Joint webinars can be a gold mine. Not only do you give your audience added value but you get access to another company’s audience to boot.
Producing successful joint webinars takes some work but is ultimately worth it. Here’s our list of highest priority action items with some reminders to keep you on track.
1. List your webinar partner dream lineup
When we started the Clever Zebo joint webinar series earlier this year, I was skeptical that CEOs and founders would take time out of their crammed days to work on a webinar together, even if we had a relationship. Many joint webinars and hundreds of participants later, I was wrong. Over and over again I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how willing awesome, fast-growing companies are to team up. Start by contacting any friends you have at companies you admire (or ask friends to recommend companies to team up on a webinar with). All you need is 1 or 2 joint webinars under your belt to start reaching out to bigger and bigger companies.
2. Pitch prospective partners with a good topic
The hardest part of a joint webinar is choosing a topic interesting and relevant to both companies. Because we don’t want to invite direct competitors, this can be tricky. In our webinar series, the primary theme is conversion optimization and a/b testing, so I find case studies relevant to both us and the partner (Wistia: does video improve conversion rates?;
Help Scout: how customer service improves conversion rates; ReTargeter: the impact of different banner ads, etc.) The point is come prepared with a great topic when reaching out.
3. All they need to do is invite their people
This is the most important part. The true value of joint webinars is in getting access to your partner’s database (and them getting access to yours). Do everything else for them but make it a condition of joining the webinar that they reach out to their database. Unless they have an enormous social following, social media mentions aren’t enough. Get them agree to send a dedicated email (newsletter inclusion is an okay alternative but usually doesn’t pull as well).
4. Stay on top of your partners
People get busy. Don’t assume anything will get done unless you push. Here’s what I do to keep partners on point:
– Send a check list at least two weeks before the event.
– Send at least 2 reminders/check-ins per action item
– Add Google Analytics UTM parameters to the registration link so I know when their people register
– Do an audio-visual check a few days before and verbally review all their todos
5. Expand your recruiting
Now that you’ve produced 1 or 2 successful joint webinars, it’s time to ramp up your efforts.
– Put together a kick-ass recruiting email that talks benefits of their participation
– Research 25 companies that would be a good partner (regardless of size)
– Email and social media bug those companies
6. Create amazing webinars
Most company’s webinars suck — it’s just a voice speaking over a boring PowerPoint.
Add video and music, ask your audience lots of questions, run polls and show the results, spend a little extra time in
the research process to extract real value-add insights.
Wanna see how it’s done? Register for Clever Zebo’s next webinar.