6 case studies prove ROI of webinars

 
 
 

Permit me this brief self-promotional message. I am doing a webinar on Secrets of Social Media ROI (register here) on 10/16 (Tuesday) at 11 am EDT. It’s free.
This 1/2 hour webinar examines key insights from the eBook, 166 Case Studies Prove Social Media Marketing ROI, which was written for anyone interested in learning by example how social media marketing drives businesses and builds brands. The eBook can be downloaded on the side bar of this website. There are no information requested or forms to fill out; just click “download.”
The webinar is being brought to you by Biznology, a top-rated business and digital marketing blog as ranked by AdAge, HubSpot and TopRank. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.
Webinars work because they shorten the sales cycles, increase leads, reduce marketing costs and enhance a brand’s positioning and thought leadership. Although webinars occur online, they bring a level of personal touch, interactivity and hands on training that is associated with offline learning; all without ever leaving your desk, office or home.
But webinars don’t achieve these results unless they teach something news and establish a connection of relevance, credibility and trust. When they work, they reinforce a fundamental truth about relationships: People like to do business with people they know.
Do they work? Here are 6 case studies that prove ROI of webinars.

1. AVON: Markets through 3 million representatives in 131 countries. Avon established a webinar channel for reps, youravon.com, to enable offline reps to be eRepresentatives and grow revenues, increase productivity and reduce costs while maintaining control for the Avon brand. Avon estimates they have seen a $10,000,000 reduction in operating costs.
2. INSPIRED MARKETING: Sells digital materials and online training programs about using social networking tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to create and market a successful business. In 2010, the partners presented more than 300 webinars (both their own and through other people). They investment could be tracked to over $2.5 million in sales for 2011. “In January 2011, we had sales of $250,000 from just seven GoToWebinar events,” says President and Co-founder, Lewis Howes.
3. LUMEDX: Is a small healthcare technology company with 100 person staff. It needed to stand out in the face of large brand competition. Lumedx used webinars to cost effectively build awareness of its cardiovascular information and imaging systems product, drive lead generation campaigns and build customer rapport. Lumeds increased contact with over 500 clients, gained competitive edge over much larger companies and drove over$600,000 in annual sales.
4. MARKETO: Is a leading provider of marketing analytics software. The company recognized webinars as a key piece in the marketing tool kit to promote thought leadership and generate leads. As with many webinars, people registered but didn’t always attend. They used a simple, recorded phone message reminder in addition to email. Although th ephone reminder added $2 for every registrant, it increased conversion of people who attended  from 26% to 48% and, according to Marketo, was well worth the investment in terms of sales results according to a company rep.
5. PINPOINTE: Is  a provider of on-demand email marketing automation services for mid-market and large enterprises. Pinpointe depended upon free,15-day trials of its service together with traditional sales outreach to generate leads and win new customers. However, the company wanted to find additional ways to increase awareness, leads and sales. When webinars were added, 1000 new leads per month are added; 25 become customers who each generate $200/month in Pinpointe services adding $6,250 and $75,000 to the bottom line.
6. SEAGATE: Is a a large 52000+ staff technology company, Seagate wanted to bypass traditional B2B channels and market its new product directly to end users. Webinars facilitated a B2C product launch and attracted 1500+ attendees with zero advertising budget. Seagate also used webinars to assemble far-flung speakers for webcasts without travel costs. Seagate exceeded initial sales unit goal by 300 percent, doubling sales forecast within one week of launch. Once they put the webcast on YouTube, a viral marketing effect created 38,800 within 4 months.

From B2C and B2B, companies that operate door-to-door to the highly automated, webinars can be a highly effectively tactic in any company’s marketing tool kit. They are a great example of CRM in action but, in my opinion, work best when they balance new technologies with old-fashioned relationship values. At least, that’s what I hope you’ll experience if you attend “Secrets of Social Media ROI” on 10/16.
Do these case studies prove the ROI of webinars to you?