Like traditional seminars, the main purpose of webinars is to share information using a virtual medium. Webinars offer multiple benefits for any business interested in taking advantage of this platform.
A webinar can be used as a virtual stage to launch a new product or conduct product demonstrations. It can also be a venue to connect with customers directly. In addition, a company with nationwide operations can quite easily and successfully implement training sessions through the webinar medium.
However, to make a webinar a success it needs to be engaging with its target audience. And any valuable content it may want to offer and share will be wasted unless you can attract the right people to sign up. Whether it is pre-recorded or done in real-time, a webinar should be relevant, educational, and engaging for its audience.
Resources for Webinar Audiences
Participants who join webinars are normally solicited from email lists. However, there is no assurance that people on these lists will register for a webinar. In that case, it is best to offer incentives that will encourage them to sign up. For instance, offer a giveaway item such as an eBook or audio file that comes free with their registration.
It is also a good idea to assign a particular price to the giveaway. Doing so adds greater value to the webinar, hence many will feel that they cannot afford to miss it.
Text alerts via mobile or video messages via email can be sent to prospective participants. This can serve as a gentle reminder to help raise awareness about the upcoming event. You might want to try out some webinar service providers such as Webinarjam Studio that incorporates email sequences and text message alerts automatically as part of their service in order to maximize attendance levels.
To grab prospective attendees’ attention, a good trick to use is to add a touch of intrigue to your webinar. This can be done with the revelation of a mystery guest or an additional feature that will only be revealed during the event. Participants will likely be intrigued by this and therefore be enticed to sign up.
Tips for Promoting Your Webinar
Raising awareness about a forthcoming event can help bring in the most number of attendees. To secure a good audience, it is wise to begin marketing your webinar early, prior to the live webinar event.
Statistically, the rate of registrations tend to drop by nearly 30% within a week before the webinar. So, it is best to get a head start to help build people’s interest.
Your primary marketing tool will be electronic mail followed by social media. When preparing your email campaign, consider creating several versions of it. The first version introduces the topic of the webinar. At the same time, it will highlight the problems that your topic will resolve.
The second version of your email campaign should list the guest speakers who will take part in the event. This can be sent a few days after the release of the first campaign. Make sure to put into words the positive results people will gain from attending the event.
Two more versions of the campaign should be sent out on the day of the event. The third email campaign is a reminder for those who have registered to attend the webinar. The fourth version of the campaign aims to encourage more people to sign up before the event starts.
The ideal time to send out email campaigns would be during the middle of the week. This is because people are more likely to check their inbox during this time.
Take advantage of an email list to promote the webinar. Customize the invitation so that it’s specifically addressed people who are on the list. A personal touch in a digital world can be a refreshing change that will surely catch their attention.
Take advantage of social media sites to advertise the event. Tweet about it or post a short film on video-sharing websites. However, make sure to follow the rules set by these sites for posting promotional content.
You do not have to shoulder marketing efforts alone. Get everyone on your team working as well. Ask colleagues, your guest speakers, and suppliers to share news about the webinar within their respective networks. More often than not they will be happy to help you out for free.