To podcast or to webinar? That is the question! Welcome to The Marketing Accelerator Podcast…featuring three insights in about three minutes. I'm Drew Dinkelacker. At a recent gathering of the Marketing Accelerator Round Table of marketing VPs, directors and managers, Christa Tuttle from Launch Marketing shared valuable insights about leveraging B2B webinars. A question arose from our curated brain trust of marketing wisdom, asking, "When do you leverage a webinar versus a podcast?" Now, that's a great question. Christa, can you give me a few ideas on when I would choose a webinar over a podcast?

Christa Tuttle: Absolutely. Webinars are great for a deeper conversation, especially when you need visuals. Whether you're showcasing a product, sharing charts, graphics, etcetera, to be able to see that and hear about the information that you're wanting to share is key. Also, as a marketer, we look at the funnel. Webinars are great - a little bit more to the middle or to the lower-middle portion of the funnel. Individuals have to register, so then you know who they are, and that tends to be the point at to which they're willing to do that.

Drew: It would seem that webinars require eyes on the screen versus a podcast that really simply requires ears to listen.

Christa: That is very true! Because podcasts are pre-recorded and required ears only, it's 24/7, no matter where you are, or what you're doing. Whether you're running, picking up the kids, cooking dinner, etcetera, you can listen to a podcast. And that's what makes it such a great top-of-funnel opportunity for kind of branding, awareness and thought leadership…is you can get a lot of ears on a succinct and impactful podcast, which then can later lead into more conversation.

Drew: Christa, how do you see podcasts and webinars working together?

Christa: That's a great question. So as marketers, we always think about the funnel. Podcasts are ideal, in my perspective, for our clients - more at the top-of-funnel - branding awareness, education. And then, webinars can help convert individuals to be a known entity - because they have to register, you're going to know who they are, if they are an ideal prospect. And, then you can move them further on down through the funnel to sales, which is really what business is all about.

Drew: I think we've answered the question to podcast or to webinar. It's do one, the other or both! They all have value depending on what part of the funnel you want to impact. The Marketing Accelerator Podcast is a production of MarketingAccelerator.com, where we accelerate marketing leaders to higher performance and increased job satisfaction. I'm Drew Dinkelacker.