Webinar success tips – Ways to Deliver a Successful Webinar

Below are some tips to remember for hosting a successful webinar.

Identify the best webinar topic 

The path to hosting a successful webinar begins with choosing an ideal topic. To choose the right topic that will help you cater to the audience and engage them throughout the webinar, you need to understand their interests and needs. To secure a fair view of what they want and what not, you can execute surveys, analyze past webinar attendee interactions, and also leverage social media to see what captures their attention.

Choose the right webinar platform

Carefully choosing a webinar platform that you can fully rely on to host a successful webinar is critical. Pick a webinar software that aligns with your needs and can help you deliver your webinar effectively. Some of the key elements you can look for in webinar software are –

• Ease-of-use
• Interactive elements 
• Scalability
• Data Compliance & Security
• Integrations

And, if you’re looking for an ideal webinar platform that can effectively help you host a webinar, Airmeet is your one stop solution. Whether it is for 50 attendees or 10,000, it can help you to host virtual events of any size. 

Create the webinar schedule

Hosting the webinar on the right day and time is an important factor in determining the attendance rates. 

Generally, Wednesdays and Thursdays are considered the best days for hosting webinars. Leveraging web traffic data, social media analytics, etc, will also give you an idea of the ideal day, time, to host your webinar.

Select the ideal webinar format

Selecting the right webinar format is also crucial in the success of a webinar. Each format comes with its pros and cons, and you need to decide which format aligns with the content of your webinar.

• Single Presenter – In this particular format, only a single presenter works on delivering the entire webinar. This is favorable for in-depth discussions and expert presentations. Since it is a lecture style presentation, it is recommended to use interactive tools to engage the audience.
• Dual Presenter – Employing a couple of presenters for your webinar can bring variety to your event, and can also boost engagement among the attendees. This type of format is typically favorable for interviews, collaborative discussions, and debates.
• Q&A – The Q&A format is known for its interactive nature, and involves the participation of the webinar attendees. Here’s where presenters introduce the topic, and then dedicate most of their time to addressing questions from the audience.
• Panel Discussion – Panel discussion is where multiple experts discuss a particular topic. Hence, this type involves a comprehensive exploration of various facts, but make sure that the people on the expert panel have plenty of knowledge about the topic. 
  
  

Prioritize audience engagement 

Discussed here below are some tried and tested ways to engage webinar attendees:

• Use storytelling – Storytelling is a very important tool in webinar audience engagement. Whether it is a product demo, or an educational webinar,  use storytelling techniques to make your audience relate with the webinar content. Stories work as an example of what they can face in real life; hence, they hold their attention for longer.
• Use compelling videos – Use of videos can boost engagement among audiences, as people tend to respond to eye-catching visuals rather than auditory inputs. So, include clear, relevant videos while delivering the content.
• Live Polls and Q&As – Live polls make audience members choose between given options as per their interests, and Q&As enable direct interaction between presenters and participants.
• Make an alluring slide deck – Your presenter might be the one delivering the webinar content, but the presentation deck they use also plays a huge role in creating an impact on the audience. Hence, make sure that you’ve created the slides of the presentation well with decent fonts, color palettes, and visuals, to keep the attendees hooked. 
  
  

Opt for the right equipments

Investing in the right equipment is necessary, as these can either make or break your virtual event. A common mistake that several webinar organizers make is relying too much on the built-in microphones in their desktop computers or laptops for communication with their webinar attendees. While this may be convenient, it isn’t always the case that in-built cameras and mics provide the best output for a webinar experience.

Instead, use specialized equipment like high-resolution cameras, microphones, etc to ensure a quality event. Also, if you’re using any other type of equipment, make sure it is of the right quality, which will help boost the overall quality of the webinar and elevate the attendee experience.

