Webinars have been in-use ever since the internet started to expand its horizon. However, with the pandemic taking over the world by storm, the webinars saw a resurgence, and every other organization started to host them. In the past two years, webinars have become an indispensable part of the organizational structure of several businesses across the globe.
Owning to the advantages they come with, businesses have adapted to the concept and structure of the webinars with open arms. However, one of the biggest challenges that continue to persist is to step up the ladder and enhance the webinars. Understanding the need of the hour, we are sharing the top tips that you can incorporate into your strategy, and enhance your webinars.
But, before that, let us go through the concept and idea of webinars. To understand in a simple language, the term ‘webinar’ is the combination of ‘Web’ and ‘Seminar’. Hence, you can define webinars as the transmission of seminars, presentations, lectures, etc. on the internet. One might confuse webcasts with webinars, but the significant difference between both of them is interactivity. Where the webcasts are presented only in one direction, the webinars promote two-way communication between the speakers and the attendees.
Hence, you can say that webinars are interactive and engaging, whereas webcasts aren’t.
You can use webinars in the following ways:
- Educate the audience on any subject.
- Set up your authority.
- Product Demonstrations.
- Customer Onboarding
- Employees’ training
- Leads Generation
Tips to Make Enhance Your Webinars
Here are a few tips you can include in your planning and up your webinar game. Keep reading.
Audience First, Always:
Your audience is who will decide the in and out of your webinar. What they like is good; what they don’t is bad. Remember, it is the audience that you are hosting the webinars for, not the other way round. Hence, you should always put your audience first. Strategize the content according to their likes and dislikes, and schedule it while keeping their convenience in mind. To select the topic, what you can do is conduct a survey among your target audience to see what people like these days. Once you are clear, then only you should start planning the entire webinar. Always keep in mind that the key to a successful webinar is when the right subject reaches the right audience and the right TIME.
Experiment with New Formats:
Remember, nobody likes to watch the same old repetitive content. The format that now interests the audience, will down the line, bore them. Hence, never hesitate to experiment with the formats. However, to ensure that your audience will find it interesting, you should understand the preference of the audience. Conduct a survey and ask them if they prefer going with the same-old formats or would prefer experiencing something new and different. Here are a few options you should consider while preparing the survey questionnaire.
- What would you prefer?
A 30-minute-long webinar or a 60-minute long webinar.
- Would you prefer a webinar with 15-20 minute long content and a 10-minute long Q&A session?
- What is your preference? – A small scale audience or a large audience.
- Would you like to interact with your fellow attendees in an interactive session?
- What would you pick? One 2-3 hours long session, or a series of short webinars?
These questions will help you understand your audience and plan your webinar accordingly
Plan Efficiently:
There is a very prominent Benjamin Franklin quote that goes like “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” It is self-explanatory, but let us explain the relevance of this quote with webinars. Start with curating the outline of the event; you will realize that the entire event has started to come together. And trust us, an effective plan will automatically start showing differences to the webinar; your audience would be able to see that you have made efforts and appreciate you for the same.
Write down your objectives, target audience, the components you wish to include in your webinar, and the takeaways you wish your attendees to gain from attending the webinar. Not only this, but you should also mention the speakers you plan to invite to your event and the list of your potential sponsors. Basically, the plan of the webinar will contain everything it would for you to plan the webinar.
No Compromises When It Comes to the Webinar Service:
One factor that you should never compromise with when it comes to the webinar, or any virtual event for that matter, is the platform you will pick to conduct the event. Since there are plenty of options available to choose from, you should pay extra attention to the features of the platform, and select a professional webinar service. Make sure that the features and tools the platform comes with don’t add to your complexity; in fact, the intent of using them is to make your job easier. There are a few features that should be included in the webinar service are:
- Screen Sharing Option
- Recording Feature
- Security
- Audience Engagement Tools
- Networking Features, etc.
Make the Webinar Visually Appealing:
Another tip that you should always follow if you want to make your webinar successful is to add visually appealing features to the webinar. Try to add as many features and tools to your webinar as you can. However, don’t end up overdoing it, as it will altogether have an opposite impact on the webinar. Include slideshows, videos, graphics, pictures, and other visual factors in the webinar. It will not only help you put across your point clearly but also enhance the overall learning experience of your audience. The graphic factors will reinforce the message you are trying to deliver and keep your audience hooked to the event.
As mentioned earlier, several organizations have been successfully conducting webinars for quite some time now and have become pros at it. And honestly speaking, planning and hosting webinars isn’t that difficult; what adds to the difficulty is keeping the audience engaged and including some never-seen-before factors. We hope this guide will help you with the same, and you host an unforgettable webinar.