Webinar hosting is one of the most important ways to engage with your existing audience, generate new ones, and grow your online business.
Online events are becoming more popular, especially in this new era of working from home, with webinar audiences tripling in 2020 compared to 2019.
If the mention of webinars makes you giggle, you’re not alone. Webinars can be overwhelming if you’ve never done one before.
But take a breath. Others are silent
We’re here to break it down for you and make sure you’re ready to host your first webinar.
What is a seminar in the first place?
A webinar is simply a video workshop or presentation. They are usually (but not always) live, often interactive, and rarely scripted.
Sell, sell, don’t sell to webinar attendees. It’s about providing information and advice that empowers viewers and encourages them to solve their own problems. There is nothing wrong with promoting your services or products in advance, but focusing on your core focus is not enough to attract a large audience.
Lesson Learned: The best webinar marketing focuses on brand awareness and audience engagement, not sales.
Why host a webinar?
Here are some important reasons to host your first webinar:
It is cheap and easy
First of all, webinars are not as complicated as you might think. It’s relatively easy to set up as long as you have the right hosting software and a good strategy. However, it still takes effort to be successful.
Even on a low budget, you can do it with just a smartphone. So while you can shop around and buy all the best gear, there’s no reason you can’t use it on a shoestring budget.
They make excellent evergreens
Most of the visual content is here today, but it will be gone tomorrow, but the webinar is live!
Recording webinars can be reused in future rebroadcasts or targeted to different audiences.
For example, you can split your webinar into smaller segments and post them in a series on social media or on your blog. Alternatively, instead of signing up for our newsletter, you can find it posted on our website and download it.
Price included
By providing informative, valuable and quality content, you can help your customers solve their problems while promoting your brand. It’s a win-win.
So, whether you’re sharing your latest product or researching a technology or topic, make sure your audience knows what it’s like: their opinion.
This is good for your brand
Interactive content like webinars using social media is a great way to connect with your audience and prospects.
Webinars are a great way to not only show your customers a human face on your product, but to make you a thought leader in your field.
By providing practical advice and useful information to your audience, you can emerge as an authority rather than just another brand.
You can improve your conversions
Whether the goal of a webinar is to directly increase revenue or convert conversions, there is ample evidence that webinars deliver excellent ROI.
By establishing yourself as a trustworthy and reliable brand and reaching out directly to your audience, you can expect an increase in sales on your website.
1. Choose a webinar topic
Choosing a theme is not as easy as you think. Should we talk about what we know? Of course it is.
But first think about what your audience wants.
But you can talk about anything all day long.
If you want to provide value to your audience, your webinar must match your audience’s expectations. Your skill should be in answering the question.
But how do you know what your audience wants to hear?
The most obvious answer is to ask directly. Use your social channels to directly ask your audience the questions you want answered. You can also collect more information by sending surveys to mailing lists.
Or you can search your data to see which social posts or blog posts have the most engagement. Alternatively, you can check Google Analytics to identify the search queries that brought people to your website.
2. Select the format of the webinar
There are many options for how webinars are conducted.
You can go the traditional route of a webinar presentation or go for a more flexible Q&A format. Remember, good online tutorials always find ways to encourage audience participation.
The most important thing for your first webinar is to choose a format that you think fits your goals. You can always repeat it in future webinars based on what you learned from the first experience.
Power point
Many webinars are conducted as presentations because presentations are highly visual. This works well if you are targeting a younger audience.
Hosts often speak into the camera when giving presentations using PowerPoint, whiteboards, or video backgrounds.
If you prefer to be more interactive with this option, you can enable a webinar chat box to ask the audience questions and allow them to respond at the end.
Product display
Large demo-type webinars are a great option for e-commerce companies that want to showcase their new products and services to their customers.
Depending on the product, you can simply speak into the camera to show viewers how to use the product. If your product is digital, you can screen share.
The interview
Guaranteed Q&A with industry experts and an influential panel to provide added value to the audience.
