How to Grow Your B2B SaaS Business with Online Events

In this episode, Andrew from WeMarketers Podcast chats with Chhavi Chugh, a content manager at Recruit CRM, about the effectiveness of online events and webinars. Chhavi shares insights into her role and the strategies Recruit CRM uses to generate over $50,000 in monthly revenue through webinars. She dives into the details of setting up processes for consistent events, the importance of teamwork, and leveraging various promotional channels.

Chhavi also discusses how to ensure high engagement and retention during webinars, and the value of repurposing content post-event. If you’re looking to enhance your event strategy, this episode is packed with valuable tips and real-world examples.

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Connect with Chhavi Chugh:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chhavi-chugh/

Email: chhavichugh911@gmail.com

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Connect with Andrew Demianenko: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-demian

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WeMarketers RSS feed: https://media.rss.com/wemarketers/feed.xml

Key takeaways

Here are the key takeaways from your conversation with Chhavi Chugh on running effective online events for B2B/SaaS companies:

📌 Effectiveness of Online Events

• Online events significantly contributed to Recruit CRM’s brand building and revenue growth, generating about $50,000 in monthly revenue.
• Webinars helped Recruit CRM reach new global audiences and boosted their brand visibility within the recruitment industry.

📌 Types of Online Events

• Expert Webinars: Educational sessions with recruitment industry leaders providing valuable insights.
• Product-focused Webinars: Combine product demonstrations with client testimonials to drive product adoption.
• Panel Discussions: More informal discussions with multiple speakers and a strong moderator, effective for engaging larger audiences.
• LinkedIn Live Events: Short, engaging sessions (around 20 minutes) that enhance LinkedIn visibility.

📌 Webinar Execution Best Practices

Use a structured, repeatable process involving:

• Checklist of tasks clearly defined in tools like ClickUp.
• Promotional Playbook detailing pre- and post-event marketing activities.
• Consistent monthly schedule to build audience expectations and maintain momentum.

📌 Effective Promotion Channels

• Leverage existing channels first: website, email newsletters, and social media (LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Reddit, and Quora).
• On the website, utilize strip banners and popups to capture visitor attention and drive registrations.
• Consistent promotional reminders via email and social media help increase live attendance rates.

📌 Improving Audience Engagement & Retention

• High-quality, well-structured slide decks keep participants interested.
• Regular use of interactive elements like polls, open-ended questions, and Q&A sessions increases audience retention.
• Include giveaways and incentives (like consultation sessions or courses) at the webinar’s end to motivate participants to stay till the conclusion.

📌 Managing Registrations and Leads

• Clearly segment attendee data into current customers, repeat attendees, and first-time participants for targeted nurturing.
• Direct registrations via a dedicated landing page are essential, complemented by streams on platforms like LinkedIn and YouTube to maximize audience reach.

📌 Content Repurposing and SEO

• Make webinar recordings easily accessible publicly on your website to enhance SEO visibility and user experience.
• Actively repurpose recordings into social media clips, blog posts, newsletters, and YouTube videos to maximize ongoing value from each event.

📌 Advice for Beginners

1. Start simple and stay consistent. Clearly define your objectives upfront.
2. Maximize existing marketing channels before experimenting with new ones.
3. Repurpose webinar content extensively to extend its lifespan and value.
4. Invest in high-quality technology (microphone, camera, lighting, webinar tools like Zoom) to ensure professional presentation.

Transcription

[00:00:49] Andrew: Hello and welcome to the WeMarketers Podcast. I’m Andrew, and on today’s episode, I’m excited to have Chhavi Chugh, a Content Manager at Recruit CRM. With a strong background in content marketing, social media, and event strategy, Chhavi has helped scale SaaS brands through impactful engagement and online events. Today’s conversation is all about effective online events that help attract clients.

[00:01:17] Andrew: Chhavi, happy that you joined me today.

[00:01:20] Chhavi: Yeah, Andrew, thank you so much for having me. It’s nice to be here today.

[00:01:23] Andrew: Let’s jump straight into online events. When we spoke earlier, you mentioned that they’ve been highly effective for Recruit CRM. Can you tell me more about that? And also, to give our listeners a bit of context, could you share more about the company and your role there?

[00:01:39] Chhavi: Yes. I’d like to start with a bit about the company and my role. Recruit CRM is a software company. We offer recruitment software, essentially an ATS plus CRM, built for recruiters and recruitment agencies around the world. We’ve been around since 2017.

[00:01:56] Chhavi: We are currently the highest-rated recruitment software globally across all major review platforms. As for my role, I’ve been with the company for almost three years now. I’m a Content Manager at Recruit CRM, and I currently lead social media marketing, events, webinar marketing, and influencer marketing.

