How To Create A Webinar In 2024 That Gets You Leads
Creating a webinar should be foremost on every marketer’s mind, especially when, on average, 73% of B2B webinar attendees become qualified leads.
A webinar is a relatively easy and inexpensive approach to reaching out to your target demographic, which may help you gain new leads and expand your brand's reach.
It's essential to want your first webinar to be engaging so that people will want to sign up and participate. You may also be thinking about how to address any questions they may have throughout.
But first, let’s start with the definition.
What Is A Webinar?
Webinar
The word "webinar" is a portmanteau of the two words "web" and "seminar," and it describes exactly what it is: a seminar, presentation, or workshop that is broadcast live via the internet. In a typical webinar, a subject matter expert (or experts) shares their knowledge with attendees.
How To Create A Webinar in 2024 — A Step-by-Step Guide With Simple, Actionable Steps
Creating a webinar might feel like a high-stakes endeavor. There are many moving parts, content options, and people to talk to before the program even begins, but it's all worth it when it finally airs. Let’s dive in!1. Get Your Priorities Straight
Determine your webinar's purpose with the help of your team. Your webinar could be on anything, but it helps to focus on just one topic that will help you reach your target audience. Try one of these strategies to learn what your audience values most:- Analyze how you're using social media. Take a look at the most shared images and posts. Use these trends to get potential topics for your webinar.
- Have a look at your frequently asked questions. Do potential clients and customers often ask you the same questions? Find out where people's understanding could be improved so that you can fill the void.
- You can discover what others are curious about using a service like AnswerThePublic. Examine the results and decide which topics your webinar could address.
2. Choose A Webinar Format
If you know how you want to present your content, you can make a more successful webinar. Finding a structure that works for you is all about finding the right fit for your personality and objectives. Some common formats are as follows:Presentation
There are many variations on this theme, but it is one of the most common for webinars. With a presentation webinar, one person speaks while a video or audio file plays in the background. This format is a good option if you're writing for a limited audience. Pro tip: Include polls and question-and-answer sessions in your webinar for added visual appeal and audience interaction.Interview
You may host an interview with an expert in your field, who will then take questions from the audience afterward.Good interviewees could include:
- Someone at the forefront of their industry
- Someone with significant influence in your field
- Someone with little influence in your field but a lot of expertise
Product
Webinars focused on a specific product or service are a great way to show off its features and demonstrate its usefulness to potential customers. In the case of software, you may use screen sharing and other technologies to demonstrate the product's interface and functionality to the audience. Someone who may be on the fence about buying your product because they don't understand a specific function may rest easy.Moderated Panel Discussion
A panel webinar is similar to a panel discussion in that it features many speakers discussing the same topic. This webinar format requires a moderator for smooth operation.Q&A
This style is similar to interviews in that the speaker answers questions. This time, you’ll open up the questions to a larger audience rather than just one moderator. Get the questions prepared ahead of time. This process will allow you to screen queries from the crowd and stick to your schedule. Most webinar formats include a question-and-answer session at the end.3. Assign Roles To Your Team
Depending on the scope of your event, delegating tasks to team members may be a good idea.- Promotions: This group is in charge of the webinar's marketing strategy. Email, social media, and onsite marketing are all great ways to get people to sign up!
- Content programming: This is the process through which the webinar's themes, presenters, messages, designs, and outputs are all planned and executed.
- Operations: This department handles the technical operations between webinar tools, marketing operations tools, and CRM systems to ensure that all collected data is correct.
4. Pick A Webinar Tool
You may conduct a webinar using various premium and free options. If you need a reliable service, choose between WebinarJam and GoToWebinar. You may also use YouTube Live to hold webinars without spending a dime. Think about what you require from the choices available to you.- How many people do you expect to show up?
- Is there a need to keep a record?
- How much money can you spend?
- Can you manage without personalization and labeling?
5. Get Your Presenters Camera-Ready & Plan Visuals
In a successful webinar, the presenter uses audio and visual media to educate the audience on a particular topic. Text-heavy PowerPoint slides won't cut it. The most effective webinars should have the same sensation as meeting in person. It may seem like a given, but presenters should be required to use their webcams. The audience views the presenter's face, which can provide additional information through nonverbal clues. Each presenter will need access to a high-quality camera (one superior to the one built into their laptop) and good lighting to pull this off. While not a significant difficulty, this is an additional complication that presenters do not confront in a live setting. If all you have is a basic laptop camera, make sure you use these lighting best practices to get the most out of your device. Now let’s talk about the other visuals: graphics. When creating graphics for your next webinar, keep the following in mind in terms of slides:- Prepare an opening slide that includes essential information, such as the start time and topics covered in the webinar— but make it entertaining!
- Next, present a slide summarizing the many topics discussed throughout the webinar.
- Include a slide that lists the websites and tools used during the process. During the webinar, you should actively use the tools and websites available to make a more significant impression on the participants.
6. Prepare The Necessary Equipment & Space
You'll need to choose a peaceful location to have a successful webinar. Think about holding the webinar in a conference room or some other area where there won't be any distractions. Also crucial for the success of your webinar is the choice of equipment. Landlines and headset microphones are less likely to disconnect during an audience interaction, so think about using them instead of wireless models. It's wise to have a fully charged backup laptop with a copy of all your data stored in a separate location. In the event that your main computer system experiences technical issues, this will ensure that everything continues to run properly. To provide your audience with the best webinar experience, you must ensure you have the correct equipment and a suitable location.7. Produce Your Content
This is when all your efforts pay off. Your webinar can take many forms, including the ones we covered before, such as a slide deck, a video of you using your product, or an interview with a special guest. The key to a successful webinar, regardless of its style, is keeping attendees interested and involved. Another way to look at it is that it must not be boring. Get ready to think outside the box. When planning a webinar, how can you ensure that attendees stay engaged and watch the whole thing? Try surprising them every once in a while. The time to shine is here. Here are some ideas to keep in mind:- Make your brand and cause stand out with stunning creative images.
