Tips and tricks for a successful webinar
Are you running your first webinar? Or looking for tips to produce a successful webinar every time? We’ve hosted, attended, and coordinated more webinars than we can believe, so today, we’re running through what you need to do before, during, and after to maximize your impact and convert viewers into customers.
Webinars can feel overwhelming and intimidating if you’re not used to hosting them. Yet the truth is that we’ve all attended webinars where things weren’t perfect, where tech issues cropped up, or where the numbers weren’t as expected – and it’s been okay! Just like most things, practice makes perfect but, if you follow our tips and tricks, we promise you’ll be on your way to a successful webinar, whether it’s your first or your hundredth.
Successful webinar tips and tricks
As a general overview, you’ll want to take the following into account at the planning stage:
• Promote like a demon to get pre-registration levels higher than you would need – consider using social media, word of mouth, your website, email marketing, and even PPC ads to drive your signup numbers sky-high. The average attendance rate is 40-50% of signups so, shoot for the moon. You can even add a link to the webinar in your email signature or social media bios. Just remember to swap it out once the event has taken place.
• Nail your name. There are so many webinars out there; you need a great name to grab attention. It should be clear and definitively not boring; make people notice you!
• Be specific. Decide what you will be talking about and stick with it. Don’t be tempted to wander into other subjects! If you start referencing another subject, you should direct people to the right area on your website and move on.
• Test your lighting, audio levels, camera, and bandwidth several times before you go live, including during the same time slot, in case your broadband slows down at certain times.
• Record your webinar so you can offer timed replays or break it up into video content for social media and your website. You can also use it to offer pre-recorded webinars down the line. Don’t record the audience, however. You will stay fully engaged throughout your webinar, but they may look away, check their phones etc. Not a good look!
• Practice! Do a complete run-through, record it, and make notes on what you should improve. You can repeat this but, twice should be more than enough. It needs to feel natural; not too rehearsed.
• Create some assets. Colourful slides and even video footage can make a webinar feel much more interactive and can help to avoid people’s attention waning.
During the webinar
• Be prepared for things to go wrong. Have backup solutions for tech where possible, know what you will say if disaster strikes, and don’t let it fluster you if something happens.
• People love a live Q&A so assume you should leave time for one. Turn these questions (and any you didn’t get a chance to answer live) into a blog after the event. This can provide extra value and a reason for people to return to your site. You can email the attendees and let them know when it goes live.
Emails to prepare – before and after the event
Prepare all your emails in advance. Once you have them written, you will only need to tweak them for future webinars, so it is worthwhile putting some time into these assets.
Pre-registration emails
• Let people know what to expect, how to prepare (whether they should think of questions, bring a print-out etc.), offer free downloads etc.
• Send reminder emails – best practice is a few weeks out, a few days out, the day of the webinar, and an hour beforehand. It may seem like overkill, but people will genuinely forget and won’t mind the reminders.
◦ Email 1: Two weeks before the webinar. Include high-level content.
◦ Email 2: One week before the webinar. Personalize email (Dear Jeff) using a plain email template with no HTML branding.
◦ Email 3: The Friday before the webinar. Keep this email short and only provide the most vital information that will drive the recipient to the registration page.
◦ Email 4: The Monday before the webinar. The subject line should include the text “This Week”
◦ Email 5: The morning of the webinar. The subject line should read “Webinar Today” or “Last Chance to Sign Up.” Many people sign up for webinars within 24 hours of showtime.
Webinar Confirmation email
◦ Confirm in clear language that they’re now registered for the webinar
◦ Provide the date & time of the webcast
◦ Include the link for joining the session
◦ Have a call-to-action asking them to add the webinar to their calendar
Post-webinar emails
• Have your post-webinar emails ready and lined up for those who attended. This should include a thank you, an overview, a link to rewatch and links to things you may have mentioned including your Q&A blog if you can get it live in a timely fashion.
• Have your post-webinar emails ready for those who didn’t attend. This should include a “sorry you couldn’t make it” mention, and then the same overview, link to watch the replay and links to things you may have mentioned including your Q&A blog if you can get it live in a timely fashion. You can also include a link to the next time you are running the webinar if it is a regular occurrence.
More follow-ups
Of course, the purpose of your webinar was likely to bring fresh potential leads to your business. Once people have attended your webinar, you need to follow it up! This may involve simply dropping them into your regular newsletter subscribers’ list, or it may mean creating a targeted email marketing campaign to maximize their conversion rate. Whichever you choose, make sure you give people a straightforward way to unsubscribe and remind them in the initial email why it is they are receiving your emails.
Need a hand?
Our team is experienced at creating the perfect setup for webinars and can coordinate to make sure your event goes off without a hitch. If you’ve got the webinar bit sewn up but need help with landing pages that convert, or email marketing after your webinar, we would be happy to help. Get in touch with the team today and let’s ensure you have a successful webinar!
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