The Simple Trick That Can Boost Webinar Attendance by +70%

There are two types of people in the marketing world: Those who are using creative sends, like eGifts, to drive webinar registration and attendance and those who aren’t.

If you’re in the latter category, then you might be missing out on one of the most cost-effective ways to boost high-quality attendees at your digital events.

In this post, I explore some of the most common excuses that sales and marketing professionals make when overlooking or underestimating the power of creative sends—and share the amazing results of brands that have integrated sending within their sales, marketing, and event strategy.

“Send attendees a gift card? That’s bribery!”

As a person who’s worked in marketing for almost 20 years—I get it. None of us want to think that we need to pay people to attend the event we spent hours upon hours planning and creating—the one with the catchy title, compelling content, and expert panelists.

But here’s the thing: Incentives are nothing new in the sales and marketing world. We’re all familiar with in-booth swag. We’ve all scoped the competition at trade shows, noting who has the best lounge area and coffee bar selection. Many of us have come this close to pulling the trigger on an e-scooter giveaway.

Incentives are a standard part of the event world and that includes digital events like webinars. Just as in-booth swag can be used to drive visitors and make a lasting impression, so too can creative sends. Don’t believe me? Check out these amazing stats from some of Sendoso’s clients:

• Arctic Wolf boosted their webinar attendance rate by 72%—1.3X the industry benchmark—with an eGift campaign
• FireMon drove a 57% conversion rate from registrant to attendee, beating the ROI goal by 570%
• Lessonly drove 60% virtual event attendance with eGifts from Amazon, Uber Eats, and Hulu

“Gift cards are so generic…”

While eGifts are often the simplest and most impactful choice, that’s certainly not the only option.

Sendoso Direct has thousands of creative, useful, customizable sends that can make a splash with would-be attendees. Instead of an eGift, consider hosting a remote wine-tasting or cocktail making class and give attendees something to sip while your presenters click.

These out-of-the-box ideas work just as well as an eGift:

• How InterVision utilizes Sendoso to build relationships and drive $377 in influenced closed-won revenue for every $1 spent.
• MarketStar’s virtual wine tastings influenced an unbelievable 333% increase in marketing contributed revenue

“But it costs too much!”

Sending campaigns do add a line item to the budget. But, as always, there’s a difference between a cost and an investment.

When an organization spends tens of thousands of dollars on digital speaking opportunities, it’s important to make sure that people are actually attending—and the right people at that (but we’ll get to that later!).

The cost of sending eGifts is relatively slim compared to the overall event budget. More importantly it’s one of the more impactful things you could do to outcomes post-event.

For example, Sendoso’s “Sip and Send” virtual happy hour boasted an 85% total response rate and a 90% win rate of opportunities that attended. When was the last time you had results like that at any cost?

“But those aren’t going to be the right people!”

Well this may be another blind spot for some old-school marketing professionals—but it’s not only possible to target the right people, but do it at the right time.

Sendoso’s extensive partner network includes integrations with sales platforms and social listening vendors like Salesforce, Marketo, Outreach, 6Sense, SalesLoft, and RollWorks. That means you can invite the people high on your prospect and have a higher chance of getting through.

Excited to Try? Get Sending Post Event

Just hosted a webinar and experiencing a little bit of post-event regret? Sends are also a great way to drive impact in your follow up!

Sendoso data shows that brands that include an eGift in their virtual event follow-up can boost read rates by 40% and increase responses by more than 80%.

So stop making excuses and get sending! Reach out to Sendoso to schedule a demo today and learn how their sending platform can help make your next digital event a smash.