07 Jan How To Run a Webinar

Webinars are powerful marketing tools. They are online seminars or master classes designed to educate around a clear and concise topic. Generally around 30-40 minutes, these live events are a fantastic way to demo a product, show off a new feature, offer tips, and introduce your true self to customers.

Although easy in concept, there are a lot of steps to line up to make a webinar successful, including which webinar platform to use, how to publicize the event, and what content to share and what to hold for your paid product or service.

Here are a few tips from Blog.Mention.com on how to run a successful webinar.

What platform works best? Blog.Mention recommends GoToWebinar. It offers a 30-day free trial and a higher number of attendees than its Adobe counterpart, Connect. The trial allows you to actually run a webinar and fully try out the software before having to pay for it. Although you may be put off by the idea that your attendees have to download a free software just to participate, studies show it does not affect the overall attendee percentage.

Don’t forget to consider time zones when scheduling your webinar. Test different times and days around your ideal audience. Thursdays are typically good, as they give you an opportunity to promote the event all week. Once you decide on a day and time, make sure you create a landing page that clearly states the time and time zone, and repeat this information in your promotional emails. The bonus of a webinar is that if people can’t make it due to their time zone, you can send them the recording.

Speaking of recordings… make sure you hit record at the start of your event! While it’s live, it can also be a great tool or product to offer future clients or customers.

How do you spread the word?

Email is still the most effective way to get the word out about something, and that’s especially true for webinars. For maximum effect, send out an email with a clear focus and a direct reason for joining. Be sure to include the BENEFITS to attendees, rather than touting your expertise about a topic. Make your webinar URL easy to remember and share by creating a specific short link.

Finally, be sure to offer real value to encourage attendance and participation. If someone takes the time to attend they will likely stick around for your service in the end. You can offer a bonus or discount for attendees that stay for the entire webinar.

image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net