Running a webinar, workshop, online challenge, or another online event is a great way to acquire new customers.
But the last thing you want to do is spend all this time preparing for a magnificent online event that nobody attends.
One of the biggest challenges that come with hosting an online event is obtaining attendees.
Fortunately, LinkedIn has an incredibly helpful feature that you can leverage to drive webinar signups.
Here are the basics for using LinkedIn events to drive online event attendance.
LinkedIn Events
LinkedIn Events was a feature that was originally launched in 2011, then relaunched in 2019. It allows you to create a special events page that you can promote by inviting your connections. The feature makes it easy to spread the word about your event and allows people to register in just one click.
Not many people are taking advantage of this feature. This leaves a ton of opportunities for smaller businesses and entrepreneurs to generate immense benefits. When it comes to marketing your event on LinkedIn, using the Events feature is a great competitive advantage.
This feature is one of the best ways to get people to your online event. This method works great for a wide array of events including:
- Panel interviews
- Challenges
- Online training
1) Create a Company Page
The first step is to create a company page on LinkedIn. While you can host an event from your personal page, you won’t have access to nearly as many features or settings. Specifically, you cannot download attendee details (including their email) without a company page. Later on, the ability to do this will make all of the difference. To make sure you can leverage all of the key features, you’ll need a company page on LinkedIn.
Furthermore, inviting a lot of people to your event from your personal profile can trigger the weekly invite limit. LinkedIn may perceive this as spammy, and limit your account. You definitely don’t want that when making an event!
2) Invite Connections
Use the LinkedIn event page to start inviting your connections. Encourage your connections to invite their connections as well.
You can invite up to 1,000 per week. However, you must stay on top of registrations as you do this.
3) Download the Details of Your Attendees
As you invite connections, people will begin to register for your event. Download the attendee details regularly to a spreadsheet.
The convenient part is that you can then upload the data right into your CRM or email software. Contact them right away with a confirmation email. This will help ensure they actually attend the live event.
Right before the event, build some rapport with a pre-event email. Send something valuable, like a quick learning point. This is a chance to build the relationship and encourage attendance.
4) Host the Event
Then comes the time to deliver your event! If it’s your first event, don’t put too much pressure on it. Your event should provide value, but it doesn’t need to be a huge production.
Include a clear event CTA, telling attendees what they need to do to work with you. Consider creating a custom landing page for this event.
5) Follow up
Don’t forget to follow up! A follow-up can go a long way for those who registered but did not attend the event After your webinar, you should follow up with registrants to push your call to action.
Frankly, half, or maybe more, of those who signed up on LinkedIn won’t attend your event. While this may be disappointing, it still presents a great opportunity. After all, you still have the contact information for those who registered via LinkedIn and didn’t attend.
Shortly after the event, send a follow-up email. Link to a recording of the session and include timestamps for key points. This still provides immense value and can help move them in the right direction.
Keep in mind that there are dozens of reasons why someone doesn’t engage. For one, they may have gotten too busy and not been able to find the time. They may have been focused on other tasks, or not realized the value of your webinar.
Following up can demonstrate the value and re-engage them. Right after the event, including a PDF with some main notes. End with a CTA to book a call. A few days later, send a summary video to those who have still not booked. Send a quick five-minute recap with a CTA. Finally, for those who still have not engaged, send a quick one-pager with your final CTA.
Repeat for Any Online Event
After you’ve used this process once, it’s incredibly easy to repeat again. You can continue doing this to generate a strong sales pipeline and drive signups for any of your online events. Furthermore, this strategy also helps you acquire relevant emails and prospects even if they don’t attend your event.
Learn the Step-By-Step Process
Using LinkedIn Events is one of the best ways to drive attendees to your online event. It’s also a great way to acquire relevant leads that you can continue to market to outside of the event. The steps above are a basic overview of how you can leverage this LinkedIn feature for your events.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Looking for the exact roadmap to using LinkedIn Events?
Beep2B is here to help.
We’ve created the LinkedIn Event Essentials online training to help you learn exactly how to use LinkedIn for your webinars and online events.
In this course, we cover everything you need to know from idea generation to event execution and follow-up. We dive into how to create a compelling online event, the exact marketing setup you should use, pre-event communication, event prep, follow ups, the sales funnel, and much more.
With our course, you get access to all the resources you need including workbooks, templates, examples, and community support.
If you’re looking for a proven method for driving leads to your event, then this course is for you. Sign up for the course today by clicking here.
