As a business owner, choosing lead generation strategies that are effective and align with your goals should be one of your top priorities.
Both webinars and podcasts have emerged as go-to strategies for businesses and entrepreneurs looking to generate a steady flow of quality leads.
Each approach boasts its fair share of marketing merits – but which one is right for you? Here we’re going to look at the advantages of webinars and podcasts to help you make an informed decision for your business.
How webinars engage and attract prospects
Webinars are live or prerecorded presentations based on a specific topic that are not only highly informative but allow direct interaction with your audience.
The key benefits of webinar marketing
Hosting a webinar will give you an opportunity to showcase your unique value in a way that’s interactive, informative, and engaging.
Armed with a solid engagement strategy, a single webinar can earn up to 1,000 leads. Creating a webinar will humanise your brand, building trust in the process (which is vital for turning leads into paying customers).
Webinar marketing will also:
- Empower you to demonstrate your expertise and establish authority in your industry
- Help you spark personal connections with your attendees
- Connect with better-quality leads due to deeper interaction and engagement
The key features of webinar marketing for lead engagement
We’ve established the business-boosting benefits, but what are the key lead engagement features of webinar marketing?
To drive maximum engagement, you have to maintain your audience’s attention from start to finish. You can do this by:
- Using live interaction tools such as quizzes, polls, and Q&As during the session
- Choosing a unique angle on a relevant topic and demonstrating your authority with stats and insights
- Reaching out to your attendees with content or offers based on their level or style of engagement during the webinar
Turning webinar attendees into customers with ScoreApp
You can use ScoreApp to convert your webinar attendees into loyal customers by boosting engagement from the registration to the post-webinar follow-up phase of the operation.
With access to interactive scorecards, data-driven insights, and attendee segmentation tools, you’ll have everything you need to capture your leads’ attention. You can also pre-qualify your leads and nurture their interest with valuable, personalised follow-ups.
ScoreApp also allows you to:
- Create attention-grabbing webinar landing pages to capture more leads
- Automate personalised email follow-up insights, offers, and content
- Segment your leads based on their engagement in a webinar
FYI: You can integrate ScoreApp with your email marketing platform to make sending personalised webinar reminders and follow-up content a swift and seamless experience.
How podcasts build authority and reach a broader audience
Did you know? A colossal 546.7 million people listen to podcasts worldwide – and for good reason.
Podcasts are a fun, creative, and accessible way to connect with your audience on a deeper level. They may offer a more passive consumption experience than webinars, but podcasts are powerful lead generation tools.
The key benefits of podcast marketing
As podcasts are an on-demand form of content, they offer a potentially broad audience reach to capture more leads.
If your podcast content is consistently informative and entertaining, you’ll encourage your listeners to come back for more – cementing trust in the process.
Podcasts allow you to:
- Establish authority and leadership in your industry over time
- Tap into emerging trends and industry developments on a regular basis
- Generate a consistent flow of quality leads without time constraints
The key features of podcasts for lead generation
When it comes to lead generation, podcasts are a real marketing gem. For starters, people can consume your content anytime and anywhere. There are no restrictions.
Another key feature is that people can listen to your content long after it’s been published.
By creating a consistent flow of themed content or launching an entire podcast series, you can capture new leads as well as nurture existing ones.
Yes, podcasts are on demand and, with the right approach, you could be in demand.
Turn podcast listeners into customers with ScoreApp
While podcasts offer plenty of lead-generating potential, 47.7% of businesses say that promoting their content is their number one challenge. But not with the right tools at your disposal.
With ScoreApp, you can earn epic returns on your podcast marketing investment by creating a strategy that transforms your passive listeners into leads.
By building a custom landing page and creating interactive quizzes or surveys, you can use ScoreApp to connect with your listeners and complement your podcast with additional value.
You can also use the information you’ve collected from your quiz or surveys to reach out to them with tailored content, updates, and offers that will convert them into long-term customers.
Tip: Get ahead of the competition by reading our practical guide on how to get high-quality leads from your podcast listeners.
What to consider when deciding between webinars and podcasts
Now that you’re up to speed with the benefits of webinars and podcasts for generating leads, let’s look at some key considerations that will help you decide what’s best for you.
1. Which lead generation tool best suits your goals?
If you’re looking for a more direct route to connecting with your audience and interacting with your leads directly, webinars are what you want.
On the flip side, if you want long-term engagement and to boost brand awareness incrementally, podcasts are brilliant for building authority over time.
2. How practical is each option to produce?
Which lead generation option will best suit your time and resources? This is a question worth asking yourself before deciding which route to take.
Webinars command a greater level of setup overall because you need to test for technical issues, create slide decks, and manage attendee questions or information more efficiently.
Podcasts are less time-sensitive and are generally easier to produce, but you need slick audio editing skills (or to outsource this) to make sure you have a professional product. Producing podcasts also requires long-term commitment.
3. Which lead generation method provides the best lead data?
Connecting with valuable lead data will help you nurture your prospects by sending them personalised content that will convert them into customers.
If you want to connect with immediate information on attendee engagement, webinars will deliver the data-driven goods.
Conversely, while podcasts won’t return immediate lead data, you’ll benefit from a consistent stream of listener engagement insights over time.
Going back to our first point: You should run with whichever data-gathering approach best suits your core business goals.
4. Who will benefit most from each format?
Now we’re going to talk about your target audience. By considering which format will most benefit your prospects, you can make an informed decision on which format will deliver the best return on investment (ROI).
Typically, webinars offer value to those looking for in-depth knowledge and real-time interaction on a certain theme, topic, or subject.
If you want to attract leads who prefer a more passive experience and whom you can nurture through consistent content over time, podcasts are definitely the way to go.
5. What’s the cost for producing each option?
Your marketing budget can have a pretty significant impact on your lead generation strategy.
While both webinars and podcasts offer a healthy ROI, there are costs to consider with both.
Producing a webinar generally requires more upfront costs than a podcast. But to benefit from podcasting, you’ll have to invest more time, effort, and energy into producing consistently valuable content for your audience.
Webinar vs podcast: which will you choose?
By knowing your goals and asking yourself the right questions, you’ll choose the best possible lead generation tool for your business.
Ask yourself: What do I want to achieve and what am I using this lead generation tool for?
Do you want to launch a new service or product and showcase its value to a live audience? Are you looking to share in-depth knowledge of a hot topic in your niche? If so, a webinar will suit your needs.
Is your aim to build your brand authority and trust over time? Do you want to create an informative library of content and generate a steady flow of leads? It could be time to start podcasting.
Choose ScoreApp as your all-in-one lead generation tool
Whether you choose webinars, podcasts, or both, ScoreApp can help you take your lead generation efforts to the next level with personalised marketing tools that will engage your prospects at every stage of their journey.
And because you can integrate our platform with your email marketing CMS, you can send automated follow-ups to your attendees or listeners to drive more conversions.
Improve your webinar or podcast marketing strategy today with a FREE ScoreApp trial.
