Webinars Will Get Superpowers is part of the Inc. article, Experts Predict 9 Ways Internet Marketing Will Change in 2016, by Joel Comm.

If we look at all the predictions and tie them together, you will see a pattern.

Webinars are about providing valuable content. The lead into a webinar with the ads, landing pages, emails to subscribers, are all content driven. Webinars are a platform to create innovative ways to reach and engage audiences.

Authority is one of the great benefits of hosting a webinar. As an expert authority on your subject matter, you are the prize your audience want to emulate and associate. Taki Moore ran three webinars with the express purpose of writing this book, Million Dollar Coach. The transcripts and the flow were scripted specifically to create the book and it was an interactive experience for the participants.

Webinars are best live but there is plenty of steps that can totally automate the webinar funnel and sales process. We know that the strongest businesses are built on authentic relationships and real engagement; that’s Relationship Riches! Both live interaction and systems that help you engage with your customers faster and more personably.”

Webinars are great systems. The sequence of pages and sales funnel process are part of the smarter systems will smooth processes and build relationships. “It is not just to systematize your business, but to create systems to help you engage with your customers faster and more personably.” Adding webinars into the mix creates engagement. The replay and encore webinars are part of the follow up and provides more opportunity for engagement. “Following up with prospects on a consistent basis will be more and more important,” said Doug Brown, “as they will get to know you better and are more likely to buy from you over time.”

“It will be necessary for companies and organizations,” said Kathleen Gage, “to be even more streamlined than ever in how they segment their markets and the messaging to their markets.” If the headline and topic of the webinar is clear, the right audience will show up. Kathleen says, “Transparency marketing will be huge. People who allow themselves to be vulnerable in what they share will create a more loyal following among those who are interested in their information and expertise, with an equally fast drop off of those who have no interest in what they stand for.” You can bare it all on a webinar.

Live content will become a more important way to build those targeted audiences. Reed Floren sees great results from live streaming: “More companies will take advantage of live streaming (Blab, Periscope, webinars, Hangouts, etc.) in order to stand out from the crowd and to build a very loyal following.” It is not the platform, it is the experience, and webinars provide a live, valuable content sharing experience.

With the launch of LinkedIn Sales Navigator,” said Jimena Cortes, “LinkedIn is encouraging you to use its platform to find, track, and contact prospects. LinkedIn has also expanded its capabilities for lead generation through Pulse, its publishing platform, and now SlideShare.” You’ll find webinar invitation every day on LinkedIn. Many webinar hosts share their PowerPoint or Keynote decks on SlideShare as a way to provide more value.

Warren Whitlock noted, “Video viewing on mobile devices has been growing exponentially and will continue in 2016. Streaming video, video chat, and video product descriptions will continue to set apart those using them during 2016 and will become commonplace soon after.” Webinars are mobile and on-the-go as participants use tablets and mobile phones to experience the webinar.

Steve Fultz says, “Authentic engagement through transparent connections will be key for small businesses in 2016,” Fultz said. “Video use of behind-the-scenes and personalities will enhance trust with prospects and customers.” Webinars are in front of and behind the scenes in real time for participants.

Webinars Will Get Superpowers

Webinars used to be so easy. Sherrie Rose (@sherrierose) of WebinarCoach.com sees them becoming much richer and much more complex. They’re going to become interactive marketing machines in 2016.

“Long gone are the days of text-laden PowerPoint decks,” said Rose. “Combining powerful images, video, Snapchat, Google Hangouts, and other forms of engagement make webinars into one of the most valuable tools in the marketer’s tool chest. The hybrid webinar that has prerecorded content with live moderators and live Q&A extends the value of a well-received webinar that has proven ratings and high sales conversion.”

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Original article Published on Inc.com. Dec 22, 2015