Webinars are a popular way to warm up an audience or close a sale.
They often fall into 2 types:
- Public presentation on a relevant topic (to warm your audience up)
- 1-2-1 product walkthrough (to close a sale)
But even with the most promising of pitches we sometimes see high numbers of bookings and then…cancellations. Date change requests. No shows. Ghosting.
It’s like the teacher is keen enough to want to explore your product but is less keen on getting a hard sell (even if that’s not your style!).
It’s not an easy problem to fix.
Why aren't teachers turning up to my webinar?
The same reason lots of us don’t.
It’s easy to sign up and therefore easy to not turn up.
They don’t know you and therefore don’t feel particularly obligated.
Teachers’ time is often pulled in multiple directions, and almost everything will be more important than your webinar.
Sometimes it’s just cold feet.
What can I do to ensure teachers show up to my webinar demo?
Don’t offer a recorded version! It’s tempting to record a Zoom and send it to people afterwards, which is a solid tactic, especially if it’s a broader public webinar. But FOMO could be your friend on more intimate product demos. Make sure attendees know the benefits of coming to the live demo. Miss it and miss out.
Do get your reminder cadence right. Teachers are busy. They will forget about your demo. Too few email reminders (or sent at the wrong times) will kill your chances of remaining on their radar.
This is simple timeline you can follow:
- A “thanks for signing up” email
- Reminder emails 7, 3, 2, and 1 day before the webinar. Make these emails memorable and helpful so the date becomes more “sticky”.
- Starting in 1 hour + link + instructions
- Starting in 5 mins + link
Do consider an exclusive discount or offer to those that show up. Not a free trial, something more substantial. Have you tried webinar group demos?
If you find booking teachers on to 1-2-1 product demos a challenge, consider an webinar group demo.
Most educational products and services have multiple stakeholders involved the decision making process. So sometimes you need a target a particular person in that chain.
A small group demo has two advantages: it feels more relevant and it reduces the ‘fear of a hard sales pitch’ as there will be safety in numbers.
- This tactic is for warmed up leads and you’ll need to have job titles
- Keep the group small e.g. limited to 10
- Make sure it’s exclusive to a specific type of customer e.g. Subject leaders only
- Construct a presentation deck that speaks directly to that audience (be specific about pain points, benefits, and features that this audience will want to see)
- Be clear what the group demo is about, so your leads aren’t put off or feel misled when they join
- Follow up immediately with an email nurture series to convert your MQLs into SQLs
- Adapt and repeat with all your other target segments
This approach creates an opportunity to convert a higher percentage of MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads), as they’ll be further along their buying journey than a public webinar attendee.
Teachers’ time is an extremely rare resource so considering audience focused product demo approaches that make your leads feel more comfortable will gain you trust and most importantly, increase the chances of them showing up.
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