As companies are mapping out what their 2022 and beyond will look like in terms of business, looking for creative and innovative ways to stay connected to the various stakeholders remains a priority. Webinars are not new by any means, but they have certainly increased in popularity as we have moved into a digital present. Webinars are often a cost-saving, quick turnaround solution to getting information out. In this post, we will explore some of the best practices in planning and implementing your webinar. Webinars can be effective and successful with proper planning and using the right features and tools.
Webinars do not typically require the same amount of money or time that a full-scale event. Most webinars are 30-50 minutes long and are highly focused on delivering the information the audience is most interested in. Here are two questions to ask yourself before getting started:
- What is the overall goal? How do you define success, is it X number of product quotes or X number of sales meetings scheduled?
- What is the best format to keep your particular audience engaged? Is it a product demo or a speaker presentation?
In this article, we will help you identify some webinar best practices that will help organize everything into a successful webinar experience.
Messaging
With business as usual no longer being what usual looked like prior to 2020, companies must start using creative and unique marketing messages to get the attention of prospective attendees.
Your overall product or service messaging may not change but how you deliver that message may look different depending on who your audience is. A great formula to follow is the AIDA approach:
Attention: Use an opening headline/subject line to grab the person’s attention.
Interest: Once you’ve got their attention, grab their interest. Call out a quick elevator pitch – why should they care about learning more?
Desire: Tell them all the benefits you have to offer. Use short, succinct bullet points.
Action: Tell them how to take action to sign up for the webinar. Make this step as easy as possible. Use the least amount of steps/form fields needed.
Marketing
Once you have established the best webinar format and messaging you will need to focus on the logistics. Establishing when to have your webinar and how to promote it is important to ensure you reach your audience. We have some tips that will help you boost your marketing strategy:
Understand the webinar promotional cycle
Registration is gradual. Do not let you or your team become discouraged when you do not get overnight registrations right away. The prime promotional window is four to six weeks prior to the date. As your webinar date inches closer, more individuals will consider registering.
Utilize email marketing to it’s full potential
Email is consistently the highest converting channel in the virtual event space. Instead of sending the same email over and over try mixing it up by testing out HTML (graphic) and plain text. Different groups may respond differently to a refreshed email invite.
Identify the best days to send an email. According to a poll from Mailchimp, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are days that carry the biggest open rate to emails.
Monday
18%
Tuesday
23%
Wednesday
22%
Thursday
20%
Friday
10%
Plan for the best days for webinar attendance
According to a Marketer Abroad poll Thursdays tend to be the best day for attendance but consider your audience and try different days.
Monday
19%
Tuesday
24%
Wednesday
26%
Thursday
27%
Friday
10%
Webinars are proven to be a successful and creative way to get information to your audience. Using a platform like Engagez offers a level of branding and professionalism that can aid in your company’s mission. With Engagez, our team will work with you in organizing and putting together a successful webinar using our new webinar-specific layout with features that can be used to offer an innovative and out-of-the-box way to boost engagement and dive into the new normal of digital engagement.