[00:02:16] Chhavi: I also manage long-form gated content like eBooks and Recruit CRM-exclusive content. Now, like you mentioned, Andrew, when we spoke earlier, we talked about how events have been incredibly effective for Recruit CRM. So, I’ll dive into how we got started.

[00:02:29] Chhavi: We launched our first online event in late 2023—specifically in December. It was our very first webinar, and it was a big milestone for us. We quickly realized how much time and effort goes into setting up an event. It took us almost two months to get everything ready.

[00:02:48] Chhavi: Since early 2024, we’ve set up a process to consistently run webinars every month. We now do one event each month, accompanied by strong promotional efforts. When I say that webinars have been effective, I mean they’ve been both a powerful brand-building tool and a revenue driver.

[00:03:08] Chhavi: Not only have they helped us build a recognizable brand, but they’ve also brought in new customers and revenue. In the past 7 to 8 months alone, these events have generated almost $50,000 in monthly recurring revenue. Multiply that by twelve and you’ll get the annual impact.

[00:03:27] Chhavi: These events have helped us reach new audiences and connect with recruiters across the globe. They’ve become a reliable revenue channel, but just as importantly, they’ve strengthened our brand. Now we’re well-known for our events—not only by customers and prospects, but also by recruitment influencers.

[00:03:48] Chhavi: We’ve become a go-to brand for webinars in the recruitment space. So, if there’s a company out there considering starting with events—my advice is: absolutely go for it.

[00:04:10] Andrew: I can fully relate. At Matchr, we also run online events. We recently analyzed the ROI across different marketing channels, and what’s interesting is that webinars came out on top—even though we’re a consulting business, not SaaS. People who sign up often reach out afterward and say, “Hey, we saw your webinar.” On your end, when you talk about online events, are you referring only to webinars, or do you run other types as well?

[00:04:43] Chhavi: When we talk about online events at my company, we’ve actually done a few different types. One is webinars—and as you probably already know, a webinar is meant to be educational. It’s supposed to provide value and useful information to the audience so they can take something away from it.

[00:05:00] Chhavi: We run different kinds of webinars. We have “expert webinars,” where we invite recruitment leaders who specialize in various areas. Some of them have backgrounds in AI and technology, others in cold calling, and we even had a guest focused on recruitment marketing.

[00:05:17] Chhavi: These are what we call our expert webinars. The goal here is simple: deliver high-value insights to our audience. We also run product-focused webinars. These are more like a mix between a panel discussion and a product demo. We show how Recruit CRM works and how it can take your operations to the next level.

[00:05:48] Chhavi: We highlight features, invite existing customers for live testimonials, and essentially walk through how our product solves specific problems. These are also considered webinars because we use slides, share screens, and include our founder in these sessions.

[00:06:02] Chhavi: These webinars are packed with tips and tricks, especially from agency owners and customers who share their real-world experience with our tools.

[00:06:16] Chhavi: Both types—expert and product webinars—are really helpful for the audience. They always walk away with something practical.

[00:06:22] Chhavi: Another type of event we do is panel discussions. The main difference between these and webinars is the format. Webinars are more structured, with slide decks and prepared content, while panel discussions are informal conversations.

[00:06:38] Chhavi: In panel discussions, we have a larger group of speakers—usually three to five, sometimes even more if the session is longer. We choose a topic, and the speakers share their perspectives. There’s no slide deck. It’s a candid and engaging conversation that feels authentic for the audience.

[00:07:15] Chhavi: We hosted one of these last year and are planning to do more. The role of the moderator is crucial in these types of events. In a webinar, the host might just facilitate the flow, but in a panel, the moderator leads the entire discussion, asks the right questions, and ensures a balanced conversation.

[00:07:42] Chhavi: These panel discussions are quite powerful. One of ours had over 160 live viewers. With multiple speakers promoting the event to their own networks, we were able to attract a wider audience organically.

[00:08:11] Chhavi: Another format we’ve experimented with is LinkedIn Live events. These are more straightforward and much shorter—usually around 20 minutes.

[00:08:21] Chhavi: We bring in an expert who shares quick insights on a topic, and these events also help boost our LinkedIn presence, since LinkedIn favors live content.

[00:08:27] Chhavi: They’re shorter than webinars but still engaging. Plus, we often stream our full webinars to LinkedIn too, which increases reach.

[00:08:50] Chhavi: So, those are the main types of events we focus on. Each serves a specific objective, and all of them have been successful in different ways.

