Best Practices to Building an On-Demand Content Strategy

In today’s fast-paced world, we consume content much differently than we did just 10 years ago. Thanks to the advent of DVR, it became easier to watch our favorite shows on our own terms, rather than at their scheduled air time. And as more people cut the cord in favor of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, network and cable TV is trying to compete with the introduction of their own apps that allow you to watch TV from your tablet and smartphone, on your own terms, without the need for a DVR.

Even music services are responding the same way. While you can still buy songs and albums to download and own, many services, such as Amazon Music Unlimited, Google Play Music, and Spotify are offering unlimited streaming, so you can listen to what you want to listen to, when you want to listen to it.

It’s all in response to people demanding the freedom to consume content on their own schedule, not on someone else’s terms. So, why not make your content available on the same terms? Your customers are already reading your articles when they have time, and watching your video when they have time. Every potential customer has a different buyer’s journey, so your business needs to provide the content they need, when they need it.

That’s why it’s important to build an on-demand strategy for your B2B content. This not only helps people find your content, but ensures your content assets have a longer life span and help boost lead generation.

 

Why is On-Demand Content So Important?

With the globalization of business, when you host a webinar or other live event, there is no time zone that will fit all geographic areas. A lot of your promotional activities, unless you’re strictly a local business, will be on the global level. Your social media promotions will reach international audiences – even with targeted ad campaigns there’s always the chance people from other countries will find you.

Data from On24 shows an average of 21.7% on-demand viewing comes from those who registered to attend the live event. Only 13% view live and on-demand. Another 18.5% of on-demand viewership comes from people who were not registered for the live event.

 

How to Create a Compelling On-Demand Experience

Many people believe that content has to be live to be interactive and engaging, but this is not the case. You can tailor the experience for all your content – including links to on-demand content throughout your website, with a mix of additional relevant content. Each page on your website can be optimized for lead generation. Do this instead of turning to the old-school approach of a “resource center” where people can find more information, and you’ll get more out of your content.

Repurpose your content. You can take the live webinars and turn them into multiple content assets. Not only can you make the webinar available for on-demand viewing later, but you can turn it into an eBook or report you use for lead generation, post a small clip of it to Facebook or use it in a Facebook ad, and so on.

 

Developing Your On-Demand Promotional Strategy

After an event is over, you add it to your archive, but do you continue promoting it? Chances are you just start to promote the next one to try to boost live attendance, yes? Use a mixture of social media, your website, search engine marketing, online ads, emails, and other verticals to get the word out about your webinar, but just because the event is over doesn’t mean you have to stop promoting it. Just make sure you’re staggering your promotions of new vs. old content to avoid over-saturating and that you have adequate campaign tracking in place so you can monitor performance.

Use your live content to promote your on-demand content. During live webinars, provide the link to your repository where all your on-demand content is located. Ask your speakers to promote the on-demand content they are part of. Create links between live and on-demand content.

Syndicate your on-demand content by sharing it on YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other networks.

 

Running Successful Webinars

Webinars are a popular content marketing tool, with 60% of marketers using them as a tool for connecting with potential customers and building relationships. Webinars can help you generate quality leads, increase brand awareness and understanding of your products and services by up to 74%, so there’s no reason not to consider adding them to your overall content marketing strategy. When you consider this and they fact that a webinar can also help you show your expertise and authority in your niche, they are a win-win… if you plan correctly.

• Choose a specific topic: To keep the webinar on track, you need to choose a specific topic. If you go too broad, you may have trouble narrowing it down to what to talk about. Too specific and you may not have enough interest. Remember, you can host multiple webinars related to a single broad topic. Whatever it is, make sure your audience is interested in it.
• Create a solid outline for your presentation: Make sure you cover the things people want to know, while doing so within your time constraints. Leave time at the end of the presentation for questions from the audience.
• Choose the right format: You can choose between: presentation, interview, Q&A, product demo, and panel. Presentation is most common because it’s a PowerPoint presentation shared while people talk.
• Choose the right platform: There are numerous platforms you can choose, and the one that’s right for you depends on the equipment you have, your budget, and the number of live attendees you expect. Options include: ClickMeeting, Google Hangouts, GoToWebinar, and WebEx.
• Test, Test, Test: Do a test run of everything to make sure everything is working as it is supposed to. Check to make sure your slides are in the right order, and the speakers are aware of what they need to say. Practice your introductions so you can read through them without stumbling over your words. Close applications that slow down your computer. Make sure the workspace is organized so you don’t have to search for it during the webinar, or have your pets behaving obnoxiously during the event.
• Engage the audience before, during, and after: Create content to generate buzz about the webinar beforehand, so people learn about it and are excited about attending. Connect with attendees during the event on Twitter. When the webinar is over, continue engaging attendees with additional content. Have the before and after content ready to go when your webinar is ready, too.
• Build a killer slide deck: Boring slides make for a bored audience. Build slides to match your brand, and keep them interesting with images and graphs of data that relate to your topic and the points you’re making at that stage of the webinar.
• Promote with a dedicated hashtag: Choose an original hashtag to promote your webinar before, during, and after the webinar. You can use it to interact and engage with attendees. Mention Twitter handles for any speakers on your slides and during the event.
• Leave the audience wanting more: Finish the webinar by sharing actionable advice, best practices, or some kind of call to action so your audience knows what to do next. Provide contact information for your company and speakers. Send attendees a recap of the event, with a survey asking for their feedback. You can also provide additional materials, or rewards like special offers only for those who attended the event live.

 

Conclusion

Webinars and live video make excellent on-demand content because they are easy for your audience to watch after the live event. Create an editorial calendar of sorts just for this kind of content to make sure you’ve got on-demand content worked into your overall content marketing strategy.

Over time, you’ll be able to build a rather extensive library of on-demand content to help bring in more leads.