- Just have one main point on every slide to keep things concise.
- Consider using images rather than words. To keep people interested, you should include multimedia like videos, GIFs, and animations.
- Only use short paragraphs. Compose a few key words or phrases for the audience to follow and then explain them in more detail while speaking.
- Include a quick poll right in the middle of your talk. This is another method to keep your readers interested while keeping things new.
- Don’t let it go on too long. Webinars typically last between 45 and 60 minutes. If you want to include interactive elements like a poll and Q&A session, stick to this length.
8. Promote Your Webinar
So you’ve built your webinar— now it’s time to promote it. Think like your target audience while developing a marketing plan for your webinar. Once you know your target audience, you can decide on the best marketing strategy to get your message over to them. Give yourself at least three to five weeks of advertising time before making your webinar public. Think about using the following methods to spread the word about your event:- Paid and organic social including promotion through blog posts, newsletters, or press releases
- In-product advertising
- Onsite promotions
9. Create The Registration Or Landing Page
After settling on a platform, you can start working on the webinar's signup page. Like any other landing page, the purpose of this one is to get visitors to join up. Start by summarizing your webinar's goals in a few well-written bullet points. Next, you should talk about the hosts' experience and accomplishments in the business world. Include a registration form where guests may submit their information and a compelling call to action at the conclusion. You can create a registration or landing page with a premium webinar tool. Leadpages offers pre-made landing page templates for webinars. You can choose a template and personalize the page with a drag-and-drop builder.
Jotform
A favorite registration page template is JotForm. It's free for five forms and a hundred registrants. For a small webinar audience, this may be ideal.
Check out the Jotform page for more.
Be sure to provide the webinar's scheduled time and date in the registration details. You may choose to schedule your event for the evening or on the weekend if your target audience consists of people who have to work during the week. If you are inviting people from all over the world, it is important to specify the time zone in which the webinar will be held.
10. Do A Rehearsal Of Your Webinar
The rehearsal process is a great time to get to know the presenters, work out any technological kinks, and familiarize yourself with the material. A good rule of thumb is to set aside an hour with everyone engaged in the webinar to run through the whole read-through of content and address any technical problems. Watch out for issues regarding audio, framing, or questions from speakers, and help prevent any potential technical issues like internet disruptions.11. Go Live!
The long-awaited moment has arrived. Ensure all your presenters are there and ready to go at least half an hour before your scheduled start time. This will help in fixing any last-minute technical difficulties and calming pre-performance nerves. Before you wrap up, make sure the webinar continues for your team after the hour is over. What does that mean? Whether your primary goal was to generate more leads or close more sales, your follow-up efforts may make all the difference. Send a thank-you note to each attendee through email and include a link to the replay if you have one. Include a discount code or other incentive in the email to move the prospect down the sales funnel. You must put in the time and effort to keep these connections alive and thriving. After all, that is the goal.12. Have Your Content Ready To Be Viewed On Demand
Remember to record your webinar and keep the recording! Use an editing program to cut down the footage of the live event and then publish it online so that it may be used indefinitely. You should provide those registered for your webinar with a link to the on-demand video. You can also consider gating the on-demand material using a lead form to get the most out of your efforts.Plan, Create, & Promote Your Webinar Using Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite is a family of agile marketing products that helps you coordinate your process, projects, and teams. With Marketing Suite, you can promote, execute, and coordinate your webinar, so everything goes smoothly from start to finish.1. Create A Marketing Campaign For Your Webinar
Use Marketing Campaigns to house all your webinar-related projects. Focus on executing the webinar rather than tracking down all the moving parts.
Organize the Marketing Campaign calendar view to consolidate your webinar promotions, invitation emails, registration landing page, & more!
2. Set Up Your Webinar Projects
Schedule your webinar timeline and additional project dates to ensure everything gets completed on time. View all the project deadlines for your webinar in one place.
Add Tasks
In each project, add a list of tasks to ensure everything is in place for the webinar to go off without a hitch.
Include tasks under each marketing project to set up your webinar in Zoom, create the presentation, and write the talking points.
Attach Your Presentation
Add a Google Slide or Microsoft Powerpoint slideshow to your webinar presentation project.
You can coordinate the tasks required to create the presentation here, and the up-to-date file will be easily accessible inside the project whenever you need to make updates or present the day of the webinar.
Add Webinar Details To Project
Outline important webinar details in the text editor attachment to contain clear instructions for creating content to promote your webinar.
From the Zoom link to guest speaker names, write information that is prevalent in the presentation for the whole team to access.
3. Add Projects To Promote Your Webinar To Your Campaign
Include promotional projects – invitation emails, registration landing pages, and social promotions – to generate buzz for the webinar.
4. Delegate Tasks To Your Team
Ensure every task is completed on time by delegating duties to the designated department.
Assign responsibilities to team members with completion dates under each task.
5. Save A Project Template For Your Webinar Process
Plan to create & host more webinars in the future? You can save the entire campaign for your webinar process as a project template to reuse for new webinar projects.
Include project details like project owner, tasks, attachments, and social campaigns to improve productivity and simplify the process of future webinars.