[00:09:02] Andrew: You mentioned it took a couple of months to figure things out when you launched webinars—and now you’ve got a clear process. Could you walk us through the key things you do when running a webinar? I think our listeners who haven’t done this before would love to steal a few best practices.

[00:09:23] Chhavi: Yes, absolutely. When we first started with webinars, we knew it would be time-consuming. There are a lot of moving parts.

[00:09:33] Chhavi: We began by onboarding a speaker. That was step one—finding a speaker and finalizing a topic. Then we chose the platform and locked in the core logistics.

[00:09:37] Chhavi: It starts with a lot of research. If you’ve never done webinars or live events before, you really need to study what’s involved. Understand the tools, the formats, and the flow.

[00:10:47] Chhavi: One of the most important things we created early on was a solid promotion plan—a promotional playbook that we still use today. It details all the platforms we’ll use to promote the event, the timeline, and the steps before and after the webinar.

[00:11:19] Chhavi: For the platform itself, Zoom has worked really well for us. They offer a webinar-specific plan, which we upgraded to from our regular Zoom account. It includes features like Q&A, polls, live streaming, and recording—all the essentials.

[00:11:37] Chhavi: Along with that, you’ll need a task checklist for your team. Running a webinar is not a two-person job—it takes your whole marketing team.

[00:11:51] Chhavi: You’ll need the email marketing team, the paid ads team, design, video, even engineering. Everyone plays a role, especially when it comes to technical setup like banners, landing pages, and integrations.

[00:12:07] Chhavi: So we created an event task management sheet. It’s divided into phases: Task Set 1, Task Set 2, and so on. One task set must be completed before moving to the next. Each task has an owner and a deadline.

[00:12:50] Chhavi: We use ClickUp to manage this—it helps keep everything on track. This checklist has become a repeatable template. We make minor adjustments based on the event type, but most of the checklist remains consistent. It saves time and avoids chaos.

[00:13:31] Chhavi: And one final point: keep it simple and be consistent. Don’t just do one event and disappear for six months. Build a process where content and promotions are planned weeks in advance, so you can stay consistent.

[00:14:10] Andrew: That sounds very granular. You’ve got the checklists, playbooks, and the full team behind it—really great. Speaking of promotion, from your experience, which channels have been most effective?

[00:14:33] Chhavi: The most effective channels are the ones you already own. So your website, email list, social media—everything at your disposal should be tapped into.

[00:15:03] Chhavi: Our website has been the top-performing channel. We get a lot of traffic every week, and it would be a waste not to leverage it for registrations. We place a global strip banner at the top of every page—it’s non-intrusive but attention-grabbing.

[00:15:27] Chhavi: The banner includes a countdown timer and a CTA like “Save My Seat.” It links to a registration page also hosted on our site. We also use popups—mainly entry popups that show up after someone’s been on a page for 15+ seconds.

[00:16:27] Chhavi: These popups sit in the corner and don’t block content. They’re subtle and effective. We include the speaker’s photo to make it more engaging—visuals really help.

[00:16:54] Chhavi: There’s also a CTA button in the popup that leads users directly to the registration page. Including speaker photos increases clicks—sometimes people recognize a face before they even read the content. That helps drive registrations.

[00:17:03] Chhavi: Beyond the website, social media and email marketing are also key channels for us. On social, we’re active across LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter (X), and Facebook. We’ve recently expanded to TikTok, BlueSky, Pinterest, Reddit, and Quora as well.

[00:17:50] Chhavi: We use all of these platforms for promotion. We create authentic, platform-specific content in multiple formats—videos, carousels, single images, and even Instagram stories—to get the word out and drive awareness.

[00:18:12] Chhavi: We also have a LinkedIn newsletter with about 30,000 subscribers, which has been a very effective promotional channel. Every two weeks, we feature upcoming events there and see great traction.

[00:18:38] Andrew: Considering you’re a B2B platform, are TikTok and Instagram actually effective in your case?

[00:18:46] Chhavi: Surprisingly, yes—especially Instagram. Regardless of whether you’re B2B or B2C, I believe it’s worth tapping into every channel you can.

[00:18:56] Chhavi: You never know where you might find qualified leads. For example, we recently started experimenting with Discord and actually got a customer through it—which we didn’t expect at all.

[00:19:05] Chhavi: Your approach on each platform has to differ. What we do on LinkedIn is very different from what we do on Instagram. If you check our Instagram, you’ll see a lot of fun, engaging content designed to entertain recruiters and keep them coming back.

[00:19:37] Chhavi: In between that, we slip in subtle promotions—whether it’s an upcoming event or something new about our product. Instagram is more light-hearted than LinkedIn, so the tone is adapted, but it still supports brand building.

