Webinars are one of the most effective marketing tools a building product manufacturer can use. Webinars can offer more education benefits in one hour than any other sales and marketing program. How many other marketing programs do you know of that can educate 250-500 architects, specifiers, contractors, and engineers in one hour? Webinars should be an essential part of your long term marketing plan.

Webinar Benefits

Manufacturers can benefit from webinars in several ways. First of all, webinars can educate architects about your building product and its applications. A live presentation can provide your company with brand awareness, build relationships with designers, and generate marketing leads for the future. Webinars are very time effective. During a one hour AIA webinar presentation, you can maximize your learning outcomes. Webinars are cost-effective. Your team doesn’t have to travel to teach 250 or more designers. Webinars are interactive and provide opportunities to engage with the audience.

Beat Your Competition

There’s a good chance your competition isn’t using webinars or they may not be using them effectively. Many building product manufacturers rely on their product reps to visit architects, contractors, and other customers. Some manufacturers utilize only face to face lunch and learn presentations or online anytime courses. Both of these education tools are great and we highly recommend them. However, webinars are an often overlooked tool for product specification. If your competition is delivering webinars, participate in one of their events and evaluate it. What could your company do to set it apart from your competitor in regards to webinars? Maybe your competitor delivered a great presentation but there were barely any designers there to listen to it. Participation is crucial to make a webinar a successful investment.

How To Create A Successful Webinar

In order to deliver a great webinar presentation, there are a few essential components to consider. What type of software and web hosting platform are you going to use? How are you going to advertise and build participation for the event? Is the presentation going to be registered with the AIA and USGBC for continuing education hours? Finally, what is the topic and and is the presenter? You need a very engaging title and course description in order to entice people to sign up. Your presenter doesn’t need to be a classically trained actor who enunciates every word like Lawrence Olivier but he or she better be able to speak clearly and articulate your message effectively. These are all important issues to consider when creating a successful webinar.

If your competition is not currently offering webinars, this new tool could be an effective way to beat them in the marketplace. This strategy may not be a secret for long and your competition may try and copy your marketing plan. Regardless, implementing a webinar program should be high on your priority list this year if you want to increase brand awareness, educate architects about your products, and beat the snot out of your competition.

Does your company utilize webinars?