How to host a webinar successfully
21 December 2022
When creating a content strategy and content plan, webinars can often be forgotten. However, they can contain quite powerful content and if you know how to host a webinar successfully, they can significantly help deliver your goals.
Why should hosting webinars be included in your content plan?
According to LiveWebinar, 85% of marketers who use webinars as a marketing tool, say that webinars are crucial for their marketing efforts.
Webinars often contain really useful content. When they’re presented by a knowledgeable individual from your company, it adds an extra layer of trust and authority to your content.
This will help you build those important relationships which will significantly assist you when selling your products or services.
As well as assisting in building healthy business relationships, it can also help you build healthy subscriber lists and generate new business.
Top tips on how to host a webinar successfully
There are several key points to note if you want to know how to host a webinar successfully.
1. Structure the content
60-minute webinars attract more attendees than 30-minute webinars (LiveWebinar), so you should consider hosting an hour-long webinar. To determine how to fill that hour, you should consider what your audience wants to know, how you’ll keep them engaged, and the reason you’re hosting the webinar in the first place.
Webinar introduction
Start by introducing yourself so the attendees know who you are and what you’re about. Remember that your audience’s time is precious. I recently attended a webinar hosted by two individuals. They talked about themselves for some time, then talked generally about the weather and what a busy time of year it was. I think they were attempting to build a rapport with their audience. However, I too was busy, so I disengaged and left the webinar.
Webinar content
Your content should be engaging and enable you to connect with your audience. A good way of doing this is by storytelling as this will help trigger emotions which will help persuade your audience to take action. You should think about what your audience wants to know or learn and give them that information. Facts, statistics, examples, and illustrations can often help present that information. Remember, this is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your expertise in the subject matter.
Webinar audience participation
Audience participation is a way to help keep your audience motivated and engaged. Some webinars have attendees visible on the screen, and they can raise their hands and contribute. However, that’s not always possible and it’s sometimes not the right format for your particular audience. If this is the case, you can still engage them, for example, by asking them to consider something, or asking them to respond in the comments. It’s important when you’re considering audience participation that you consider your customer personas.
Webinar Q&A
Once you’ve delivered your content, you should allow your audience to ask questions. Again, this gives you an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise, and it can also help build a relationship with your audience.
Webinar pitch
Once you’ve answered your audience’s questions, you have an opportunity to pitch to them. Think of the potential problems they face and how you can help them achieve a solution. This way your pitch is more likely to be successful.
Webinar call to action
The webinar should end with a clear call to action, such as a way for them to subscribe, book a call, email, etc. The call to action will depend on the SMART goals and customer personas you set out in your content strategy.
2. Be ready to host the webinar
Preparation is key when considering how to host a webinar successfully, so you can avoid any potential issues that might be faced.
Do a technical test run for your webinar
Set up a test webinar a few days before your live webinar and do a test run with a colleague. You don’t need to do the hour long presentation at the test run, just check that the audio, visual and wifi are in working order, so you have time to fix any issues.
Practice your webinar presentation
Don’t just read from a script. People can tell when you’re reading from a script and it doesn’t come across as authentic. You should have notes ready to prompt you if needed, but practice what you’re going to say in the webinar beforehand. The webinar shouldn’t run over so do a practice run, time it to see how long it takes, and make any adjustments needed. I usually record myself doing a practice run and watch it back. This way, I’m able to see what works and what doesn’t work. You could also try practicing with a colleague to get their constructive feedback.
Know your webinar attendees
Take a look beforehand at who’s attending the webinar. You might be able to make it more bespoke and engaging. For example, if you were doing a webinar for asbestos support groups and lung nurses, but only lung nurses had booked onto the webinar, you know you can speak directly to them. You may also be able to include knowledge of them in any audience participation. The more bespoke the content is to the audience, the better the rapport with them.
3. Get comfortable
If you’ve not hosted a webinar before, it can be quite daunting and may make you nervous. That’s completely understandable. Some of the greatest public speakers will say they felt exactly the same when they first spoke publicly. What they’ll also say is the more you do it, the more comfortable you feel. So, you’ve just got to jump in with both feet.
What you wear can often have an impact. For some people, what they wear gives them confidence. For some, wearing a suit and tie makes them feel uncomfortable. So, wear something that makes you feel confident and comfortable.
It might be that you’re nervous about presenting and hosting as there’s a lot to remember. If that’s the case, ask a colleague to assist you by running the technical aspects of the webinar, allowing you to focus on the content.
If you are feeling nervous, book some time out before. You could consider mindfulness and breathing exercises. There are many online which can help in these situations. It’s also helpful to make sure you have a glass of water on hand whilst you’re presenting the webinar.
It’s important to remember that you’re hosting the webinar because you’re knowledgeable and skilled in its content. You know what you’re talking about and people are attending because they want to learn from you, not to judge you.
4. Screen set up
It might not seem that important in the grand scale of things, but the way your screen is set up has an impact on the way your audience will view your webinar. The reason you’re hosting a webinar rather than writing a blog is so your audience can engage with you and you can build that all-important relationship with them. Therefore, how you appear on screen is important. You should, therefore:
- Avoid being too close or too far away from the screen
- Make sure the lighting around you isn’t too dim or too bright
- Make sure the camera on your screen is at eye level
- If you add a fake background, make sure it doesn’t make parts of you disappear when you move
- Try to avoid having a background that is too busy and distracting
5. Don't just cut and run
A lot of preparation goes into a webinar. It’s therefore easy when the camera stops rolling, to just switch off and move on to something else. However, you should always have the next steps planned as part of your content strategy.
Follow up with attendees after your webinar
You should include in your content strategy how you’re going to follow up with the attendees. You need to nurture these newly built relationships, engage them further and convert them into warm leads.
Evaluate your webinar
You need to measure the success of your webinar against the SMART goals contained in your strategy, and analyse whether you achieved what you set out to. You should also evaluate what worked and what didn’t. What could have been done better? What will you do next time? What won’t you do next time? It’s these learnings that will help ensure your future webinars are successful. Any learnings you make can also be included in your SWOT analysis for next year.
Repurpose your webinar content
Don’t just let your webinar gather dust. You put a lot of time into an hour-long piece of content that you can repurpose and share to gain an even better reach. There are a number of ways you can repurpose your content, such as:
- Create a video
- Create blogs
- Create an e-book
- Create infographics
- Create a Q&A factsheet
- Create a podcast
In addition, if you request feedback from attendees at your webinar, you can use positive testimonials in your social media posts, on your website, and to promote your future webinars.
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If you’d like to talk to us about your content strategy and how we can help you with your content needs, simply contact us today for a no-obligation conversation.
All content in this article was correct at the time of publication.
