Inbound Capture
Part of Webinars as inbound lead offers
Choosing a webinar topic that attracts potential buyers
Choose a webinar topic by identifying the buyer’s decision, checking your ability to answer it and testing the session promise.
Choose a webinar topic around a decision a potential buyer is preparing to make, then confirm your team can answer it usefully. Broad interest may attract attendees; a specific buying task gives the intended audience a clearer reason to attend and a relevant next step afterwards.
Find the task behind the topic
Start with questions heard in discovery calls, proposal discussions and implementation handovers. Write each as a task rather than a theme.
“Understand automation” is a theme. “Decide which approval steps to automate before replacing our current system” is a task. The second identifies an audience and gives the presenter criteria to explain.
For each candidate topic, ask:
- Who needs to make this decision, and what are they responsible for?
- What information would help them rule an option in or out?
- Can the presenter explain the limits and trade-offs without turning the session into a pitch?
- What useful question might remain that your team is qualified to answer?
A topic can be valuable even if it produces no immediate enquiry. Its fit as a lead offer depends on how closely the audience’s decision and your follow-on help are connected.
Compare candidates by relevance
Use a short planning table to expose an unclear promise:
| Candidate | Likely audience | Decision served | Natural next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| General industry update | Broad and mixed | Unclear | More reading |
| Requirements workshop | People preparing a project | Which requirements matter | Review a draft requirement set |
| Product walkthrough | People evaluating a known option | Whether its workflow fits | Discuss a specific use case |
The rows are illustrative, not predicted results. A product walkthrough may suit buyers who know what they are evaluating. It may be premature for people still defining the problem. Choose the format from the decision.
Test the promise before building the session
Write a one-sentence invitation that names the audience, the decision and a material limitation. Then outline what participants will take away: a comparison framework, a short requirements list or a worked example they can adapt. If the invitation could describe almost any company’s session, narrow it.
Have someone familiar with sales conversations check whether the question arises in real opportunities. Have a subject specialist check that the answer will be accurate and useful on its own. Their different perspectives can reveal a topic that sounds attractive but lacks a useful answer.
A brief optional registration question can reveal which decision participants face. Microsoft Teams documents custom webinar registration questions. Zoom Webinars offers them when the add-on and registration-enabled webinar requirements are met.
For Australian organisations covered by the Australian Privacy Principles, personal information collection must be reasonably necessary for the organisation’s activities. Do not require detailed project information merely to attend.
After the event, compare the questions and enquiries received with the audience named in the invitation. If attendees sought an answer to a different decision, revise the promise or choose a more precise topic next time.
