Webinars, webinars and more webinars. The struggle is real because without conferences, every service provider in fintech and digital banking seems to be holding webinars (yes, guilty here as well!). And let’s be honest, there’s no shortage of great topics to present/discuss right now including the impact of COVID-19 on financial services, personalization, open banking, customer experience and yes, even conversational banking, just to name a few.
No in-person meetings, no conferences and maximum screen time, made webinars everyone’s first choice to connect with clients and prospects. Should they still be? Are you having trouble keeping up with all of them? As someone whose job includes attending fintech events and soaking up industry content, here are a few thoughts as I’ve navigated the sea of digital content that has risen since the onset of the pandemic.
1. So Many Invites…
From talking to fintech industry colleagues, webinar fatigue has definitely set in. As marketing dollars formerly budgeted for in-person events shift to sponsored content with industry media, the webinar invites just keep coming. Last week, I received four invites per day, three days in a row, some from brands doing WEEKLY webinars. It’s become extremely difficult to stay up to speed on all of the opportunities.
How many webinars did you attend last month?
2. Creativity and Variety of Content Breaks Through the Clutter
Content creativity/variety appears to be the key to providing value in the current environment. White papers, small round table discussions (my favorite so far to attend!) and downloadable e-books are recent examples of things that have worked well in addition to the traditional webinar.
What is a cool new format you have seen for effective content?
3. Compelling Content or Infomercial?
Webinar fatigue is not just from high volume, but also from varying quality of webinars, including the dreaded bait-and-switch. Some folks are promoting educational webinars only to give blatant sales pitches and/or demos. Most of these brands have an insider view of their industry segment or banking and people dial-in to hear that view, but unfortunately only some truly deliver. Demos and pitches are certainly valuable – when they are labeled as such! Oh, also reading word-for-word from a script is not a good webinar. Yes, we can all tell you’re reading.
Who do you think hosts the best webinars?
“Juan” last thing – just so you don’t think I’m anti-webinar, we are partnering with our colleagues at Envestnet I Yodlee on September 9th to host a webinar titled “Conversational AI – The Natural Evolution of Digital Banking.” Details will be shared on our social media accounts very soon…and I promise that it won’t be a blatant sales pitch!