After (briefly) attending a webinar, I received a personal follow-up email from a salesperson trying to get me to have a conversation about their platform/service/product. (see photo)
Here’s why it was creepy and ineffective:
- Sorry, who are you? They reached out to me directly with no explanation of who/what they are.
- I attended what? I sign up for many webinars. They didn’t get specific to which webinar they were associated with; they only mentioned the CEO and the brand.
- Again, who are you? I got stalked but not well. Using my LinkedIn public information to connect with me on a personal level backfired. #fail
Here are some recommendations for a better webinar follow-up:
- Drop Off Follow-up: If webinar analytics show a user left super early in the presentation, have a (branded) automated-follow up email thanking them for attending with a survey on the relevance of the material presented. “Rate this presentation” and “what can we do better?” is enough. Don’t expect much positive response but leave feedback open-ended. User feedback lets you know what areas to work on in the future: is it the subject matter, the delivery, presenter? Try including a link to the recorded presentation as a reminder of the webinar they attended or for those who had other obligations and needed to leave early. The presentation landing page should include a call-to-action for users interested in learning more.
- Engaged attendees: If the attendee stayed for most of the presentation (primarily if they were engaged in chat/Q&A), follow up with a branded automated email that thanks them for watching and some additional information about the product/service presented in the webinar. Maybe attach a whitepaper and the webinar material. Provide some value/context. Include ways to share the webinar or link to a landing page to get in contact with a salesperson.
- Future touch points (for the interested folks): You’ve got their email from the webinar sign-up/opt-in: email them until they unsubscribe. However, only email occasionally and with relevant information. Again, provide value. Track their email activity: Did they open it? Click-through? This is how you know if they’re engaged and interested — automated touchpoints: two weeks, one month, three months, six months. Maybe after a few opens, have a salesperson reach out. However, don’t overwhelm them. Don’t hound them. And, for the love of all that is good, don’t stalk their LinkedIn profile! It’s creepy.
Overall, I wasn’t interested in the content presented in the webinar, so I’m not a prospect. Would this salesperson have a chance if I had liked the webinar? Probably not. I’m not a decision maker at my full-time position, and honestly, still, I didn’t particularly appreciate how this person reached out to me. However, that’s just my personality type.
Would their tactic have worked for you?