CASE STUDY
Creating and executing a new webinar strategy
Project Date: October-November 2020
Company: ADI Global Distribution, a distributor of AV, security and networking products for installers and dealers
Challenge
ADI had previously relied heavily on in-person events at branches and expos where SMEs and vendors would present on products and industry trends. When COVID-19 hit, the learning and development team began hosting webinars that filled the gap in our event offerings. However, by fall of 2020, registration and attendance was down; the amount of webinars (three a week) and topics/format (extremely product-driven) were no longer working.
Solution
Develop a webinar strategy that positioned ADI as a thought leader and focusing on topics addressing customers’ biggest challenges along with industry insights to increase registrations and attendance.
I began by interviewing customers and researching and workshopping webinars ideas with internal SMEs. The new strategy focused on timely topics, with some evergreen and emerging trend ideas. Webinars were no longer focused on a single brand or type of product.
I developed a webinar calendar for the entire year that included a mix of panel discussions, expert debates, demos and presentations. We also built out more robust campaigns with pre- and post-event assets. I wrote the content for all webinar assets, and also identified and prepped speakers for each webinar.
Results
After I presented my plan and received buy-in from leadership, my team rolled out the new strategy in January 2021 after several months of ideation and planning.
Within the first quarter, webinar registrations increased by 1095% and attendance by 780% compared to the previous year. The webinars in that quarter also generated more than 100 new leads.
Calendar of webinar topics to support the new strategy
Webinar invites like this one were were sent out on a regular cadence before each event
Webinar invites like this one were were sent out on a regular cadence before each event