Webinars, which refer to web conferencing, have always been used as a convenient tool of presentation to a lot of people located at different places. Given this COVID-19 pandemic, they have become a necessity. As a result, they have been used much more frequently since several countries ordered lockdowns, thereby making it quite difficult for communities to gather in one place and share information face to face. Webinars have become the substitute for the in-person meetings, workshops and conferences of the pre-COVID-19 era.
While webinars are not new to most organisations, it can be argued that the new entrants to this business information sharing strategy find it quite tough to gather an audience around their content. To come out ahead of the pack, you need to know how to promote your webinars and get the right people to sign up, attend and stay through to the end.
It is for the sake of these new users that we compiled this article. Several actions can be put in place to guarantee that you present to a sufficient online audience. Here are some of the tips that you can apply with guaranteed results.
- Pick an awesome topic
You need to be a little creative about the topic. Don’t go for something that we read on a daily basis in hundreds of blog posts. Your webinars should add something that otherwise your audience cannot get from usual sources. Also try to select a topic that’s broad enough to attract a large audience, yet targeted enough to provide actionable advice that attendees can implement the second they hop off your webinar.
- Make the webinar sound priceless
Even though your session is free, people need to understand the value that you offer. Your promotional copy must have an emotional impact. If you don’t create that kind of impact, the session they casually signed up for will become meaningless to your target. It gets lost in all the noise of everyday life and the countless emails and content. So it’s critical to make sure your copy shows your “attendees” how your webinar and your solutions will change their lives or their businesses for the better. When you reinforce your emotional message, your information will be priceless (instead of simply free!).
- Choose the right day
No webinar should take place on a weekend. The days with the highest attendance rates are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Monday and Friday always seem to get filled up with “catch-up” and “last-minute emergency” events around the office. Choose moderate times, that is neither too early in the morning nor too late at night. If you are not sure of what would be a good time for your webinar but already have some subscribers on an email list, you can simply do a mini-survey and ask your audience what they would prefer. (By the way: That is a great way to engage with your audience.)
- Promote the webinar with emails, social media and blogs
Use email as your main marketing tactic to drive traffic. Email all contacts who may be interested or may know someone who is interested in the event. Also, promote the webinar on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and any other relevant social media platforms. On LinkedIn, promote the event in relevant groups and on your personal profile page—and ask your speakers to do the same. On relevant online forums and groups, comment and post the event link. And be sure to have a dedicated, relevant hashtag. Here are hashtags we believe can channel your ad to the appropriate audience: #webinar #salesfunnel #leadmagnet #onlinebusiness #makemoneyblogging #bloggingformoney #makemoneyonline. Don’t forget about blogs, either. Use your blog (and other blogs if you have the relationships) to promote your webinar and the topic it covers. Be sure to leverage your homepage to promote upcoming webinars.
- Don’t forget to remind people
Never ever forget to send out multiple reminders to registrants. People will sign up when they find your topic and headline intriguing but they often do not pay a lot of attention to when the webinar will take place or simply forget about it. Strategies to consider include sprinkling reminders throughout your website, news releases, social networks, affiliate promotions, newsletters, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Google ads, or direct mail. If you want your registrants to show up to the webinar, Send multiple reminders.
- Use live streaming videos
Live streaming is becoming the hottest way to engage with audiences. Twitter and Facebook Live are popular live-streaming platforms that allow you to go live on video and start talking to your audience immediately. Because of their fast-growing popularity, people are always on these networks (and Facebook in general), looking for new live streamers to watch. You can occasionally pop on, drop a quick tip about a topic related to your webinar, and then mention your redirect URL so that viewers can register for your upcoming webinar.
- Provide a replay
Offering a replay is a great way to reach a larger audience with a very small effort. We will never be able to choose a time for our webinars that is perfect for all our audience and many people would not sign up for the simple reason that they will not be able to attend. Since spots in the webinar are often limited and the webinar software gets more expensive if you want to offer more spots, a replay easily increases the number of people you can reach without having to spend more money.
- Provide a Registration page
Even if you do not take money for participation in the webinar, getting people to register is similar to selling something. And the conversion rates for people visiting the webinar registration page and actually signing up largely depend on how your registration page will look like. You need to view the registration page as a landing page and as such a lot of the tactics for optimizing landing pages apply. A bad landing page can easily cost you a large part of your possible attendees who will take one look at the page and leave. Make sure you get everything in place for converting visitors into registrants before you focus on driving a tonne of people to that landing page!
- Final Words on getting Participants for your webinars:
If you are new to the Webinar marketing game, here are a few facts that you should now:
- Not everybody visiting the registration page will register.
- Not everybody who registers will participate.
But if your content is worthwhile and attractive, a number will surely save the date!!
We wish you the best on your next webinar and we hope that you have grasped a tip or two from this article to ensure that it progresses well. Please be sure to invite as well. Once again, all the best!
- This article was written and published by Vision Marketing as an e-book in June 2020. Vision Marketing is a marketing company which provides the following services: branding and brand value addition, digital marketing, social media marketing and account curation, sales and marketing as well as free financial advisory services. The company can be contacted on +263 776 874 762 or mail: visionmarketingzim@gmail.com.