Social media marketing and webinars are two of the hottest topics in digital marketing. Over the past few years, social media has become so popular that over 1 billion people in the world regularly use social media. There has also been a boom in video marketing, and many now see this as a way to strengthen their brand.
If you are looking to promote your site or product, should you use social media marketing or webinars?
Table of Contents
What is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing is a way to use various social media platforms to boost traffic to your site or promote a specific product. Some of the most popular social media platforms are Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, and YouTube.
The marketing techniques can involve posting regular updates on the company’s newsfeed, buying ads, and encouraging users to share material.
What are Webinars?
Webinars are video meetings or conferences that are held online. They are usually live, but can also be recorded to be re-played as needed. Webinars are used to provide educational instruction on a product or service, to sell products or services, to develop brand, connect with an audience and to attract new customers and leads.
They can have thousands of attendees or a handful and can be tailored to suit the needs of the marketing plan of the company or website that is creating them.
Social Media Marketing vs Webinars
What are the pros and cons of social media marketing and how effective can webinars be to promote a website or product?
Social Media Marketing to Promote Your Site or Product
Social media can be an effective way to promote your site. Here are the main ways that it can be done.
Brand Recognition
Social media helps you promote your site to new users. For example, over 1 billion people use Facebook, 300 million people use Twitter, and about the same amount use Instagram, so it is possible that users will discover your site or product through social media.
Customer loyalty
Social media is very good at promoting customers loyalty. Very often, if a customer has had a good experience with your site or product they will be more than willing to let others know about this on their social media networks.
Targeted ads
Social media is also a good platform for targeted ads. The social media platforms have a huge amount of data on users’ demographics. This information can be used to create ads which target specific groups of people, who live in specific areas, and who have specific interests.
Increased opportunities
Every time that you post something on social media, you give users a chance to engage with the content. This can be the first opportunity that someone has to interact with your business.
Webinars to Promote your Site or Product
Webinars market products from a different angle than social media does. In some ways, webinars are a more powerful marketing tool than social media for engaging with customers and strengthening brands. What are the advantages of webinars to promote your site or product?
Direct contact
You can be in direct contact with your target audience. This can be a great opportunity for them to ask questions and provide feedback. However, you can also ask them questions and show yourself to be an authority in your niche.
You also have the chance to offer items of value during the presentation. That can be in the form of slides, infographics, PDF handouts and educational videos.
Repackage the presentation
Hosting webinars also gives you a massive amount of video material that you can repackage for use later. So, a 60-minute presentation can be broken down into segments and then be used in an email campaign, posted on social media, YouTube, and your website.
Remember, that even on social media, people are more willing to watch a video than read an article.
Live interaction
This is something that can’t be done on social media ñ live interaction with your audience. Webinars offer a powerful way of reinforcing your message to your audience. When your audience hears from you and ask you questions, you engage with them in a whole new level.
Social media can never offer that kind of live interaction.
Very cost-effective
Although webinars take some planning and organizing, they are very cost effective. You can offer your customers a chance to learn from you in the comfort of their offices, homes, or even hotel rooms. Additionally, you don’t have to invest money in hiring venues and you avoid all the stress that is involved with that.
Integration of Social Media with Webinars
A good webinar platform, such as ClickMeeting integrates social media sharing tools within the webinar presentation that allows for the perfect blend of both marketing worlds, social media and webinars.
Which is Best – Social Media Marketing or Webinars?
In conclusion, it is obvious that both social media marketing and webinars have a place in any strong marketing campaign. Both are very good tools to build your brand and reach a wider audience.
Trends also point to the fact that social media and video marketing (of which webinars are a part) will dominate how consumers use the Internet.
However, the advantage of webinars is that you can reach your audience in a much more personal and direct way, something you can’t do with social media.
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