[00:19:54] Chhavi: It might not drive direct leads or customers every month, but it strengthens the brand and builds long-term loyalty. If you’re consistent and can tap into platform trends, you’ll grow a real following.

[00:20:24] Chhavi: As for TikTok, we’re still new there. Right now, we’re focusing on fun, quirky content to build an audience of recruiters. We’ve actually gotten a few free trial signups from TikTok already. So again—any platform can work if approached right.

[00:20:58] Andrew: How big is the team working on all of this content?

[00:21:01] Chhavi: Around six to seven people actively work across different functions. There’s a lot going on in the content team alone, but when it comes to planning webinars, the entire marketing team is involved.

[00:21:13] Chhavi: We’ve got the email marketing team building the campaigns, the social team creating and scheduling posts, and the design team crafting visuals for banners, posts, and social media.

[00:21:28] Andrew: And you update all the banners on platforms like LinkedIn and YouTube as part of promotions, right?

[00:21:30] Chhavi: Exactly. Our graphics team handles those designs. We also publish a lot of video content for promotion, so our video team is involved too—they edit and polish all those assets.

[00:21:47] Chhavi: Our engineering team plays a big role as well. They manage the website—so whether it’s creating a registration page, deploying a banner, or launching a popup, they handle the backend. So really, every part of the team contributes to making these events a success.

[00:22:25] Andrew: How do you handle webinar registrations? For example, in our case, it’s a trade-off between lead generation and broad audience reach. We register people, but also stream to YouTube and LinkedIn. What’s your approach?

[00:22:47] Chhavi: We also have a dedicated registration page on our website. We even maintain a webinar repository where people can access recordings and register for upcoming events.

[00:22:57] Chhavi: Once people fill in their information, we collect that data and receive notifications for each registrant. In addition to the website, we stream webinars on LinkedIn and YouTube too.

[00:23:14] Chhavi: On LinkedIn, we create a LinkedIn Event and use a tool called Restream to broadcast from Zoom to both LinkedIn and YouTube. It’s easy to use—even if you’re not tech-savvy.

[00:23:32] Chhavi: LinkedIn Events also allow you to enable a built-in registration form. That lets us collect attendee data directly from LinkedIn. The form includes a disclaimer so people understand their info may be used for follow-ups or added to our newsletter.

[00:23:57] Chhavi: So we collect two sets of registration data—one from LinkedIn, one from our website. After the event, we segment this data: who are new attendees, who are repeat registrants, who are already customers, and so on.

[00:24:32] Chhavi: That segmentation is important for follow-ups and nurturing. Our email marketing team handles that.

[00:25:00] Andrew: How do you approach first-time viewers vs. repeat attendees or your power users—like community ambassadors who keep showing up?

[00:25:11] Chhavi: Anyone can register for future events—whether they’re brand new or a repeat attendee. We do clearly segment the data after each event, though. And we keep track of how many registrants eventually convert to customers.

[00:25:40] Chhavi: Much of this data also goes into our email list. We have a newsletter with over 20,000 subscribers, and when someone registers for a webinar, there’s a note on the form stating that they’ll be added to the mailing list and will receive updates from Recruit CRM. So we’re growing our subscriber base through events too.

[00:26:05] Andrew: Do you publish your webinar recordings publicly on your website? Or do people still need to register to access them? Any tips on how to make the most of that content?

[00:26:19] Chhavi: Yes, we make the webinar recordings publicly accessible. Since we’re now live-streaming to YouTube and LinkedIn, the replays are available there too—and we embed the YouTube recordings directly on our website.

[00:26:41] Chhavi: Initially, we had a form people had to fill out to access the recordings. But we removed that to make it more accessible—people can just hit play and watch.

[00:26:57] Chhavi: When we created the webinar repository, we used keyword research to optimize the page—meta descriptions, headings, slug, and title. We focused on a few target keywords like “recruitment webinars,” so when people search, they can find us easily.

[00:27:25] Chhavi: We also do off-page SEO like link building, targeting specific keywords to help boost the page ranking. Each individual webinar page is tailored to the topic of that event.

[00:27:58] Chhavi: As for repurposing, that’s a big part of our strategy. You shouldn’t let recorded content just sit there—you should reuse and re-promote it. We take snippets from each webinar and turn them into short social media posts, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and more.

[00:28:33] Chhavi: We also create ads to drive people back to the recordings, and we turn webinars into blog posts—summarizing the discussion and linking to the full replay.

[00:29:40] Andrew: Let’s take a short break from tactics. What excites you most about running online events? What brings you joy?