Identify and connect with people who are considered leaders in the field, and create (eventually) exciting opportunities to participate.
This format needs more preparation. You should not repeat the interview beforehand as it may be too late for the audience. However, it is important to prepare a list of questions in advance and send them to the interviewer so that you can share useful answers.
3. Create a toolkit
Next, learn the technical details of creating a webinar.
There are many tools for hosting webinars, in addition to popular webinar programs such as Zoom, LiveStorm, and ClickMeeting.
Considerations when choosing a webinar platform:
- How much does it cost?
- How many visitors are allowed?
- How easy is it to use?
- Do you have permission to record video?
- Allow questions and answers?
- Are you allowed to screen share or view PowerPoint presentations?
Once you’ve chosen a webinar service, think about the other equipment you’ll need, such as a camera (although most smartphones have good quality cameras), microphones, and recording devices ( in my case). The hosting machine is not configured. ), strong internet, and lighting.
4. Create webinar content
So you know your subject. You have selected your form. It has its own webinar tool. Focus on your content now.
If you are organizing your presentation, you can start preparing your slide deck. Be careful not to write official text. Instead, add a few bullet points to your slide deck to help your audience understand what you’re saying.
Add images and colors to make your slide deck look its best. ClearTalk found video-based learning to be the preferred form of learning, with 85% of respondents choosing video over webinars.
In addition, there is a planned Q&A by experts and panelists. Ask your audience questions in advance so they can direct you to the experts of the moment.
Plan speakers, review time and formulate questions to decide how much time to spend on the webinar.
5. Create a landing page
A webinar landing page where visitors are directed to learn more about the event and register to attend. Host webinars on your website and after signing up, let attendees learn about your business easily by clicking on your website.
The landing page should be completely optimized. Include your desired keywords in your page title and page copy. Submit a registration form that is simple and contains enough information.
Ideally, your form should be integrated with other marketing tools to convert participants into visitors (use checkboxes and remember the GDPR rules on data privacy).
6. Set the date and time
When is the best time to hold a webinar? According to ON24, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 11:00 am are the best times. Livewebinar recommends mid-week days (Tuesday to Thursday) as best.
We encourage you to know your information to the best of your ability. Use Google Analytics to understand how people use your website. They are more likely to watch your webinar on your website.
If you have an international audience, pay attention to time zones. Also, avoid going to the beginning or end of time when the audience is moving.
7. Promote your webinar
Of course, a webinar is nothing without an audience.
But how can you be sure that one is correct?
The landing page has been selected. Then you need to create a way to share the link.
First, you can use Google AdWords or social advertising (Facebook ads, sponsored tweets, etc.). This approach gives you more control over the audience you’re trying to reach, but at a lower cost.
Free options include promoting your landing page on free social media accounts. If you have a regular email newsletter, create an email campaign to invite your contacts to your webinar.
As the date approaches, we will send you a reminder email and send you information about the webinar, including keynotes and the audience, including guest speakers.
8. Preparation and training
When it comes to your first webinar, you won’t want to miss this opportunity.
Take the time to review the webinar and pay special attention to details such as lighting, audio, camera angles and operational technology background. Track the time so you don’t miss it or worse, it’s time to recharge. Plan technical issues for the day.
The most important thing is to practice calmly and confidently. Focus on your breathing and remember that you are alert and ready.
9. Follow up after the webinar
You hosted a fantastic webinar – congratulations! A proper pat on the back.
But the work is not done yet.
You certainly don’t want to waste all your work chasing your audience.
After the webinar is over, send an email thanking your audience by recording the webinar or slide deck and asking for feedback. If your webinar includes product demos or special offers, be sure to include those details in your post-webinar email campaign.
Be sure to send your recorded webinar to viewers who are registered but unable to attend. And don’t forget to include the webinar in your blog post, YouTube video, Twitter thread, or eBook as part of your content marketing strategy.
just for you
You know hosting a webinar is a powerful marketing idea. Increase brand awareness, establish yourself as a trusted authority, and increase brand awareness for your business.