Did you know “the average person watches one-and-a-half hours of online video content per day, and that 81% of businesses use video as a marketing tool?” (Wyzowl’s 2018 Video Marketing Statistics). Which means, your automated webinar can be an amazing lead generator that scales your business, but only if your customers make the time to watch it. So, how do you make sure your webinar is included in their limited watching time?

You create a hook.

An irresistible hook is how you reach the right people for your webinar. But even better, the right hook will not only reach the right people, it will leave them anxious and excited about watching your webinar.

Is that possible? Can you actually create an automated webinar that leaves people eagerly updating their inboxes in anticipation of watching what you have to share?

Yup. And here’s how.

Talk with Your Customers

The only way to really understand the needs, wants, and frustrations of your customers is to speak with them. These conversations should be causal chats, not sales calls or drill sergeant interviews.

These interactions are going to help you determine what pain points are most important to your customers, and those will become the hook for your automated webinar.

The FAQs of Customer Conversations

How many conversations should I have?

Well, like many things in business, it depends. But a good rule of thumb is to have as many as it takes to begin to see repetitive answers. When you’ve heard the same response three times, it’s likely the answer won’t change and you’ve reached a stopping point.

How do I get customers on the phone?

It’s really as simple as asking. Put a call out on social media or in your next email. Sometimes it helps to offer your customers an incentive. An incentive could be a discount on next month’s service, a free upgrade for the next billing cycle, a donation to their favorite charity, or even a gift card to Starbucks.

What do I do when we’re done?

The easiest way to turn these conversations into useable data is to record them and have them transcribed (you could use Rev or Temi). Once the calls are transcribed, look for common themes. Did more than two customers mention the same irritation or frustration? Was there a common struggle in their industry? What was something that surprised the customers about your product?

When you find the source of shared frustration, and you know your product can solve it, you have your hook, courtesy of your customers.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE WEBINAR STRATEGY CHECKLIST BELOW  

Use this checklist  to design your very own high-converting webinar marketing strategy from scratch, then automate the process to attract high-quality leads. 

We promise to never spam or send emails about cats.
Okay, maybe some cat stuff.

Find the Hook in the Struggle

Copywriter John Carlton says an attention-worthy hook exists outside of the obvious list of product benefits and features:

“A great hook has nothing to do with how the client sees the product. It usually isn’t part of the features list, and only occasionally shows up among the benefits. Non-veteran writers miss it, because it’s not obvious to ANYONE associated with the product.”

Customer Values

When speaking with your customers, ask questions that will get to the core of their priorities. Sadly, “What do you value?” won’t get you many useful responses.

Here are a few examples of questions that will get you to their central values:

1. Can you share your goals for 2019? Can you tell me more about your goals?
2. What was going on in your company before you hired us/subscribed/bought our product?
3. What task do you wish you could spend more time doing?
4. What’s the best thing that has happened in your company in the last six months?
5. What is your favorite tool that you use? Why?

What are your customers against?

Knowing what your customers are opposed to will help you to join their side or solve their problem. This doesn’t have to be a cause — it could be a common frustration in their industry. For example, Ashley Hockney from Codecademy created a webinar for SaaS marketers that spoke right to their concern about creating and repurposing content without feeling overwhelmed.

A few questions to ask to find out what your customers detest:

1. What tool do you wish you could throw away and never use again?
2. What’s going on in your industry that makes you want to roll your eyes or punch the wall every time you see/hear it?
3. What’s on your to-do list that you absolutely hate?
4. Can you tell me about the most frustrating thing you’ve experienced at work in the last six months?
5. If you had a magic wand and could fix one thing about your industry, what would it be?

What has failed for your customers?

We’ve all tried and failed at something. We either followed the advice of one guru too closely or threw all caution to the wind and took a big risk; whatever the situation, your customers have experienced failure, but they want you to be able to teach them how to do better next time.

TeamGantt does just that with their weekly webinar series. Their focus is on teaching project managers how to address common problems in their industry. This webinar, titled “Why Agile Isn’t Working For You,” does a great job of reassuring project managers that the agile method isn’t working for many PM’s, but they can teach them how to make it work.

A few questions to ask to learn about your customers’ failures:

1. Can you tell me about a time when you felt like what you were doing wasn’t working?
2. What goal have you not achieved yet?
3. Is there a problem that doesn’t have a solution?

The Key Elements to an Irresistible Hook

Now, remember, we’re not just writing any old hook. This hook is going to keep people refreshing their email for your automated webinar. And to get there, you have to combine what you know about your customers with some enticing copy techniques.

So, add these elements to get your customer’s attention and spark their curiosity to know and see more.

1. Transparency

People love getting a behind-the-scenes look at how your company has succeeded. They want to know how you did what you did and if they can do it themselves. But, what they love even more than seeing your successes is hearing about your failures. We recently shared our story on the Baremetrics blog because we know everyone loves a good failure story.

2. Speak to the desires of your customers

Drip wrote a blog post that speaks to a secret desire of their customer base. Everyone knows Amazon is the e-commerce giant, and these tiny brands are looking for ways to make a big impact on their market without using Amazon as the middle-man. This blog post headline speaks to a want that most Drip clients are currently feeling.

3. Share what you know

This automated webinar from Iterable (yeah, they’re one of ours;) ) is a great example of using a hook that promises to share what you know. This headline promises tips that  aren’t basic or overwhelming. They cover a range of strategies that anyone can begin using right away.

4. Mention a trusted leader or company in your industry

Tyson Quick and Instapage has a great reputation in the digital marketing world. This blog post, written on the Proof blog, uses that reputation to build intrigue.

The headline uses many of the previous tactics as well: transparency, sharing knowledge and utilizing customer desires.

Trust, but Verify

You’ve done your research, you know your customers inside and out, and you’ve put all the great copy techniques to work. It’s time to publish your automated webinar and let the sales roll in. Well…yes and no. While you’re light years ahead of many other companies and their stale webinars, you still want to make sure your hook is resonating with your customers.

A good indicator to determine if you’re getting the right traction for your webinar is if you have high registrations, low cost per click on ads, high conversions, and solid attendee numbers. If that’s the case, it’s safe to say your customers are loving what you’re producing.

But, if you notice that any part of the customer’s experience is more expensive than it should be or numbers are lower than you’d like, then it’s time to reevaluate.

Test every aspect of your webinar, the headlines, the ads, the emails — every piece your customer sees can be tested and changed until you begin to see the results you’re seeking.

Making these slight tweaks doesn’t mean starting from scratch. Your customers haven’t changed, you just need to find the right combination that sparks their interest.

tl:dr

You can create automated webinars that leave your customers excited to watch and eager to participate. It takes a little preparation, but once you’ve learned about your customers’ values, frustrations, and irritations, you’ll be able to use that knowledge in a way that’s enticing and intriguing.

Test every aspect of your webinar experience and see what combination works best!  

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE WEBINAR STRATEGY CHECKLIST BELOW  

Use this checklist  to design your very own high-converting webinar marketing strategy from scratch, then automate the process to attract high-quality leads. 

We promise to never spam or send emails about cats.
Okay, maybe some cat stuff.