Congratulations! You’ve written your book, you’ve secured a publisher, you’ve made countless edits, now it’s time to market your book to the world. We frequently talk about the benefits of blogging and being present on social media — but what about other forms of media, like webinars?
Don’t have a published book? No problem! Webinars aren’t exclusively for published authors. If you’re a thought leader looking to connect with other thought leaders or want to get your message into the world in a wider way, webinars could still be a good fit.
Over the years, we’ve conducted many webinars with a wide variety of authors and thought leaders. Here are our top 3 reasons why we think webinars are totally worth the time and investment.
1. Increase your exposure to new audiences
By marketing your event successfully, you’ll easily get your message and name in front of new eyes. In addition to marketing a book or service, webinars also provide the opportunity to share ways that people can connect with you further. Include a slider with links to buy your book, sign up for your email list, or connect to your social channels or website. Easily keep people connected with you, so you can continue to share your messages with them in the long term.
2. Fuel Your Email Campaign Efforts
Part of marketing your book is sending emails to your lists to drum up excitement about your new accomplishment. And, who doesn’t want a bigger list? A bigger list = more opportunities to share your message with the world. Use the webinar as a platform for converting people to your email list. A great way to do this is to offer a free white page, study guide, or other downloadable resources to those who sign up.
3. Boost your Sales
People love to connect with and hear directly from the author. Giving the audience time to interact with you, even digitally, can be a meaningful experience. Because of this type of interaction, we typically see a boost in book sales as soon as a few hours after we conduct a webinar. And, if you interact with your audience during the launch week of your book, you can create even more excitement around your title.
Planning & Marketing Your Event
Using platforms like GoToWebinar or Zoom easily allow you to create landing pages where people can register for your event. You can add graphics or logos to these landing pages to incorporate your branding into the event.
Next, don’t forget to market your event! We recommend sending a few emails to your lists (typically 3 weeks before the event, and another email 1 week before the event) inviting people to register. Create graphics that showcase the webinar speakers or book and share on your social platforms (Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are all great options). Include the registration link and use some hashtags to widen your reach. Also, consider if you want to conduct your webinar in an interview format or if you want to incorporate slides to help explain content that is more visual in nature.
On the day of the event, log onto the platform early to ensure your technology is working correctly. This helps remove any anxiousness or nervousness you may be feeling about the event going smoothly. And finally, when it’s time to go live, have fun! The best webinars are ones in which the participants are having fun and sharing their ideas in an interesting and informal way.
If you’re stuck on ideas, here are a few topic possibilities:
- Discuss key thoughts from your book, if you have one.
- Interview another thought leader or someone that shares your field or area of expertise.
- Explaining or discussing another hot topic that you or your organization focuses on.
Whatever you decide to do, planning and marketing a webinar doesn’t have to be taxing.
With over 7 years of webinars under our belt, we’d love to partner with you to share your message into the world. Contact us if you’d like to chat about webinar possibilities!
Aubrey Pastorek is the business development and marketing manager at Weaving Influence. She graduated from the University of Toledo with a degree in Fine Art. She enjoys traveling, cooking, photography, being outdoors, and cuddling her adorable dog, Scout.