Jessica Kleppang 2011

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Content Marketing Strategy: What about Webinars?

Content marketing has become a well established marketing tactic in the BtoB industry and is often

placed at the core of a business' marketing strategy. This fact became apparent in 2010 and continues to

be important when looking ahead at the 2011 marketing plans. Due to the increasingly important role of

this tactic marketers should take the next step in effectively using it.

Content marketing is the practice of developing and distributing information that is both valuable and

relevant. This information is designed to attract and engage potential customers and to enhance brand

loyalty with current customers. Content is distributed (or shared) through several different promotional

channels, including social media, e-newsletters, podcasting, and webinars.

Content Marketing in 2010

This past year Roy Young, president of MarketingProfs, and Joe Pulizzi, founder of Junta42, conducted

a study on BtoB content marketing which surveyed over 1000 marketers from North America. This

B2B Content Marketing: 2010 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends study found that "9 out of 10 B2B

marketers are using content marketing to grow their business." According to this study the top reasons

why marketers implemented content marketing strategies were brand awareness at 78%, customer

retention at 69%, lead generation at 63% and customer recruitment at 61%. The greatest challenge of

content marketing faced by respondents was show to be "producing the kind of content that engages

prospects and customers."

Webinars Found to be Effective

According to the aforementioned B2B Content Marketing: 2010 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends study only

Forty-Two percent of those surveyed are using webinars as a part of their content marketing strategy.

Out of that 42% adoption rate, 56% of the marketers rated webinars as effective. This rate of

effectiveness is third highest, being only 1% behind research reports and 16% behind the most effective

tactic of In-Person Events (72%). Social media, on the other hand, had a 79% adoption rate with only

39% of those marketers finding it to be an effective content marketing vehicle.

In this study the computing and software industry was shown to have the highest content marketing

adoption rate, at 94%. Companies in this industry "are also much more likely to use webinars and

webcasts" and had an adoption rate of 69%. Also, 63% of those respondents from this industry are using

"content marketing for lead management and nurturing."

Webinars and Your BtoB Content Marketing Strategy

Adding webinars to your BtoB content marketing strategy could benefit your organization in many

ways, fulfilling multiple marketing and business goals. If raising brand awareness, customer

recruitment, lead generation, or customer retention are the top goals in your content marketing

strategies then a webinar is the perfect choice. According to the 2010 Lead Generation Optimization Key

Trends Analysis from CSO Insights (a survey of 635 companies), "webinars one of the best and most

popular way to do that."

The best type of webinar that would allow you to reach your goals would be an informational or

educational webinar. These types of webinars are designed to teach the attendees new information

and/or illustrate how to solve a problem that is prevalent in their industry. Provide information in the

Jessica Kleppang 2011

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webinar on how your business is integral in helping to solve the issue by (for example) including a case

study that illustrates how your product helped a business. Conducting these types of webinars will

establish your company as a thought leader in the industry, which is a key aspect to content marketing.

A second type of webinar that would be useful in raising brand awareness and customer recruitment

would be, as obvious as it sounds, is an awareness webinar. In this type of webinar you would be

featuring the launch of a new service offering or product, basic marketing tactics at their best. You

could also promote an existing service and introduce it to a new customer base. WTG Webinars

recently conducted a survey of over 1000 of their webinar attendees and found "that nearly a quarter use

webinars to find out about new technology in their industry."

Content Marketing Challenges

"In 2011 brand marketers will be focused on improving customer engagement. It will be important for marketers

to create written, audio, and video content so that customers can consume and engage with the content on their

terms."

Amanda Maksymiw

blog.openviewpartners.com

A webinar can solve the challenge of creating engaging content for both current customer and potential

customers. Because a webinar combines both visual and audio elements it has the unique ability to

engage attendees on a level that written content cannot. A webinar can bring the content to life. It also

allows the attendees to engage with the speaker, creating an interactive environment.

Interactivity is important for two reasons. First, it lets the attendee ask questions and gain a better

understanding of the issue or product offering. Secondly, interactivity leads to content development. A

topic or question, which you may not have thought of, could arise and that gives your company the

opportunity to address it at a later date. This, in turn, can lead to customer retention because attendees

most likely will come back to the company for the answer to that question or information on the follow

up topic.

Webinars for 2011

In this last year content marketing became a well established practice among BtoB marketers, what does

that mean for the coming year? In 2011 it will not be enough to simply implement a few content

marketing tactics; companies will have to present the most compelling and engaging content to get

ahead. Adding webinars to your content marketing strategy is the key in overcoming and conquering

that very challenge.