Webinar Fatigue – How can you resolve this?

Introduction

The number of B2B brands promoting webinars in the United States grew by 36 percent, between February to March 2020, according to Statista. It is one of the many impacts COVID-19 has on the global economy. Yet, it is astonishing how much of an influence it can have on accelerating the use of digital technology. When countries around the world were enforcing lockdown and quarantine rules, and in Singapore’s context, circuit breaker, suddenly the community started to take digital exceptionally seriously. Businesses today hold meetings, conferences, training and events virtually and regularly.

At PRecious Communications, we have found a way to provide value to our audience through promoting the Southeast Asia Connect Webinar and Podcast Series. The series, which are held bi-weekly, is a collaboration with North Ridge Partners. It is for founders and investors of Southeast Asian Startups, connecting the Southeast Asian Ecosystem to the world.

What is a Webinar

By definition, a webinar is a seminar conducted via the internet, but, there’s more to it. It enables you to host a virtual meeting without requiring a physical space. A webinar allows you to share your presentation to the audience without the need for being physically there. The audience runs the benefit of tuning in at the comfort of their home or physical space. Moreover, they are not limited to the use of devices and are accessible via desktop, laptop and mobile device. Webinars are mostly utilised for business-related purposes. It can be used to host internal team meetings, especially if your work requires you to connect to foreign offices remotely.

Webinar Trend

The trend in the usage of the webinar has gradually increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, with webinars providing an effective tool to engage with stakeholders, amid a dearth in physical events. If you look at your social media feed today, especially LinkedIn, chances are that you would find multiple webinar announcements and live streams. On Facebook, users have found ways to sell goods through auction and watch parties. Nowadays, webinar topics revolve around how COVID-19 has disrupted their businesses. This includes tips and tricks on how to adapt to the current situation. A topic like that can be found extremely useful. Amidst the COVID pandemic, webinar organisers, moderators and speakers are going through a learning curve. They have to be hands-on to resolve issues such as technical glitches, sound and lighting issues, program flow, etc., which takes multiple attempts to perfect a suitable format. Previously, they would most likely have a professional technical team to ensure everything is in check. 

Webinar Fatigue

COVID-19 has been around for months, and while webinar provides many benefits, technology has its drawbacks too. Users today are starting to face webinar fatigue. It is reported that 57% of marketers run 50 webinars per year, which is approximately 4 webinars a month. The cycle begins from receiving invites through email to seeing event organisers promoting webinars on social media to attending many webinars in a month. Webinar fatigue is a new term that is often associated with an overall feeling of tiredness or lack of desire towards webinars. 

Solution

1. Empathy: While running a webinar is an excellent platform for marketers to generate leads, drive promotion messages and get coverage in the digital space, marketers have to put themselves in the audience’s shoes. They have to be more empathetic and understand their audience needs.
2. Do More with Less: In addition, they have to be strategic as well. Research shows that the audience is only prepared to commit to 1 webinar per week. Your audience may have interest in various types of webinars, not just the ones that you offer within your industry, and success comes down to quality rather than frequency. Hosting 1-2 webinars a month can generate a lot more impact than you think.
3. Beyond 60 Minutes: A lot of success can come down to promoting the webinars pre-event to get sign-ups, articulating “why” people should attend a particular session. A webinar is also a soundboard for a lot of good branded content, providing soundbites and a slew of bite-sized content which can be used for social media posts.
4. Network Effect: Inviting guests to webinar not only excites existing viewers but also opens up your webinar to the professional network and community of your guest speakers. Having them promote the webinar on their social channels goes a long way in terms of getting new, qualified sign-ups for your session.

Allow yourself to spend more time to understand better how to promote webinars, differentiating how yours is different from others, focusing on how you can add value through your content, ways to engage with the audience and how you can retain them to come back for more.

If the webinars you hold are done strategically with the emphasis of paying attention to your audience needs more than your business needs, you are more likely to retain them for more sessions of your webinar.