I got an FYI email yesterday from a newsletter I subscribe to. It offered me a free download of a social media webinar.
I thought, “Cool, sounds like useful information and I can use it for ‘Freebie Friday’. I’ll download it, watch it, and spread it.”
Lots of obstacles
I clicked on the download link. Instead of a download, I got taken to a page asking for:
- my full name
- my email address
- my company name
- my title
- whether my company was business-to-business or sold to consumers
- what kind of business I had, and
- my biggest marketing challenge.
Whew! That’s an awful lot of fields to fill in. I don’t want to submit all of that information for a webinar. There are too many barriers. I smell “big sales pitch” and it stinks.
Sorry, I’m not filling it in, and I’m not spreading your webinar either.
The right way to get webinar signups
- Cut the fields to the bare minimum
- List the top 3 reasons to subscribe
- Tell them it’s free
- Explain how (just click here, fill in your name)
Create content that spreads easily
- Encourage pass-alongs
- Skip the sales pitch
- Be helpful. Include useful information (that people will want to forward)
- Use easy-to-understand words. This one offered lessons from memetics. I have no clue what that means.
Yes, they did get me to talk about their business, but probably not in the way they intended.
What tips do you have for spreading your webinars (or any other free content)?