In a few short years, Web seminars have virtually eliminated in-person field events from the B2B marketing mix. And why not? Webinars are a cost-effective, convenient way of delivering compelling presentations to a large audience of prospective customers, without regard to geography.

Unfortunately, Webinars have become so popular that they're now the marketing flavor of the month. And many companies, in our experience, are making the decision to embark on Webinar programs, or make Webinars the first step in their lead generation strategy, without thinking through the options. (We suspect that this is, in part, because Webinars are often easier to develop than alternative forms of content like white papers.)

The problem with Webinars, however, is that even though the prospective attendee no longer has to drag him or herself down to the local Holiday Inn to hear your pitch, you're still asking for 45 minutes of his or her valuable time. And that level of commitment is, in many cases, setting the proverbial bar too high.

All things being equal, we find that Webinar invitations generate half the response rate of campaigns that feature a downloadable information offer - say, an information kit. And note that I say response rates; the number of people who actually attend the Webinar may be half that number again. Plus there's the additional cost of hosting the online event.

In our view, Webinars are most effective when used as lead qualification tools, that is, as a way to target your house list of prospects. Since those individuals are already familiar with your company on some level, the commitment required of attending a Webinar isn't so daunting. And attending an online event may be a great "next step" for the prospect who downloaded a white paper three months ago.

The next time someone in your company says: "let's do a Webinar!", consider the alternatives. You may end up generating more leads, more quickly, at a lower cost.