What’s the point of a webinar? Should I start? Should I start?

Q. I’ve heard a lot about webinars lately. Should small and medium-sized businesses(SMB) like ours do them?

They are effective for businesses that connect seminars to individual consultations and sales, but are often unnecessary for many types of businesses.
Webinars are very effective for companies in businesses that usually hold seminars and connect them to subsequent closings (individual consultations and sales); by doing so on the Web, it is easier to gather potential customers without distance or time constraints. On the other hand, for retailers and construction companies that do not have a flow of product sales through seminars, it may not be necessary to hold them. We recommend that you make a decision based on whether the seminar is “effective” for your business.

Q. What are your criteria for deciding whether to do a webinar?

In your everyday business, make a decision based on whether conducting a seminar in front of an audience will lead to more prospects or sales.
The most important factor in deciding whether you should conduct a webinar is whether it leads to more sales or potential customers. If you have experience with increased consultation as a result of speaking at a chamber of commerce or other such event, then a web-based webinar would be effective. If you do not feel that attracting customers through a seminar format is beneficial at this point, there is no need to start.

Q. I don’t do webinars because they seem too difficult, but don’t I have to do videos too?

Webinars and videos are different. Even if a webinar is not required, video content is valuable in many industries.
Even if a webinar is not the right fit for your company, the use of video content is recommended in many cases. While a webinar is a seminar format, video content is a recorded video that conveys the atmosphere of a product, service, or company. It is well worth considering the use of video separately from webinars, as it can help customers feel more comfortable and familiar when choosing a product.

Hello everyone. My name is Nakayama of Roundup Consulting, a web consulting firm specializing in small and medium-sized businesses (SMB).

This series of videos is basically a series of videos to inform small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) and those who support them in a straightforward manner. If you like, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. It will make it easier for you to get the latest videos.

In this issue, we would like to tell you about “webinars. In katakana, it is a coined word combining the so-called “web” and “seminar. The word was coined overseas.

I’m not sure if there is a lot of excitement about it, but it is in the form of those that are using it and those that are not using it.

Before trying to learn how to do a webinar, think about whether it makes sense or not.

There are two major categories of people for whom this makes sense, those who have a meaningful industry and work style and those who do not.

If it doesn’t make sense, I don’t have to worry about webinars anymore, so I should just forget about it and do something else.

Patterns that make sense to utilize webinars

To put it simply, webinars are web-based seminars, so they are usually for B-to-B clients.

This is a company that is doing a seminar in-house or in a rented conference room, in which there is a closing process afterwards. There are cases where the closing takes place on the spot. This is the case with individual consultations attached to the back of the seminar.

If you have a closing process behind you like that. Or a company that has a system in place to sell to those who come to them afterwards. In other words, there is a step where you collect a list and then nurture prospects by email or phone call to them. If you are in that type of business, you can complement that to some extent by doing it on the web.

If you have people come to your office in person, there are various problems such as distance and time, etc. Nowadays, you can view your website from a smartphone, so it is easy to find potential and prospective customers.

Those for whom webinars do not make much sense.

But if you are not, for example, a regular retailer, a massage parlor in town, an acupuncture and bodywork clinic, a construction company, or a wholesaler, there are basically no situations where you would use a webinar. There is no need to use them.

Because you all basically don’t sell anything by giving seminars.

Of course, depending on the type of business, some acupuncture and moxibustion clinics, for example, do seminars and attract customers from there.

It is possible to put the same content on the web if there are many targets, such that the target audience will watch the video if they are that kind of person, and then lead them well from the website, or from e-mail or LINE to create potential customers.

If not, don’t bother with separate webinars.

For example, I distribute videos. I also do an audio medium called podcasts.

This is because I do consulting, web utilization, and marketing, so I want people to get a sense of who I am, how I speak, whether I am a decent person, and so on, and it is meaningful for various purposes.

But for those who do not, it is not an essential media at all. Please keep that in mind first.

All the articles on the internet are “assuming” you’re going to do it, but think about it in the first place.

What is a webinar? If you look up “what is a webinar?” and look at the information, you will usually find many articles on how to do webinars and points to keep in mind, which we also write about.

But for those who don’t need to do it in the first place, there’s no need to bother. It is a waste of time and should be cut out. So the best way to judge at this point whether it is worth it or not for you is to decide whether it will help you sell or not when you give a seminar in front of people in your own business.

If you are invited to speak in public at some point, for example at a chamber of commerce or industry, and if you get a lot of potential customers after speaking there, or if you get more meetings for consultations, or if your presence in the town increases, or if you find that seminars are good, then you can do it again at that point. If there is no benefit at this point, then you don’t need to do it at all. If there is no benefit at this point, there is no need to do it at all.

With that in mind, I would like to ask you to check out the webinar process in various places if you feel it is necessary for you and your team.

What is a Webinar? And what are the key points to keep in mind before the event.
https://roundup-inc.co.jp/content-101/video/why-webinar/

Even if you don’t need a webinar, video content is often valuable

Incidentally, even if that is not the case, it is a different story if you don’t do webinars, then you basically don’t have to worry about video.

Video itself can be used in many different industries. If you all have people come to your physical stores and show them your products, and it is easier to close the sale if you explain various things to the customer there while they are looking at it, then it is better to do that with video and deliver it over the Internet.

Many worry that customers will actually stop coming. That if we deliver them on video, they will be satisfied with that.

When I actually do things, I don’t tend to do so much. If I see a video on the Internet and think it is good, I will go see it in person.

Webinars and video streaming are different.

Video distribution, or putting the video on the website so that it can be viewed, or the easiest way to do it is to upload it to YouTube and embed it, is a different story.

There are lots of people who don’t need webinars but find the video content valuable.

Most industries, whether people are in business like I am, or retail stores and services, feel more comfortable and familiar if you show them a video of both people and things.

From this perspective, we recommend that video content be considered separate from webinars, rather than being lumped together with webinars.

If I go on to talk about video content, it would be contrary to the purpose of this video, which is to end simply, so I will omit that part.

If you would like, please contact us or do another search.

Overall Summary

To summarize about webinars, there are many who do not do them.

Most industries will not be able to make much use of webinars.

You can force yourself to do it, but I don’t think you will get much out of it.

If you all decide that it would be better to speak in public at a seminar, it would be sufficient if you could think about what would happen if you did it on the Web again at that time.

As it stands, those who have a closing flow from such seminars should do more and more of them.

It’s easy to do webinars now.

You can easily do it using YouTube live, or you can do it on ZOOM or something like that. That’s all for the content.

We have been working with 600 to 700 small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), so we will continue to deliver videos that clearly distinguish what they need, what they don’t need, what they do need, and what they do need. We have been working with 600 or 700 companies, so we will continue to deliver more and more videos that will help them to identify what they need, what they don’t need, what they do need, and what they do.

If you like, you can subscribe to the channel or visit the Roundup Web Consulting website to see the various contents.

So, I wish you all the best in moving your businesses forward.

Thank you for listening to the end.