Stop Wasting Time With Webinars!
Key points in the article:
- Many MSP webinar attendance is low even when they get a high initial registration number.
- After the rise of interest in webinars, many MSPs have seen their average webinar attendance rate fall.
- Low attendance frustrates businesses because organizing a webinar takes a lot of effort.
- While a different approach can help you improve attendance, webinars aren't a good marketing strategy for MSPs because they require a lot of work yet gives little to no results.
Why does attendance at most webinars suck? All those stuff you're publishing is getting you nowhere. You thought it would. People tell you to get busy online, say what you think, to publish lots of webinars because if you do, people will find your MSP webinar and love you and support you.
However, you've probably put in all your effort and made dynamic slide decks, but you only get three registrations or maybe thirty. The situation begs the question: Why does your attendance suck?
1. Too Much of the Same Information
People find it unworthy to register for a 60-minute or a 45-minute webinar to get information already abundant on YouTube for free. Too much of what MSPs talk about is abstract. Many talks about VOIP, cybersecurity, and cloud technology — all useful concepts, but they can't give your MSP some differentiation.
Businesses aren't going to stick around unless they find your webinar interesting with a unique angle of view. If the people find that they can get the information you're offering for free on YouTube, they have no reason to register for your webinar.
Your MSP is better off paying attention to things that command the attention of business people that other MSPs are ignoring.
2. You're Doing The Same Thing Every Other MSPs Out There Are Doing
Another reason why you're getting pitiful webinar attendance is that you're offering what probably other MSPs are offering outside there. For example, your webinar might tackle problems that every other MSP has already addressed. You're not doing anything different to command the attention of business owners and get better attendance.
You end up getting attendance of your mother, sisters, and a few faithful friends coming in and checking it out every single time. The issue with webinars in the MSP space is that too many are boring — offering nothing unique.
The world is full of MSPs offering advice to businesses with a similar approach that many are bored by it. Businesses long for a vendor that's willing to take a unique approach.
3. Your Webinars Are Boring
You can make almost any mistake online, and people will forgive you. However, making your webinar boring is punished severely and repels prospects away from your brand for eternity. People can forgive your brand for offending them, but they'll thank you for keeping them awake.
You have a formidable task of creating webinars that businesses love and care about.
A case in point is Earl Foote at Nexus IT Consultants. They have a great following because of a couple of things:
- The MSP doesn't focus on boring topics. Yes, they tie in indirectly what Nexus does, but they focus on topics that attract business owners like branding, legal issues, and accounting. In their webinar, Nexus focus on topics that business people really care about and then blends in what they offer.
- The MSP webinar doesn't go live. Instead, Earl Foote can record and play the video during the webinar session. He records it and sends it to us, and we pretty it up and make it more presentable other than its raw format.
- The webinar leverages products like StreamYard to push it out through LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
- The company uses social media platforms to build an audience. Earl Foote isn't one of these guys that sit around and do nothing on social media or growing social media following.
- The MSP is not boring — they have charismatic personalities that naturally attract people.
Most MSP webinars suck because they're boring. Don't make your webinar boring — worrying about using services like Zoom or Go To meeting or Microsoft Teams for webinars. The online world punishes boredom ruthlessly.
Make your webinar interactive using services like Stream Yard to get into LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social media platforms to build your audience there.
4. Webinars Generally Suck as MSP Marketing Strategy
A webinar requires a lot of work, and it isn't recommended when you have very little attendance. Your business shouldn't put all that effort into things that don't get results.
Even if you initially received a lot of webinar registrations, people fail to show up when it comes time to go live. Many will not stay to the end when people show up at the start, rendering your effort futile.
Webinars are no longer a good idea for MSP marketing strategies. You should stop doing webinars and instead go for other forms of live video streaming like LinkedIn live.
If the topic is boring and people aren't attracted to it, you should think outside the box and get new topics. Don't worry about what your vendors think, and experiment and explore.
Stop Putting Effort Into Things That Don't Yield Results
Your organization has no business focusing on things that don't get results. If your webinar attendance is so low, your best shot is to eliminate it.
However, if you're still stuck on webinars, some approaches you can take include:
1. Hold your webinar session regularly. Once a month isn't enough — you should do it once every few days if you can, or at least once a week.
2. Your webinar doesn't have to be long. 10, 15, 30, and 45 minutes should be enough depending on what topic you're tackling. Going for long is what makes webinars suck.
3. Don't use Microsoft Teams for your webinars because it lacks the capabilities of creating high-end videos.
Call Ulistic to Get MSP Marketing Help
If your MSP needs help getting more leads, making more sales, or establishing itself in the industry, Ulistic can come to your rescue. We've developed over a decade of marketing expertise in the MSP industry and can shoulder all your marketing needs. Contact us today for a free consultation.
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