Webinar best practice

Engaging with prospects to generate new opportunities and revenue streams is more important than ever. Networking can offer invaluable insights into how best to overcome the challenges of the current economic climate. But at a time when travel and marketing budgets are being cut, how do you meet, present and engage with a large audience at the same time? Via webinars, argues WorkCast.

Webinars and webcasts are an increasingly popular solution. Presentations, lectures, workshops and CPD seminars can be transmitted over the internet. Many companies recognise that they’re a viable and effective alternative to large scale events, benefiting host and participants alike. Their interactive nature enables people to give, receive and discuss information in real time, while saving money on venues, catering and travel arrangements.

Here are some webinar best practice measures that will ensure your objectives are fully met:

1.	Planning – As well as planning your webinar objectives in advance take into account that attendees will have busy schedules. Give them enough time to plan their diaries around your event – at least three weeks’ notice. Avoid holding your webinar at lunchtime or close to the end of the day, as it’s likely your audience will not be in the office or will be wrapping up and keen to get home.
2.	Promote the webinar widely – Send attendees a webinar description, letting them know for whom the webinar is intended and what it will offer them. And don’t forget to follow up with reminders nearer the time, so it doesn’t slip off their radar. The use of partners and social media such as Twitter and LinkedIn are good ways to promote webinars.
3.	Choose your webinar solution/provider carefully – Take time to assess webinar tools and services and opt for the one you feel will allow you to run a professional event. Also keep your participants in mind when you are making your choice. The best webinar providers and services include facilities such as being able to add the meeting to one’s Outlook calendar with a click of the mouse, so you don’t end up losing attendees because they were too busy to remember it! Good webinar services and providers allow for full branding of the whole process.
4.	Make sure that you understand how the whole webinar process works – Give yourself time to get to know the webinar software or service well. There’s nothing worse for participants than a presenter who doesn’t know how to use the webinar software correctly. Good webinar providers will include webinar practice sessions to make sure the experience is slick and professional for both parties.
5.	Reporting – Keep track of all people registered to attend the webinar. Plan your presentation by studying your audience and finding out what will be useful to them. This will ensure that you only deliver content that is relevant. Also make sure that your webinar provider gives you full reports, not only on invitations and registrations, but on viewers of both live and on–demand (recorded) versions of your webinars.
6.	Make an agenda – Webinar participants want to get something valuable out of their participation, so make sure that they see a clear agenda ahead of time so they know who will be presenting, what will be covered and how long it will last. This will also allow them to prepare questions in advance.
7.	Prepare compelling content – During a webinar eye contact is not usually an option, so the actual content being presented becomes even more important. Webinars rely on audio and visuals to engage the audience, so use interesting pictures and webcasts (such as CPD case studies, or time-lapse photography of the construction process) and avoid using slides with too much text.
8.	Keep your audience engaged – By conducting polls and surveys during the webinar you can keep your audience interested in the presentation, and allow them to express their views. In return, you will be able to gather opinions and feedback in real-time. When you have reached the end of the presentation, leave some time for a Q&A, which will make your webinar even more engaging and informative. Remember to treat webcasting like a face-to-face presentation and not a conference call, so practice to ensure you get across plenty of energy and presence to make a positive and lasting impact.
9.	Record the webinar – By recording the webinar you can make it available to those who couldn’t attend or would like to listen again – which is useful as research has found that four times as many people choose to view a webinar at their own convenience. You could also use the recorded webinar in a post event email marketing campaign, linked to a recording on your website through a webinar channel.
10.	Branding – Many webinar providers focus on providing a standard set of tools to a large number of clients because that’s easier to manage. However, your branding is a vitally important part of the process, so check to see how much branding your provider gives you in the email and registration process, live webinar and on-demand webinar viewer auditoriums.
11.	Follow up – Always contact attendees after the webinar to thank them for their participation and give them the opportunity to provide feedback. Also communicate with those who signed up for the webinar but could not attend by letting them know that the recorded webinar is available to be viewed online, on-demand. This also offers a great way to promote other webinars or webcasts.

 

Learn about the benefits of promoting your CPD material online

 

Article republished by kind permission of The WorkCast Corporation, a leading webcasting and managed webinar provider, offering technology based solutions, strategy and expertise on all types of webcasting and webinar activities.

 

Back to top