[00:29:49] Chhavi: One thing that brings me joy is seeing how events have transformed marketing for us. We went from doing one event per quarter to three per quarter, and it’s been exciting to see that growth. It also brings the whole team together—everyone’s involved and excited when a new event is coming up.

[00:30:27] Chhavi: I love the expert webinars in particular. It’s exciting to bring global recruitment leaders together and give them a platform. Their insights spark really engaging conversations with our audience.

[00:31:39] Chhavi: Putting in weeks of effort and then finally seeing the event go live—watching the registrations, the attendees, the engagement—it’s incredibly rewarding. Seeing all of that come to life is what excites me the most.

[00:31:41] Andrew: And what about challenges? What issues have you faced running webinars, and how do you handle them?

[00:31:48] Chhavi: One challenge we initially faced was consistency. Like I mentioned earlier, setting up a clear process—having a checklist that can be reused—made all the difference. Once you have a repeatable system in place, everything flows more smoothly, and webinars become easier to run regularly.

[00:32:10] Chhavi: Another big challenge was audience retention—keeping people engaged until the end of the session. That was something we struggled with at first, but we’ve learned how to improve it over time.

[00:32:34] Chhavi: The quality of your slide deck really matters. The topics you cover, how you structure the content, and the visual design—all of it affects how engaged your audience stays. We also make sure to leave an interesting topic or takeaway toward the end to incentivize people to stick around.

[00:33:34] Chhavi: Engagement tools like polls also help. We include at least two to three polls in every webinar—it encourages participation and keeps people involved.

[00:33:48] Chhavi: We also use open-ended questions, where attendees can type their answers into the chat or Q&A box. This interaction keeps things dynamic and interactive.

[00:34:13] Chhavi: We always leave time at the end for a Q&A session. We announce it at the start of the event to encourage people to stay till the end. Our founder and the guest speakers answer those questions live.

[00:34:40] Chhavi: Another tactic that’s worked well is giveaways. We collaborate with recruitment influencers who offer something like a free course or a consultation session as a giveaway. We announce the giveaway at the beginning and select winners from the attendees who stayed until the end.

[00:35:21] Chhavi: Zoom shows us who attended for the full session, so we use that data to pick winners. The giveaways have really helped with retention and made the experience more exciting.

[00:35:36] Andrew: We’ve noticed that while we might get 1,000 registrations, only around 20% actually show up live. Is that normal—or is it just us?

[00:35:47] Chhavi: No, that’s very common. You might get 300–400 registrations and only have 60–70 live attendees. It happens a lot. To increase the attendance rate, we send reminder emails leading up to the event—like one hour before and four hours before. We usually send two or three reminders without being overwhelming or spammy.

[00:36:16] Chhavi: For LinkedIn events, we also send direct messages to registrants with the Zoom link, encouraging them to join. It’s a small nudge that can make a big difference.

[00:36:47] Chhavi: We post reminders on social as well—Instagram Stories, last-minute LinkedIn updates, etc. These help maximize the number of attendees. Even if not everyone shows up live, we know those registrants are still valuable. They get added to our email list, and we continue to nurture them. We also let them know that they’ll receive the recording and slide deck afterward, which adds value even if they couldn’t attend.

[00:37:38] Andrew: What would be your top three pieces of advice for someone just starting out with webinars for their B2B company?

[00:37:45] Chhavi: First, start simple and stay consistent. Don’t overcomplicate your first events. Be clear on your objective—whether it’s lead generation, brand awareness, or customer engagement. That clarity helps shape everything from your topic to your format.

[00:38:39] Chhavi: Second, leverage your existing channels. Whether it’s email, your website, social media, or paid ads—use everything you’ve already built. Research and test platforms to see what works best for you.

[00:39:16] Chhavi: Third, repurpose your content. Don’t let your recordings collect dust. Turn them into blog posts, social media snippets, email campaigns—anything that can continue delivering value long after the live event is over.

[00:39:40] Chhavi: And I’ll add a bonus tip: invest in good technology. Use a reliable webinar tool like Zoom. And make sure whoever’s moderating has the right gear—microphone, ring light, green screen if needed. These small things really improve the production quality.

[00:40:16] Andrew: Chhavi, thanks a lot for joining me today. What’s the best way for our listeners to connect with you?

[00:40:23] Chhavi: The best way to connect with me is via LinkedIn—just drop me a DM anytime. I also have a personal Gmail address: chhavichugh911@gmail.com. Feel free to reach out there as well.

[00:40:32] Andrew: Thanks for sharing your experience today. Have a great evening and bye-bye.

[00:40:37] Chhavi: Thank you so much, Andrew. It was lovely being here. I’ll see you later. Bye-bye.