Engaging prospects do not end when your webinars do–work is actually just getting started! In post-webinar engagement, there is much more work to be done to nurture your guests to ensure they make the necessary steps to help you reach a higher return of investment.
Whatever your strategy may be, it is fundamental to stay in touch with your attendees. You can use these fun and prospect-focused strategies for your next webinar:
Create a post-event survey.
A survey is the simplest way to gauge attendee satisfaction with your virtual event or their lack of it. The results from these surveys provide helpful metrics for you as an organizer. Their answers will also inform you about your event organization’s strengths and areas for improvement.
You should send the survey within 12 hours after the event and include questions where guests rate various parts of your activity. You may ask questions such as:
- How much did you enjoy the workshop?
- How clear was the speaker’s presentation?
- Was the staff helpful to you?
For low ratings, such as those five or below, ask guests what caused them to give a low score. Surveys can also come with incentives, such as discount codes, to increase participation.
Create a networking page or event.
People with common interests attend the same webinars. Networking provides these people with a community where discussion of your company or your industry remains fresh and vibrant.
After the event, you can set up smaller follow-up events where your attendees return to mingle and get to know each other. Networking activities can be live or hosted online. Either way, as your guests’ common denominator, you should facilitate their networking activity.
For a live event, you should identify locations where your attendees can meet. If you prefer a more straightforward approach, you can create a temporary forum on social media. You can start threads and facilitate discussions related to the event.
Stay active on social media.
Social media posts, including blogs, are common pre-event marketing channels. However, they are also useful for post-event engagement. In the days that follow your event, ramp up your posts by updating your guests with the material you’ve gathered during your activity.
Here are some of the things you can include on your status updates or blog posts:
- A thank-you message to everyone who attended
- Testimonials and event highlights
- Post-event offers exclusive to those who attended
- A collection of memes compiled from or related to the event
- A more in-depth look into the products or services promoted at the event
Give back to guests.
Your attendees did you a favor by going to your event. Thank them by emailing them a quick thank-you note. You can also show your guests how much you appreciate their presence by giving them something they can use. These rewards can be a simple discount code for your products and services.
For some guests, something more physically tangible may be more appropriate. You may send them mail-in, handwritten thank-you notes that include a gift card inside. A thank-you gift should ideally be sent a day after the event. You can also send them additional gifts a few weeks after the event to show your participants that you haven’t forgotten them.
By the time you have a next event planned, you can send your guests personal invitations or exclusive early bird deals. Let them know that this offer is a personal thank you for attending your previous events.
Host social media contests.
Don’t let the fun stop after your event. Give guests something to look forward to by hosting some form of social media contest, with a special prize for the winner.
The contest should be kept simple. You can ask your participants to post a funny photo and caption using a picture taken during the event. You can also require all contestants to use your event’s hashtag. The contest winners can be those who get the most votes or shares. Entries to these contests become user-generated content that furthers market your brand to your participants’ network.
You can send an email to announce who the winner is, as well as those who came in second and third. Be sure that every participant gets a consolation prize, such as a sizeable discount code.
Give event-only offers.
The 24 hours following your event is a golden window of opportunity to nurture your guests to ensure they convert to customers. If you launced a product at the event, you could continue to push the product within this 24-hour window. If the product launched was sold at a discount during the activity, you can extend that offer for an additional day, and only to your participants.
Likewise, if you hosted a charity event, you can republish your donation goals and continue to encourage donations to be made even after the event.
Post-event engagement should drive value for your guests, even when your participants have already gone home. Making a good post-event engagement plan helps you keep the discussion alive among your guests and prospects. It also enables you to maintain a connection with your participants, whose attention might otherwise go to a competing brand.
For an expert handling of your post-event engagement strategy, reach out to our experienced team at Callbox.
