Webinar

The definition of a webinar is, “a presentation, lecture or workshop that is transmitted over the web.” Webinars are a great way to provide educational content in a visual and audio format – think of them as a narrated slide show. Webinars are often presented live at a specific time, and recorded for later viewing by those who could not attend the live event. Those who do attend the live event usually have the opportunity to ask the presenter questions at the conclusion of the event. Webinars work because they attract people who are interested in the topic you present. According to a study by MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute, 59% of B2B marketers will use webinars in 2012. Because they are online, webinars are often much more cost-effective to produce than real-world events. But, while virtual, webinars still involve a lot of planning. If you are looking to start a recurring webinar series, it is best to start small – perhaps once a month – and increase the frequency as you grow comfortable with them.

Use your webinar to educate, not sell. 2. Conduct a practice session at least a day in advance. 3. Don’t overload your slide deck with text. If you do, people will read when they should be listening. Instead, use brief outlines and images to illustrate your points. 4. Sign on to the webinar at least 30 minutes in advance to give time to troubleshoot. 5. Write your follow-up emails before the webinar to ensure that you can send them out as quickly as possible. 6. Set up a Twitter hashtag to allow people to tweet during the webinar. 7. To encourage audience participation, include a poll or two in your webinar. 8. At the end of the webinar, leave some time for Q&A. After the webinar concludes, take the leftover questions and answer them in a blog post on your website. 9. After the webinar, take 2-3 minute snippets of the recording and incorporate them into blog posts and videos. 10. Use your webinar and follow-up emails to let people know about other upcoming webinars.

Selecting a Solution

To host your own webinar, you will need to find a web conferencing vendor. Many web conferencing vendors are designed primarily for virtual meetings between people within an organization, not as a promotional tool to reach potential customers outside of your organization. When choosing a vendor, you will want to make sure they offer all of the marketing functionality (e.g., branding, social sharing, analytics, etc.) that you need.

Key features you may want to consider include the ability to:

  • Share control among multiple presenters • Conduct slideshow presentations • Share your desktop • Incorporate live video • Field questions from attendees • Conduct polls • Record presentations • Tap into operator assistance

Pricing

Pricing models for webinar software can vary. Some require a monthly subscription, while others offer a pay-as-you-go model. When evaluating vendors, you will want to decide how many webinars you plan to present each month, how many attendees you expect, and how you may scale up your webinar program in the future. Monthly subscription pricing is usually tiered based on the number of attendees. Pay-as-yougo pricing often employs a per-minute charge for every attendee. Most vendors offer a free trial period to allow you to test their software.

Many webinar vendors offer hosted programs, where they provide a live operator to run the webinar for you. If you are not technically savvy or cannot dedicate someone on your team to webinar operations, you may want to consider this option. Live operators are also great for trouble shooting phone issues and making sure everything is running smoothly.

Other Key considerations • Integration with CRM and Marketing Automation software • Number of attendees allowed • Teleconferencing or VoIP audio options • Ease of use • Branding options • Social sharing and other promotional options • Reliability • Operator assistance