We’ve already discussed why webinars are a beneficial part of your marketing plan or training arsenal. Now, we’re going to dive deep into what it takes to produce a good webinar—one that will actually generate the results you need.
It’s one thing for your audience or your employees to read information. It’s another for them to actually hear the information live and to be able to engage with the person who created it. That’s why webinars can be so impactful: they help you showcase your expertise in a dynamic way, deepening the relationships between you and your attendees. Ready to get started? Follow the step-by-step process here, and you’ll be well on your way to a successful webinar.
Step #1 Choose the Right Webinar Software
There’s nothing worse than your feed cutting out or the audio going haywire in the middle of an important presentation. While there are many conferencing services available they aren’t always reliable. Invest in a webinar service that won’t leave you hanging when your session is on the line.
For a top-notch webinar, look for a service that includes the features that’ll make your webinar dynamic and engaging, including:
- The ability to record your webinar for later viewing and repurpose as content for other marketing channels
- Interactive chat and file share
- Screen sharing and video views
- Easy management for scheduling and registration
- HD audio and video
Step #2 Choose the Right Topic
Not sure what to cover on your webinar? Remember, the goal of your webinar should be to provide useful information or to solve a problem. Give the following prompts a try, depending on the type of webinar you want to run.
- Think about the product or service you offer. What problem does it solve for your customers? Consider building content around that topic.
- If you have blog posts or articles on your website that generate a lot of traffic, could they be repurposed or expanded into a webinar topic?
- What are your competitors talking about? Use a tool like Buzzsumo to research their best performing content for inspiration.
- Have there been any big news items or trending topics in your industry? Educate your employees or your customers about it with a webinar.
- Talk to your customer service team. What questions are they always answering? These could be popular topics for an upcoming webinar.
- Connect with HR. Can you record common training topics as webinars so that they can be used again in the future? Are there any all-company announcements that need to be shared?
Step #3 Promote Your Webinar
If you’re planning to host a webinar for the purposes of employee training or company-wide announcements, registering attendees and reminding them to attend may be as simple as setting up a calendar invite and sending email announcements at different intervals in advance.
On the other hand, if you’re using webinars for the purposes of lead generation, you’ll need to be more strategic about your registration workflow.
Create a Webinar Landing Page
If you’re inviting external guests to your webinar, the landing page is the place where they’ll sign up to attend your event. And to get people to register for your webinar, you have to clearly state the benefits they’ll receive from attending, based on the content you plan to cover.
Will they learn more about a topic? Get an overview of how to use a new product? Have a chance to get expert answers to questions? Lay it all out on your landing page by including:
- An intriguing headline and eye-catching visuals
- A strong call to action
- A registration form
- Ability to add the webinar to the registrant’s calendar
When to Promote a Webinar
Next, consider when you’ll start promoting your webinar. Choose a time that’s not too far in advance (you don’t want guests to forget!), but that gives you enough time to build a big enough audience and promote it to as many people as possible.
Approximately 2-4 weeks may be a good idea, but it depends on the content of your webinar and who you’re trying to reach. If appropriate, ask your attendees to invite their friends and colleagues at this stage as well
Once someone registers, give them the option to add your event to their calendars, and then send reminders the day before and the day of to bolster attendance. You can even send a reminder email 5-10 minutes before the start time suggesting the guests join the webinar then.
Reaching Out to Potential Webinar Attendees
There are plenty of tools at your disposal for filling seats at your webinar. If your attendees will come primarily from inside your company, newsletter announcements, posters, messages on your company’s intranet and email invitations may all play a role in your promotions.
If, on the other hand, you’re running a webinar for sales or marketing purposes, look to options like email marketing and social media promotions (both paid and organic) to increase attendance.
Step #4 Create an Engaging Webinar Presentation (and Practice It!)
You’ve already chosen your webinar topic. Now, it’s time to think about your format.
- If you’re making a major company announcement, will you include a Q&A period?
- If you’re debuting a new feature, will you include a step-by-step demo?
- If your goal is lead generation, will you include a special offer at the end? If so, what CTA should you use (for example, sign up for a demo or set up a call)?
Regardless of your format, look for ways to add to your presentation to make it memorable and interesting. What out-of-the-box ideas can you come up with? How can you frame your topic with personal stories and anecdotes to make it come alive? Make sure you’re concise enough to keep the presentation moving, while still including the pertinent information. Make a script or map out the key points you want to hit, but try not to read directly from them when running your webinar. Practice enough so that you know what’s coming, but try to keep it sounding natural by speaking off the cuff.
