciate your efforts of creating content that first of all, help them grow, and are part of their educating process. It all starts with the audience. The ones that can make your business grow during uncertain times. 

Statistics showing the beauty of webinars for your lead generation strategy

85 % of leaders and executives consider physical events vital for the success of their business. But how can we direct these activities in the current context? During one of our webinars, The Importance of Digital Events in Promoting Companies,  we tackled some benefits and results that help with promoting your business. 

Even though this discussion is addressing to the Romanian market, you can send us questions related to the topic, and our specialists will gladly answer them!

Since the results previously mentioned are deeply rooted in the lead generation process, here are some statistics we found relevant for decision-makers looking to upscale their business through online events, such as webinars. 

• 60% of webinars are oriented at creating loyal customers

According to statistics from GoToWebinar, most webinars will convert leads into loyal clients, over time. Behind these results are the webinar’s goals, 29% of these online events being organized for marketing and demand generation purposes. 

• 50% of marketers use webinars to promote their businesses

Webinars seem to be a great promotion tool for most marketers, specifically, 58% of them. Not only that, but it looks like 2-5% webinar attendees usually make a purchase, as a follow up of their attending.

• 500 to over 1,000 leads from one webinar

As a B2B marketer, you will most certainly use webinars as a key marketing activity for generating more leads and thriving during uncertain times. As we mentioned before, more than 50% of B2B marketers use webinars as a highly-effective tool for lead generation. 

And this is mainly because, during the sales funnel, 20-40% webinar attendees will convert into qualified leads. 

Conclusion 

Organizing an online event may seem like an easy marketing activity at first, but once you start investing time and resources into it, you will realize that you need to plan a brief strategy in order to have results and make your business grow. 

Get in touch with us, and let’s find the online event strategy that best suits your business goals! You can have a look at our special offer here: