This article is part of the ASAE Young Professionals Series.

Webinars have long been a power tool of associations’ education and content strategies. Virtual sessions are one of the easiest ways to reach a large audience and deliver on your mission to provide updates, insights, and research to members and certified professionals. But despite the significant value, webinars are often treated as one-and-done events, generating little post-live engagement beyond publishing the recording via an LMS.

Applying the “Big Rock” method is a straightforward way that associations can maximize the value of a single webinar to generate engagement, leads, and nondues revenue.

The Big Rock Method

Jason Miller and LinkedIn introduced the Big Rock over a decade ago, and it has been the foundation for many content strategies since. The concept is simple: You produce a large, substantial piece of content—your Big Rock—something that is value-rich and focused on a part of the conversation in your industry that you want to own. You then break that Big Rock into many smaller rocks across your digital footprint, strategically developing a yellow-brick road to lead people to your Big Rock and your association.

Why This Works for Associations

Webinars have all the attributes you would look for in a Big Rock: thought leadership, novel insights, a-ha moments, star speaker(s), real-world application, and a call to action.

This method is also ideal for staff who have limited time and budget but ample access to deep subject matter expertise. Using the following template on how to mine these engagement gems, you’ll find a single webinar can support your content goals for weeks and months beyond the live broadcast.

1. Selecting your Big Rock

For your first Big Rock, select a webinar that has already been recorded. In the future you can strategically plan webinars to serve as Big Rocks. The webinar you select should:

• Align with your association’s mission
• Address a pain point or challenge for your target audience
• Be either super timely (to create a large amount of content quickly that addresses an immediate need) or evergreen (to contribute to a longer-term content plan), depending on the goals of your content strategy
• Have clear learning objectives
• Be hosted by a respected speaker or panelists
• Include audience Q&A

Now, it’s time to break the rock apart. These pieces should be able to support three key goals: member engagement, lead generation, and nondues revenue. The following sections of the template will provide guidance on how to select and develop pieces for each.

2. Mining for member engagement

When looking for gems that will spark member engagement, always focus on delivering the highest value based on what you know about the needs of your target audience. Is this for student members looking for jobs? Business executives needing crucial industry updates? Pick the content that fulfills that need.

Once you’ve identified the most valuable pieces, it’s time to put them to work. The following is a list of possible content formats that can support member engagement:

• Full recording for members-only, on-demand viewing
• Segments of the full recording edited to focus on a single topic or learning objective
• Blog posts or articles focused on each of the key learning objectives
• Discussion prompts for online communities, classrooms, or in-person trainings
• Checklists developed from key takeaways
• Infographic featuring key takeaways
• Follow-up blog/article addressing questions the speaker didn’t have time to answer

3. Mining for lead generation

The gems most effective for attracting new members provide immediate value to your target audience. Look for “quick wins” to known pain points, then build a funnel to turn that attention into leads. A sample plan:

• Create shareable social media content. This is the fastest way to get in front of new audiences. This could include:
  • A graphic with a quote from the speaker offering something novel, thought provoking, or even controversial
  • An infographic focused on one key takeaway
  • A key question posed by an audience member during the live event
• The post should include a call to action to learn more about the topic featured, including a link to a designated lead-gen landing page.
• On the landing page, prompt the visitor to provide their email address to download one of the following products created from your Big Rock:
  • Recap or key takeaways (e.g., blog, article, or infographic)
  • Webinar excerpt focusing on one key point or discussion
• Send a follow-up email prompting further action connected to the topic of the Big Rock. This could include:
  • Join as a member to access the full recording
  • Purchase on-demand access to the full recording
  • Register for an upcoming event or course on a similar/related topic
  • View another piece of free content on a similar/related topic

4. Mining for nondues revenue

Focus on the pieces that answer the question “What’s in it for me?” for your target audience. If your Big Rock ultimately solves a pain point or meets a known goal for your audience, you can charge for content based on it, including:

• On-demand access to the webinar recording
• An online course for continuing education credits or a micro-credential via your LMS
• A bundle of recordings on similar or complementary topics for on-demand viewing or continuing education credit access

Bonus gem: If your Big Rock is a piece of sponsored content, consider if you can charge that sponsor a higher rate by demonstrating the value of post-event content including the sponsor’s logo. This provides sponsors with additional touch points, deeper connection, and overall wider reach beyond the live webinar.

Next Steps

Once you see the benefits of this content strategy, you may search for opportunities to expand it even further. Associations already develop many products that can be Big Rocks, including books or journals, white papers, position stands, virtual or in-person events, and annual meetings. I challenge you to apply this mindset to your most valuable Big Rock and see all the benefits it can bring. Happy mining!