11 Great Webinar Tips
This article discusses some great tips about webinars and how to conduct a webinar from the planning stages until after it is complete. This is a great “what you need to know about webinars” article to start out with. You will need to do some more research, but you will have a very good idea of what research you will need to do. Great tips and a good read.
Great webinars generate qualified sales leads that lead to
increased sales. They take planning, practice and consistent
follow through. Here are 11 tips that are sure to work for you.
1. Plan everything. Create a webinar plan that includes
schedules, potential speakers, a registration process, budget,
promotion, success metrics and follow through.
2. Build your list. Your opt-in email list is your #1 source for
future sales. Be creative in capturing the email address of
every potential attendee to your webinar.
3. Promote it. If you build it, will they come? That depends. Do
they know about it? Do they care? Study your key audience and
develop a targeted marketing strategy. Know exactly what it is
that your audience wants. Test different messages and ad
sources. Be creative. See what works. Activate networks.
Word-of-mouth is key, so include an “invite-a-colleague” link in
all exchanges with potential attendees.
4. Timing is everything - Schedule your webinar when the
greatest number of people can come. If your audience is
national, run the webinar in the mid-afternoon. That way, people
from all times zones can attend. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are
typically the best. People are not just starting or ending their
week.
5. Capture the attention of your audience. E-mail, the web, to
do lists and the phone are just some of the many distractions
that your speakers have to contend with. Make sure content is
informative and your speakers are interesting. Get input from
your sales team. Involve all of your marketing staff.
6. Webinars don’t happen in a vacuum. Make sure your webinars
are integrated into your overall marketing strategy and will
help to reach your business goals..
7. Market research. Don’t miss out on a chance to ask your
audience their opinions. Use your webinar to learn more about
your audience and what they care about.
8. Pre-plan for possible problems. Coach your speakers.
Presenting at a webinar is very different from presenting in
person. Don’t forget: All speakers need to use conventional
phone lines with headsets and have a hard copy of their
presentation in front of them. Technology isn’t foolproof.
Prepare for all calamities. Schedule at least one run through
that covers web conferencing technology, webinar presentation
and timing and how to handle a loss of audio or web access.
9. Pick the best conferencing vendor. There are many web
conferencing vendors out there. Can the one you choose handle
your volume and support you when there’s a problem?
10. Maximize the registration process. Every time someone
registers for your event, you have a chance to learn more about
their unique interests and needs. Include different touch points
like demos and white paper downloads in all registration emails.
Don’t Forget to automate the registration process as much as
possible and make sure your system captures what happens for
further study.
11. Above all, Respect Your Audience. People take time out of
their day because they are interested in solving a problem. Hard
sell doesn’t work. Soft sell provides the value that your
audience is looking for. To ensure the success of your current
webinar along with all future ones, design your presentations to
provide superior value to the end-user: your customer.
About the author:
Greg Roy is a communications specialist. To find out more about
the advantages and benefits of
xhref=”http://webinar-s.com” mce_href=”http://webinar-s.com” target=”_blank”>Webinars, please visit
http://webinar-s.com.
