If you’ve been searching for terms like ‘how to host a successful webinar’, help is available. In this article, we’ll talk about what makes a great webinar, what mistakes you need to avoid and what you can do to keep your audience coming back for future broadcasts. Find out how to host a successful webinar right now.
Find your topic
Before you start getting to work on your webinar, you need to think carefully about which topic or topics you want to cover. The more focused your webinar is, the more successful it is likely to be. You may need to spend time thinking about who your audience are and what kind of topics they are interested in. You could even send out a survey to get more information on what will appeal to them. Another way to find a suitable topic is to find out what the most popular search terms within your industry are right now.
Choose a suitable format
Think about how your webinar will look and feel. Are you expecting to receive a large, medium or small audience? Are you going to be the only presenter or will several people from your company be involved? Popular features that you could build into your webinar include Q+A sessions, roundtable discussions with industry experts, interviews, how-to tutorials, slide presentations and product demos. To maintain the interest of your audience throughout the session, make sure your content is as engaging, informative and entertaining as it needs to be. This is why we have compiled the best practices on how to create an engaging webinar here.
Should I write a script?
It is a good idea to prepare a script for your webinar. You don’t have to stick to this rigidly, but this will ensure everything flows well and you don’t forget any key information you need to include in your webinar. Without a script, you could easily lose your train of thought and forget what you need to discuss next.
What kind of visuals can I include?
Using eye-catching visuals is a great way to maintain the interest of your audience. Visuals can include videos, slides, images, stats and graphs. Your webinar will also give you a valuable opportunity to introduce your audience to your branding, so don’t forget to include things like you logo and any company slogans you may have created. This can go a long way to boosting your brand identity and creating a sense of loyalty amongst your audience.
When should my webinar take place?
It’s important to try and host your webinar at a time when your audience are actually available, though this can be difficult if your viewers are spread across various different time zones. Some research suggests that weekday afternoons are great times to host webinars, but you will need to think carefully about where the majority of your viewers are located. Make your webinar is available to watch again on-demand so those that missed out on the original broadcast can catch up later.
How to choose a date for your webinar
When scheduling your webinar, you need to ensure you have left sufficient time to iron out any difficulties that you might face. Hosting a webinar before you are fully ready to do so can be very risky as you may appear unprofessional. It’s vital to spend enough time practicing and fine-tuning your webinar so you can make the best impression possible once it goes ahead. You also need to leave enough time to promote your event so enough people are aware of it.
How to promote your webinar
If you don’t promote your webinar in advance, you may find yourself broadcasting to a very small audience or even nobody at all. A good way to promote your webinar in advance is to create a landing page. This should include all relevant information about the event and encourage people to sign up. It’s also a wise move to build a powerful e-mail campaign beforehand. Try not to ambush people with emails but do send around 2-3 emails to each person on your mailing list. Don’t forget to follow-up after the event and encourage people to watch on-demand if they missed out the first time. You can also ask for feedback from those that did view your webinar. Ask them what they enjoyed and if there are any changes they would like to see in future.
Take advantage of social media
As you would expect, social media is ideal for anyone seeking to create a buzz around their webinar. You can use social media to create excitement around the event and optimise your registration numbers. Social media can even be used during the event. Many people head to Twitter to interact with the public during webinars, and you can also go live on platforms like Instagram and YouTube if you wish.
Conclusion
Webinars are great for anyone wishing to build their customer reach and generate brand loyalty. Just remember to practice as much as necessary beforehand to ensure everything runs smoothly on the big day itself. You could even record your practice sessions to identify and iron out any problems beforehand. Keep your audience as entertained and engaged as possible by continuing to interact with them throughout the event and try to keep your webinars under an hour in length. Analytical tools including video analytics services can tell you how successful your webinar was, how long people viewed it for, when people stopped watching your webinar and so on.
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The Ultimate Guide to Creating Compelling Webinars
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