Anne Holland put up the results of an A/B comparison test between two web site navigation menus. One site used the phrase “Webinars” to indicate a page of available sessions. The second site used the phrase “Online Training.” Anne invites you to guess which navigation bar resulted in more click-throughs to the target page.
I don’t think I’m spoiling the fun when I tell you that the results are completely unsurprising. “Online Training” resulted in significantly higher clicks to the page, but also attracted more attendees to the webinars promoted on that page.
You might think that I would be dismayed or defensive about these results, writing as I am on the “Webinar Wire” and being closely associated with the word “webinar.” But not only would I predict such a result, it backs up advice I have given companies for many years… You need to promote benefits, not mechanics.
Webinar is a useful shorthand term for those of us in the industry. It takes fewer syllables and fewer characters than writing out “web seminar” or “online meeting.” But it only describes a communication methodology and conveys absolutely nothing in terms of benefits or value to the public.
When Anne tested her two phrases, one of them was a generic term for a type of communication vehicle. It said nothing about what might be found there. There is no incentive to click and see what might be present. The other indicated a specific type of content. People who wanted training would click on the phrase to see what training courses exist. And naturally it would result in more attendance at the advertised training classes… You have a self-selecting audience predisposed to be interested in the content being offered on that page.
Learn from this practical example and use the teachings in your own event promotions. The important part of your title, promotion, or even menu choice is not the fact that it’s a webinar. The important part is that you are offering a specific type of value that your targets are interested in. It doesn’t matter if you call it a webinar, webcast, web meeting, online event, or interactive audio-visual collaborative shindig. Describing the technology will never get you as much action as describing the content.
As posted on Webinar Wire by Ken Molay, President, Webinar Success