Webinars have become an extremely popular way for businesses and organizations to reach a wide audience online and deliver valuable information. With the right setup and execution, webinars can be highly effective at generating leads, making sales, training employees, and more. This guide will walk you through the key steps involved in planning, setting up, hosting, and following up on a professional webinar event.
Table of Contents
Choose a Webinar Platform
The first step is selecting software to host your webinar. There are many options to choose from, both free and paid. Some key things to consider when comparing platforms:
- Number of attendees supported
- Interactive features like polls, Q&A, chat
- Ability to record and replay webinars
- Ease of use for organizers and attendees
- Branding and customization options
- Integrations with marketing and sales tools
- Pricing
Popular paid platforms include Zoom Webinars, GoToWebinar, ON24, Livestorm, and Demio. Free options to consider include Zoom Meetings, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and StreamYard.
Set Goals and Choose a Topic
Once you have a platform, determine what goals you want to achieve. Common webinar goals include:
- Generating new leads
- Nurturing existing leads
- Making product demonstrations
- Training employees/customers
- Providing thought leadership
With goals in mind, choose a topic that aligns. For example, a goal to generate leads might have a topic like “5 Ways to Improve Productivity with [Software]”.
Plan the Webinar Structure
A typical webinar structure looks like:
- Introduction
- Agenda overview
- Presentation
- Q&A
- Wrap-up
Keep your webinar concise, between 30-45 minutes. Use visuals like slides and include interactive elements such as live polls, chat, and Q&A sessions.
Determine if you will have additional presenters or panelists join you. Also decide if you will offer an on-demand recording to share after the live event.
Promote the Webinar Extensively
Dedicate time before the webinar to promote registration. Use social media, email, blog posts, paid ads, affiliate partnerships, and other channels.
Create an eye-catching webinar title and description. Highlight the key takeaways attendees will learn. Keep the registration process short with only essential fields.
Set a registration goal aligned to your webinar’s purpose, whether its lead generation, product demo sign-ups, or maximum attendance. Promote early and keep promoting up until the day before your event.
Set Up Technology and Test Connectivity
Leading up to the webinar day, confirm all presenters have the event details and test connectivity. Ask them to join a practice session to check video, audio, and screen sharing capabilities.
On the day, log in early and start the broadcast 10-15 minutes before the official start time. Attendees usually start showing up to these pre-events. Use this time to make small talk, repeat key details, and take care of any last minute issues.
Engage Viewers with Interactive Elements
During the webinar, focus on keeping attendees engaged through interactive elements:
Live Polls: Pose multiple choice questions and display results in real-time.
Q&A Sessions: Pause for live questions periodically or save them all for the end.
Chat: Enable attendees to chat publicly or privately to presenters and each other.
Surveys: Collect feedback before or after your presentation.
Screen Sharing: Demonstrate products, share presentations, visit relevant websites.
Whiteboards: Draw visuals, collaborate on ideas, and annotate slides.
Breakout Rooms: Split people into smaller groups for discussions then reconvene.
Most webinar platforms give you the ability to record live events and replay them later on-demand. Take advantage of this to extend your content reach.
Upload your recorded webinar to your website, YouTube channel, and other platforms. Share it on social media, email it to registrants, and embed it into relevant blog and landing pages.
Consider chopping the recording into shareable sections to repurpose across multiple platforms.
Analyze and Follow Up
After hosting a webinar, dedicate time to analyze performance and attendee data. Key metrics to look at include:
- Attendance rates
- Engagement times
- Poll/survey responses
- Questions asked
- On-demand viewership
Follow up with emails to attendees sharing additional resources and links to the recording. Additionally, follow up with non-attendees encouraging them to still view the on-demand version.
Use analytics to identify areas that kept viewers engaged and opportunities to improve for your next webinar. Over time, you will optimize both your live and on-demand webinar performance.
Conclusion
Hosting impactful webinars requires coordination across tools, content, promotion, presenters, and analytics. With the right preparation and follow-through, webinars allow you to meaningfully interact with more people online and achieve important business goals. Use this guide to successfully set up and execute your next webinar event.
