Webinars are a great, effective way to reach out to a target audience without having to spend a lot of money. Successful webinars are able to generate new sales, fill the market with content-rich information, train people and even drive productivity throughout an organization.
Regardless of why you want to create a webinar, you’re going to want to make sure that eyeballs are seeing it. If your webinar is good enough, the word should spread, which can eventually lead to more blog traffic and brand recognition.
To help build out your blog’s audience, here are some tips you can use to make sure your webinar becomes a success:
1. Instantly Engage
The minute your audience opens your webinar, you’re going to want to make sure that you capture their attention immediately. If your webinar seems too boring right off the bat, then they are going to leave almost immediately. Consider starting out your first slide with an interesting fact or tidbit that makes them want to continue.
2. Create an Outline
Most people will watch a certain webinar because they want to learn something. To avoid confusion, create an outline before the webinar begins to let your viewers know exactly what you’re going to be covering. Lloyd Sealy Library shows you how to create a successful outline.
3. Be Interactive
Rather than show a screenshot or boring PowerPoint presentation, consider being interactive with the viewer. You’re going to want to create this webinar as if you were sitting right next to someone. For example, if you were to show someone how to use a website, navigate them through the process and not show screenshots. Your goal is to make your viewer close your webinar at the end learning something new. To be as interactive as possible, consider using software like INXPO.com.
4. Narrators
One narrator is fine during a presentation; however, studies have shown that communicating with more than one person is a great way to liven the webinar and make it feel more interactive. If you know some people who may be interested with helping your webinar, try to reach out to them to see what they think.
5. Offer a Q&A
Webinars don’t always have to be recorded. Running a live webinar is a great way to interact with your audience and answer any questions the audience may have. If you do decide to run a live webinar, make sure that you allow people ask questions throughout the slides. One big mistakes that may people make is that they wait until the end to allow the questions come through. However, the problem with this is that viewers may leave or some people may forget about their question in the first place.
6. Hashtags
If you’re going to run a live webinar, make sure that you’re taking full advantage of social media. One great way is to develop a unique Twitter hastag that people can use to submit their questions. Throughout the live webinar, be sure to check Twitter to see what people are saying when using the hashtag. Hashtags are a great way to gain new followers, initiate a conversation and see what other people have to say.
7. Create a Poll
Successful live webinars often involve a lot of user interaction. One great way to involve your viewers is by polling the audience during your slides. These polls can be put up on a Facebook post, Twitter or on your website. Once you receive enough votes, be sure to discuss your results at the end of your event.
8. Provide Contact Information
At the end of your webinar, be sure to leave contact information so viewers will be able to contact you if they have any questions. It also doesn’t hurt to include links to past presentations or websites that they can benefit from.
An interactive webinar is a fantastic way to build your blog audience and make them feel as if they are really learning from a real person. As long as your presentation is put together right, your opportunities are truly endless.