Rehearse and Test Everything Beforehand 

Make sure you rehearse the webinar content to familiarize yourself with your team. Also, practice using the equipment and troubleshoot any last minute glitches that may occur.  Also, try navigating the webinar software you’re using, to get an idea of how to use the platform effectively. Work on your timing, pace, delivery, where to put a transition in between sections, coordinate with your co-hosts and co-presenters, etc.

Execute Post Webinar Engagement

Audience engagement is a work that continues even beyond hosting the webinar, so if you want your webinar to be successful, engage your audience beyond the live webinar. This serves as an opportunity to maximize the impact of your virtual event. Here are some examples: 

• Send them personalized post-webinar follow up messages via email, expressing your gratitude for their participation
• Seek the feedback of the attendees about the webinar via post webinar surveys and polls and analyze where you can improve
• Extend the conversation with the participants, share the key highlights of the webinar and also send a recording of the webinar, for the absentees
  
  

How do you market your webinar effectively?

To ensure attendance and overall webinar success, you need to market your virtual event well in advance. Let’s dive into how you can effectively market your webinar.

Also Read – Webinar Marketing Strategies – Webinar Audience Targeting

Use Hashtags for your Webinars

Using hashtags can be a great way to market your webinar across social media platforms. A branded hashtag that is related to your webinar title and content will aggregate all the content related to your event and allows people to easily find your event and engage with it. 

Promote your Webinar well across platforms

There are an array of platforms where you can promote your webinar to draw participants to your event, starting from emails, social media, etc. 

Take a look at the below points to see the number of ways you can promote your webinar:

• Email – Craft emails that include information about your upcoming events, with personalized messages, compelling visuals, and the benefits of attending the event will be. Highlight the key topics that will be discussed in the webinar, and include a CTA button, which will lead to the webinar registration page
• Social Media – Craft eye catching social media posts and publish them on multiple platforms starting from Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn. To maximize reach, provide compelling visuals, relevant hashtags, concise but effective captions, etc
• Website – Create a webinar landing page on your website to promote your event. Include all the relevant information related to the event, including the topic, schedule, and speakers, and make sure the registration form is simple.
• Blog –  Write a blog on your webinar, include the necessary details, including what will be discussed in the event, the topic, and guest speakers, and promote it on any media you can, giving the details for registering your webinar
• Press Release – Employing press releases can be a great way to promote your webinar. Include all the key details of your webinar and distribute this press release via several reputed channels to increase the visibility of your event among the public.

Optimize your Registration Page 

The registration page of any webinar plays a huge role in drawing attendees to the event, as it provides people with a glimpse of what exactly they can get from the event. Hence, make sure  your webinar registration page is captivating as well as intriguing.

• Provide a compelling headline that provides value to the prospect and use language that can spark interest among the audience 
• Identify the key takeaways from the webinar and emphasize the relevance of the content.
• Make the registration process simpler by asking just a few simple questions in the form.
• Ensure that your webpage has visuals that complement the theme of your event, in the form of images, infographics and small videos, if possible
  
  

Employ Paid Advertising

Leveraging targeted paid advertising helps you reach your desired audience segments. Several online platforms and social media channels have the feature of targeting options, which can help you tailor campaigns based on their demographics, online behavior and interests, and you can invest in targeting your favored audiences accordingly. 

You can experiment with different ad formats in the form of videos, images, and carousels. Choose the design that aligns with your webinar content, resonates with your target audience, captures their attention, and eventually increases click-through rates.

Capitalize on Employee Networks 

If you have a good employee base, encourage your employees to advertise the webinar. To make sure that they do so, provide them with an extra push and some shearable content that they can easily post on their social media handles. The efforts of so many individuals to market the webinar will significantly contribute to publicizing the event.

Bottom Line

Webinars are indeed powerful marketing tools, and there’s no question about it. However, to ensure that it contributes to your business growth requires strategic planning and execution.  These virtual events provide an effective platform for delivering industry expertise and also help showcase thought leadership. Follow these best practices and tips to deliver a killer webinar that converts!