A follower recently tweeted me asking how to engage people with a webinar.
Firstly, don't. We're webinared out! There are so many other ways to connect with people.
Nonetheless, if you're set on the idea, there is a way to do digital conferences and marketing webinars right. Following the tips below during your webinar planning will mean higher engagement, brand awareness, and more reasons to stay in touch with attendees after the webinar.
Top tips for webinar planning
1. It's not about you.
Make it really easy for people to participate, and answer questions from the audience mid-presentation, to avoid them skulking out midway through / opening their emails.
2. Gather insights.
If you can do polls during the webinar, and analyse the results out loud, the audience will feel like there's a reason to have attended live. The bonus of this is that you can use the results garnered in microblogs, eBooks, and future webinars.
3. Give, don't take.
To persuade us in the first place, your insights need to be marketed like the invention of sliced bread. Your lead-up needs to make it crystal clear why the audience should give you their precious time, and give clear takeaways that can hope to gather that are not Google-able.
4. Gift generously.
Consider merchandise or company swag you can send to attendees before and after. While these don't need to break the bank they do need to be relevant and thought-out.
A cool headset for them to listen to the webinar links nicely if you have the budget, and after, a gift related to the topic is a nice reminder of your company plus a money-off token to your next event.
5. Record it.
You'll likely get more traffic from the on-demand version than the live webinar, so make sure to hit record in high quality to post the video on your site later. Sharing the link is a casual way to follow up with attendees if your webinar is for sales purposes.
If you charge for webinars, however, limit yourself to soundbites to avoid attendees feeling ripped off. Use those soundbites for your social media.
6. Plan, but don't script.
Also ditch the PowerPoint, you'll inevitably end up leaning on it and forgetting to connect with the other person present.
7. Nitpick the speaker.
The host's energy is everything at a digital event. We're used to being wow-ed via screens so a lecture on a topic that vaguely interests us just won't cut it. As the organiser, you need to prep and perfect the host's skills and give them tools that are more engaging than slides.
You're all set and ready to host a memorable webinar!
Come back to this blog if you use the tips and tell us how it went. We'd also love you to add more in the comments and we'll share your insights with a tag via LinkedIn.