Webinars are a key instrument in the toolkit of a marketer. The reason is simple: when organized well, they are engaging, work across all phases in the buying cycle and allow you to reach hundreds or even thousands of people across the world. They are very cost effective and can be tighlty integrated into your marketing automation initiatives.
As many of you know however, pulling off a great webinar is hard. There are many moving parts that need to come together to result in that great and seamless webinar experience. Furthermore, with increased competition for your audience, your will need to work harder to reach your attendance goals. Engaging and interacting with your audience during the event is key.
To help you with that, we have pulled together a no-nonsense overview of steps to take and points to consider in organizing a successful webinar and creating a great experience for your audience.
Summary of the 11 steps to a great webinar experience
Below is a short summary of the 11 steps to organize a successful webinar. Be sure to download the 12-page overview with example script for more details.
- Define the goals of your marketing webinar What are your objectives? What phase in the buying cycle are you focused on? How many attendees are you targeting for?
- Be clear about who this webinar is for What audience is this webinar for? Do you know how to reach them?
- Select the topic of your webinar Is your webinar a one-off, part of a larger marketing campaign, or part of a webinar series? What need or pain point are you addressing?
- Decide on the format of your webinar Are you organizing a live interactive event, a live stream over social media or a simulated webinar?
- Realize a webinar takes a team Chances are you can’t do it all alone. Besides a speaker, who else do you need?
- Plan your promotions and communications flow Competition is high for your audience. If you want to achieve the numbers you are looking for, pay attention to your marketing promotions and plan your communications.
- Execute on the plan Setting up the session in your webinar solution, building your presentation and making sure you drive interaction.
- Prepare and practice Rehearse the presentation, the flow of the event and the interactions. Get to know the webinar solution.
- Go live The moment of truth.
- Steps to take straight after the webinar Share the recording and start your follow-up promotions.
- Analyze and follow-up Review the results of your webinar, qualify your webinar attendees in your marketing automation platform and help your sales teams follow up.
