2015 April 18 Archive - EXEIdeas – Let's Your Mind Rock

Online meetings are extremely effective as content marketing tools, enabling companies from any number of sectors to demonstrate product use for the purpose of generating, educating and nurturing leads. Video-based content is extremely popular with internet users – all the more so when it comes to live, interactive video formats that are made to be informative. Moreover, people love to maintain control over their own education, so web meetings that have regularly recurring schedules or can be watched as archived recordings on-demand are extremely enticing and engaging.Whether you are just getting started with web conferencing or have been using them effectively for years, you may be missing out on a key opportunity in web meeting teaching – running a joint meeting. Many of us are naturally inclined to tackle projects all by ourselves, especially those of us running our own companies, but sharing the “stage” with another presenter has a number of key advantages. Here are three especially noteworthy ones.1.) Take A Breather:It’s hard to talk non-stop for a long time, especially when you have to be “on your game” the whole time. Speaking with authority and paying attention to the flow of your words requires major effort and focus, so it’s a good idea to tag team with another presenter. That way you can take a break and gear up for the next section you’ll be leading while your wingman takes over. You can keep the energy of the proceedings high for much longer this way, so that even longer web meetings can maintain steady flows of impactful sharing.When two people make the same or similar points, they have more influence than just one. When you want to really bring a point home, consider using variations on “good cop/bad cop” techniques. One presenter can be more skeptical, while the other is more enthused. This method can help participants to become familiar with the various arguments not to use your product, while also hearing all of your best counter-arguments.2.) Double The Reach Potential:When two companies present a web meeting together, they essentially double the potential audience of the online event. Sure, there may be people who already receive messages from both brands, but in many cases, the overlap will be minimal, and teaming up represents an opportunity to build awareness and capture new, highly relevant leads. Modern online meeting platforms like ClickMeeting make it easy to export contact details of participants into your CRM.When you promote your online meeting to the email lists, social media followers and site visitors of both brands, you nearly double your reach. The key to succeeding with this strategy is to partner with someone who has access to a similar audience but is not in a competing business. Florists and photographers, for example, both focus on providing key services for weddings, so they’re both trying to reach the same people without any threat of poaching from one another – a perfect match.A great example of a co-hosted web meeting that did this well is the “Thyroid Awareness Month” presentation by Mary Shomon and MyMedLab. Shomon is a well-known author, thyroid expert and patient advocate, while MyMedLab is a service for executing and tracking medical screening tests. Both parties benefit by engaging with people interested in managing thyroid health, but each one has its own distinct value proposition, so they are not in competition with each other. The higher the volume of relevant participants that you can draw to your online meeting, the more leads you’ll have who are truly engaged with and interested in your products.3.) Double The Expertise:Whenever you put two people in a room, they will have somewhat different perspectives on any given subject. Even two people with same job title at the same company can provide slightly different takes on the same topic. When two people run a web meeting together, they each bring their unique expertise to the table. This way, the attendees can get more information, increasing the chances that something said will resonate with their own specific perspectives, pain points and learning styles.A great example is Sophie Lizard’s recently co-hosted online meeting in partnership with Brennan Dunn. The former is an expert in freelance writing career management, while the latter is an expert in sales techniques for freelance services. Their combined presentation included lively discussion about a topic that speaks to both spheres of knowledge: what writers can do to craft more effective pitches to brands and publications.When you diversify perspectives, you maximize the chances that the content of your web meeting will provide participants with that ever-elusive “aha moment.” A co-sponsored, co-presented web meeting is therefore more likely to be more interesting to more people, providing participants with real value.The Right Presenter Combinations:Effective marketing with online requires providing significant value. It’s impossible to achieve business impact with any type of content marketing unless you provide educational value as well, and this is as true about online meetings as is it about any other content medium.When planning a joint meeting, think about which presenters you can partner with to maximize the informative power and sales potential of the presentation. Choose someone who will help make the web meeting more engaging and more authoritative. And if this person can also bring a large audience to the online meeting, then you’re really golden. When you present jointly, both hosts can enjoy compounded impact, and the participants can gain a higher quality educational experience.