Get an experienced speaker.

It’s not easy to admit that some people are better suited than others for giving presentations. Bottom line, find someone who’s qualified. Also, avoid awkward pauses and filler words such as, “um,” “ah,” and “er,” as these convey a lack of preparedness and can be increasingly distracting.

Thrill your audience.

Incorporate striking visuals and entertain your audience while maintaining a professional demeanor. People have taken time out of their day to watch your presentation, so be creative and engage the audience with compelling content and eye-catching graphics.

Elicit a direct response.

Upon the webinar’s completion, make sure your leads know what do to do next. Where do they go to redeem their coupon code, get a complimentary white paper, or purchase your product? Also, have an outreach plan in place to follow up with everyone who sat through the presentation. You should also include a post-webinar survey and gain valuable information about the effectiveness of your presentation. Once you forge an emotional and intellectual connection with your audience, eliciting a direct response should come naturally. 

Present at the right time.

It’s generally a good idea to schedule the webinar in the middle of the week when most people are not scrambling to catch up with work. If you’re presenting to a national audience, be sure to schedule it later in the afternoon to appeal to all time zones.

Be willing to adapt.

It’s important to test new content and tweak your messaging as you present subsequent webinars. After time, you may discover that a later version of your webinar was far more effective at closing leads. 

As a full-service direct response advertising agency, Media Partners Worldwide (MPW) provides lead generation for all sizes and types of businesses. With more than 100 years of combined direct response experience, MPW takes a cutting-edge approach to effective, creative copywriting. Established in 1997, MPW is one of the largest purchasers of remnant radio advertising in the world, delivering the most cost-effective alternative to traditional media buying. Specializing in remnant radio, MPW also offers television, online, and social media marketing solutions as well.

For more information about MPW, visit the company Web site at www.MediaPartnersWorldwide.com or call 1-800-579-3031.

Drive a Direct Response

Running a radio ad certainly creates brand awareness, but an even greater value is found in driving a customer to call your 1-800 number. Then it’s up to your call center to turn leads into conversions. With a great radio spot, customers will not be calling to ask questions, rather to make purchases. This is the art of direct-response advertising; this is the art of writing spots with an effective call to action.

Make an Emotional Connection

Emotions are the greatest driving forces for human action. Even our own thoughts are vulnerable to be overcome by strong emotions. Successful advertisers have known this for decades and have been cashing in ever since. If you want someone to act immediately or if you want an ad to be remembered, rousing emotion is imperative.  

Choose the Right Creative Approach

In order to illicit a direct response, we’ve already discussed how emotions play a significant role. But how is this accomplished? One way is through the script design itself. Creative formats range from testimonials and sole announcer, to story-form and vignette. Remember, the most-effective format for your ad is dependent upon your industry and product/service. Also, make sure to understand why your professional writer chose the particular format, and then trust him/her to execute it.

Consider the Production Value

Have you ever seen a good movie that would have been great if they’d invested more money into the production? Or have you seen a dated TV commercial that makes you think poorly of the product? The same goes for radio ads, except you generally only have 30 or 60 seconds to leave a lasting mark. Good writers will set up the scene with sound effects that not only compliment the spoken words, but encourage an emotional response as well. Poor-quality sound effects can distract your audience or even give the entire spot a dated feel to it.

As a full-service direct response advertising agency, Media Partners Worldwide (MPW) has been a leader in direct response radio advertising since 1997. With pre-negotiated remnant rates and innovative advertising strategies, MPW consistently delivers low-cost, highly targeted campaigns to its clients.

Visit http://www.mediapartnersworldwide.com/site/radioadvertisingevaluation.asp to get your Radio Advertising Evaluation and find out how remnant radio will increase cash flow for your business. For more information about MPW, visit www.MediaPartnersWorldwide.com or call 1-800-579-3031.

Of course it’s imperative that business owners discover whether social media marketing is worth their time and money. While some industries are better suited to explore the social media revolution, here are some concrete ways social media marketing can help boost company revenue.

Increased Web Traffic

Most businesses target the big three social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. With a strong online presence, you’ll gain access to like-minded folks as you tactfully build a following. The best way to build a large following is through the use of value-add content. In other words, develop articles and blogs that provide useful information to your potential customers. What written content will appeal to them? Then, refer to this valuable content and provide a link through a Tweet, Status Update, etc. Since this content lives on your Web site, you’re now able to affect the behavior of social media site users as you drive high-quality traffic. 

Attract More Customers Through an Exclusive Promotion

Define a promotion that’s applicable to your business, such as “15% off.” Promote this discount through the social media sites and track conversions with individual promo codes. For this to happen, your Web site must gather information such as name, email, phone, and promo code during the checkout process for reporting purposes. By using the promo code, you’ll be able to track the effectiveness of your campaign among each of the sites. You’ll soon discover which promotions work and which don’t. It’s also in your best interest to continually test new promotions as you adapt to customer purchase tendencies.

Amplified Lead Generation Campaigns

We all know the value of leads, especially in a time when they’re hard to come by. Whether it’s a cash sweepstakes or free offering, using social media sites to promote anything that includes a prize can vastly improve your lead generation numbers. How does it work? Simple: In order to enter a contest or claim a free prize, your social media followers must be prompted to provide their contact info. This will happen online, ideally through a portal linked to your Web site. You’ve already provided the link to this page in your Tweet, Status Update, etc. If it’s a free e-book you’re offering, once the users “submit” their contact info, you can provide them with the PDF at this point and no sooner. This only requires basic programming skills and even inexperienced Web designers should be able to set this up with little effort.

As a full-service direct response advertising agency, Media Partners Worldwide (MPW) has all the tools and personnel necessary to manage every aspect of your customized social media campaign. Visit www.MediaPartnersWorldwide.com/socialmediaevaluator to get your Social Media Evaluation and find out how your business can take full advantage of the social media revolution. For more information about MPW, visit www.MediaPartnersWorldwide.com or call 1-800-579-3031 to learn how MPW can help grow your business today.