Up until now, the mainstream place for disseminating information in marketing activities has been face-to-face activities such as seminars.
As a result of restrictions on implementation due to the current corona crisis, the use of digital content, in particular, information dissemination methods such as web seminars, has taken over.
Let’s talk about the impact of these changes on
lead generation
.
Familiarity with web seminars and marketing efficiency
Web seminars have been used in some cases up until now, but compared to face-to-face activities, I think there are some elements that make both organizers and participants feel unreliable and uneasy.
However, working from home has had an impact, and he feels less reluctant to wear headphones and watch videos on his PC while working, and even when he actually attends seminars, the geographical constraints and time burden have become much lighter. I think I’ve gotten used to the environment, which I’m grateful for.
Also, technologically speaking, the infrastructure and systems themselves have improved considerably, such as being able to receive messages without any delay no matter where you are, and making it easier to ask questions via chat.
Furthermore, organizers can easily hold seminars at low cost, and everything is completed digitally, creating an extremely efficient environment for marketing.In the end, this trend is unlikely to continue even after the coronavirus crisis. No doubt about it.
The number of leads obtained through webinars and the quality to be asked
In an environment like this where seminars can be held easily and people can easily participate, the number of contacts that companies can acquire will definitely increase.
However, does this actually lead to an increase in leads that can be passed on to sales?
On the other hand, being able to participate easily means that you can easily leave if the content is not interesting, and it also makes it easier to participate in a large number of seminars that can lead to listening to problems.
Furthermore, since participants are on the other side of the screen, it is easy to participate while working on something.
Even in the case of real seminars, if the content is not interesting, some people choose to “participate while listening” or make up for their sleep time, but in the case of real seminars, it is more or less forced to listen to the end. You can.
However, if it becomes easy to withdraw or “participate” as mentioned above, this means that it has become easier to refuse unilaterally distributed content, advertisements, and information that is forced on you.
A new point in lead evaluation is understanding the value of products and services.
Up until now, the question has been how “efficient” can lead generation work be: acquiring as many contacts as possible, performing some nurturing activities such as scoring, and then passing them on to sales as leads? That has become the key point.
The key point of the evaluation was the “participant’s behavioral history.”
However, what will be important in lead generation in the future is that participants can now easily create a history of their actions, so the scoring will be based on their actions, and it will be important to understand how high-quality content they have been exposed to, and how much they have interacted with it. Information is not something that is forced on you, but something that you find on your own.
And how well do they understand the value of the product or service? I think it is becoming more important to score these points before passing the sales process.
summary
- Web seminars will become popular even in the post-corona era due to the weakening of participants’ resistance to Web seminars and the marketing efficiency of organizers.
- Web seminars make it easier for participants to withdraw or “participate while participating,” making it easier to refuse unilateral advertising and information provision.
- It is important to go beyond scoring that merely evaluates “participant behavior history” to evaluate understanding of the value of products and services, such as points of contact with high-quality content and independent information gathering.
profile
ProFuture Co., Ltd. Marketing Solution Department Fellow Takayuki Matano
Joined Oracle Japan in October 2000. Since then, I have worked at the Marketing Headquarters for about 18 years.
In addition to being in charge of campaign marketing for products and services,
We have also promoted large-scale events and corporate events.
Currently working at TIS Corporation, he also serves as a fellow at ProFuture Corporation.
Launching a shared service program and in-house integrated marketing infrastructure;
Alliance marketing with partner companies, etc.
He is good at creating marketing “systems”.
If you have any planning or consultation questions, please contact ProFuture sales.