Creating Compelling Webinar Assets
Your narration may provide the bulk of your webinar’s information, but the visual and interactive assets are what your attendees will remember most. A few options to add, besides PowerPoint slides, include:
- Audio recording
- Video recordings
- Live stream video
- Animations
- Screenshots
- Charts
- Photography
- Infographics
- Polling, quizzes, or other interactive features
Step #5 Make It Interactive
Using the chat feature on your webinar can be a great way to make your event more engaging. But it isn’t appropriate in all circumstances, and if you’re going to use it, you’ll need to practice with it until you can comfortably deploy it in a live webinar. To start, ask yourself: do you want to have a very transparent and open conversation with everyone who attends your webinar? Or, would you prefer to limit the communication, either by turning off the chat feature entirely or by allowing only private chat between attendees and host?
Choosing your chat option depends on a few different factors: how many attendees you have, what type of format your webinar follows, and how much time you have for discussion. If you’re hosting a Q&A session, for example, you may want to let all attendees view every question that comes in. You may also want to vet them privately before choosing which ones to address. You may also want to use the chat feature to share supplemental files during the webinar. Even if you sent out materials prior to the webinar, providing access to them during the webinar makes finding them more convenient for attendees.
Step #6 Host the Webinar
On the day of your webinar, take a deep breath and relax. All of the preparation you’ve done up to this point should make actually hosting your event one of the easiest parts of the process. That said, there are a few tips to keep in mind that’ll help your session run more smoothly.
- Run through your presentation one final time, immediately before your webinar begins. This will ensure the materials are as fresh in your mind as possible.
- Log on to your webinar tool at least 15 minutes before your session begins. That way, if your internet connectivity has changed since your test runs, you’ll be able to fix the issue before any attendees arrive.
- Give yourself some grace. Stumbles are natural, and you may get tongue-tied at some point during your webinar. Move on by returning to your presentation and leaning on the practice you did. Chances are your attendees won’t have even noticed!
Step #7 Have a Follow-Up Plan
After your webinar is over, determine what follow-up actions are needed if any. For instance:
- If you’ll be using the recording of your webinar in future training sessions, make sure your webinar software has saved a copy of the file. From this, you can:
- Use edited clips content for social media posts
- Include them as teasers for future email campaigns
- Offer them as gated content on your website
- Make sure that any attendees who joined your lead generation webinar receive a thank you note showing your appreciation for their time.
- If attendees or employees missed your session, send an invite for the next presentation or point them to other resources on your website.
- If attendees signed up for your service or purchased an item from you during the webinar, make sure to follow up with them with their next steps.
Wrapping Up: The Secret Sauce
Be yourself!
We’ve all been to good and bad webinars – and you know the difference. There is nothing more engaging than someone who comes out swinging with an authentic voice. While you always want to showcase your authority on the subject at hand, doing so in a unique way will be so much more interesting to your guests. Tell personal stories, add in some humor where appropriate, and don’t worry too much about being 100% polished at all times.
“A strong, authentic, compelling voice is the expression of identity, guided by vision, and achieved through mastery.” –Todd Henry, Author “Louder Than Words,” Inc.
Listeners will be much more willing to go along for the ride with you if you come across as a genuine, real person than a stiff corporate robot. And yes, it is possible to be professional and human at the same time. Let your true self shine through to make a real connection with your audience. Also, don’t forget to practice your presentation in front of a few trusted colleagues or friends before you host your webinar so you can assess how it plays for an audience. But remember, even if you make a mistake or a joke doesn’t land – that’s ok, just acknowledge it, laugh, and move on. As you craft your webinar, keep the following ideas in mind:
- What unique perspective or insight can you and you alone bring to the table?
- How can you make this one webinar different from other webinars on the same topic? What hasn’t been said, or hasn’t been said in this way?
- What actionable content can you provide your audience that they can go out and use in the real world?
If you can provide a unique experience using a sincere and candid voice – your audience will remember you. They’ll turn to you when they need more content and services you offer. It’s a matter of salience – what will stand out in their mind the week or month after your event? While your event can (and should) be professional and on-message, get creative with how you convey what you need to say. Your webinar attendees will thank you.
Presenter’s Checklist – Dos and Don’ts for a Great Webinar
Avoid these common problems that can put off viewers:
1. Start on time – people have set aside time in their day to attend; don’t make folks wait for stragglers. Start no more than 2-3 minutes after the set start time.
2. Don’t immediately jump into your product or service – especially in an educational webinar. Get some insight from registrants on topics of interest.
3. Turn your phone and any computer notifications off to avoid any disruptions. Close all other unnecessary programs too to ensure the best performance and a distraction-free event.
4. Run your event in a quiet, private room so there are no sound interruptions or snafus.
5. Create a plan for fielding questions. Will you take them? How many and in what format? Plan this step in advance so you’re not caught off guard.
6. Have a timer or clock nearby so you can track your progress and keep the webinar moving at a good pace. Know how long each section should take in advance.
Prepare properly and your webinar will help you connect with employees or prospective customers in a meaningful way. Ready to get started? You too can host an effective webinar if you follow the steps outlined above. Now it’s your turn.
