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Webinars as Social Media

Mattbovell

Posted by Matt Bovell
June 17 2009 10:27 AM EDT

 3 comments

Peoplegraph

When I say the phrase "social media" to you, what is the first thing you think of? Probably Twitter or Facebook or MySpace or LinkedIn. What if I added "webinars" to the list?

What?

Think about it a minute. During a webinar we do all the things that are achieved in social media. We impart information (often for free). We build relationships. We obtain valuable feedback from customers and prospects. In fact, to the extent that our webinars don't do this, we have somewhat failed, haven't we?

Why don't we typically think of webinars as social media? Corporations have been using web conferencing software for ages now to facilitate internal communications. When the software began to be used externally, it was likely viewed as simple advertising. It was likely viewed as one-to-many communication which really violates the tenets of social media. Since that is the root history of webinars, I think people have been slow to change their view of them.

Now, as web conferencing software has grown in sophistication, implementing chat rooms, polling features, breakout rooms, and interactive white boards the one-to-many paradigm has been broken. Even webinars with large audiences have become two-way communication events. Webinars have become a way for you to get to know your audience and for them to get to know you. It has become a relationship builder, the essential element of any social media.

As you implement a social media strategy for your business, do not overlook webinars as a key component!

Tags: webinars, social media

  

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Comments:

  • Hi Matt, While there is the ability to have chat rooms, interactive white boards, and breakout rooms, I would argue that this is not the norm and probably used for smaller, collaborative meeting vs a larger "lead gen" type of event. For example, rarely do you see an open group chat where attendees can freely discuss the value - both good and bad - of the content and speaker. Until this is addressed, I do not forsee webinars as part of a larger social media strategy. Thanks, Cece Note: These comments are not representative of my company.

    Posted by Cece Salomon-Lee, http://prmeetsmarketing.wordpress.com
    8 months ago

  • Cece, your point is well taken but you neglected to mention one common webinar feature that definitely provides instant feedback from even the largest audience ... polling. Polling not only keeps your audience engaged, it opens up a two-way communication path. As for open group chat, take a peek at another recent post of mine here on Webinar Wire. Open chat carries certain risks that many webinar moderators do not wish to take. On the other hand, there is nothing to prevent a moderator from enabling private chat between his audience and himself. This keeps the communication paths open without risking the distraction that a publc chat could cause. Webinars can build a relationship between the speaker and the audience without the event necessarily being "communal". That relationship building is a key part of social media. Thanks so much for your comment. I appreciate hearing your perspective.

    Posted by Matt Bovell, Vell Group LLC, http://www.vellgroup.com
    8 months ago

  • One of the easiest ways to enhance the social media aspect of webinars is to choose a provider with state-of-the-art interactive tools. iLinc is a good example, offering polling capabilities, online chats, hand raise technology, participation meters and interactive whiteboard technology. They also have a Green Meter that calculates the energy savings of webinars based on the number of participants and how far they would have otherwise had to travel to the webinar facilitator for an in-person meeting. You can watch a demo of iLinc webinar software, and try it for free, at http://www.ilinc.com.

    Posted by GreenGirl
    7 months ago

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