8 tips for holding really good webinars

Are you about to give a webinar? In this post you'll get tips on how to hold a really good webinar.

Webinar, short for "web-based seminar", is a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is run over the web using videoconferencing software.

Webinars are an effective communication channel especially in times where face-to-face meetings are limited due to geographical distance or pandemics.

But what should you consider when hosting a webinar?

In this post, you will find some useful tips to take with you when planning your next webinar.

What limits the number of participants is only your imagination and creativity.

1. Purpose

The first step to launching a successful webinar is to decide on the purpose of the webinar.

Why do you want to hold the webinar and what knowledge do you want to convey?

In this way, it will be easier and more efficient for you to write a script and set a good content. This is an essential part of achieving the goal of the webinar.

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2. Marketing

Plan a strategy for how you will promote the webinar.

• What is the target audience of the webinar?
• Which marketing channels should you use?
• What is the topic and main message of the webinar?

Ask these questions to help you communicate with the right people.

According to a statistic from Medium, we can see that about 29% of the participants register on the day of the event and about 17% register more than 2 weeks before.

It is also common that 2 thirds of the registered participants do not show up. Take this into account and think about how you can reduce the number of drop-outs.

According to the same statistics, it is best to hold a webinar in the morning and on Tuesdays. A/B test and review what time and day of the week your contacts are likely to open their emails and use that in your marketing. This way you can lower your churn rate. Consider the competition and make sure your particular webinar is relevant, accessible and enticing.

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3. Content

Once you've started setting up the content, make sure it's clear and engaging. Keep the script short as according to Medium, participants prefer webinars that are 30-45 minutes.

In order for the audience not to get tired or lose focus, the presentation is essential. Make sure that the presentation does not contain too much text and has the right amount of slides.

Introduce yourself to avoid anonymity and add engaging and fun content. Don't be afraid to use visuals such as photos and videos. However, don't forget that the focus should be on the message and not the presentation.

Ask the person who is going to give the webinar to prepare and also run some practice sessions.

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4. Review the technology

Test to make sure everything works.

You may need different roles responsible for e.g. the technology, the sound, the performance, receiving and asking questions.

What technical possibilities do you need? Is it possible to bribe the participants' microphones? Can they ask questions? Is it possible to limit the number of participants?

Choose the right webinar platform based on a functional analysis and don't forget that the platform must integrate with the Marketing Automation system to provide a seamless user experience.

Feel free to run a test run and ask a test group to click on the link to the webinar to make sure nothing goes wrong. It can also be a good opportunity to get feedback on the presentation and content.

If the webinar can be recorded, this opens up possibilities for future use of the content and the webinar can also be used for lead generation purposes.

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5. Clear agenda

A clear agenda is important to meet the audience's expectations and keep them focused. Include the start time, the key points to be covered, approximately what time they will be covered and the end time of the webinar. It is important that everything does not "blend together".

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6. Prison lettuce

Make sure you start strong and captivate the audience right away. The first few minutes can be crucial for audience engagement. Throughout the presentation, it is important that the presenter is passionate and active.

Use interactive content such as dots, Q&A sessions, surveys and exercises to keep participants active.

92% of webinarparticipants want the opportunity to ask live questions at the end of the presentation. Also check out the possibility of allowing participants to ask questions during the webinar, for example, having a moderator ask the questions that come up.

An engaged audience is a satisfied audience.

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7.Follow-up

Create a short evaluation for the participants. You can take this with you to your internal evaluation and to offer better webinars in the future. It is important to understand what was good and what can be improved. You can also use this opportunity to ask about other topics that participants would like to hear about to get ideas and suggestions for new webinars. Review the options for when and how follow-up questions are sent out. Is it possible to do this immediately after your webinar? What is optimal to get as many responses as possible?

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8. Evaluation

An internal evaluation is easily forgotten. Make sure you bring the participants' opinions and your own to an evaluation. Plan the evaluation in time so that it is not forgotten. The evaluation is your path to even more successful webinars in the future!