If you have hosted a webinar before, you know that there is a lot of preparation and finishing touches that are required to put up a good webinar. Here are some best practices for webinars if you are planning to do one in the future:
Best Practices For Webinars
6-8 Weeks Before The Webinar
- Decide the purpose and the goal
- Pick a topic for the webinar
- Determine the date and time for the webinar
- Choose the speaker or host
- Contact the partners, customers, and others who should be involved
5 Weeks Before The Webinar
- Create a registration page (check out the Webinar Titles Generator)
- Choose which platform to use
- Create a preliminary table of contents for the webinar (outline)
3 Weeks Before The Webinar
- Create the first draft for your presentation in PowerPoint or Keynote
- Create promotional/ advertising material
- Buy or rent equipment such as a headset, microphone, camera, etc.
Promoting Webinars
Start promoting the webinar to your target audience through various channels:
- Social Media
- Blog
- Partners
- Existing customers (e.g., through your customer managers)
- Paid promotion and ads
2 Weeks Before The Webinar
- Educate the speaker on how the platform you have chosen for your webinar works
- Upload your presentation
- Book a conference room or a quiet room for the day you are planning to host the webinar. Do not forget to leave enough time for preparation
- Expand your advertising
- Create a teaser for social media
- Ask your coworkers to join and promote the teaser on social media
1 Week Before The Webinar
- Send a reminder to those who have already registered
- Promote your webinar again on social media, through emails to customers, etc.
- Hold a practice session for your webinar
- Write down what went well and what can be improved – give feedback to the speaker
3 Days Before The Webinar
- Send an email reminder to the registered participants and answer any questions that they may have
- Make sure that there is someone to help if needed on the day of the webinar, e.g., with technical challenges, equipment, etc.
On The Day Of The Webinar
- Make sure that your speaker is all set up
- Ask if the person needs help with something
During The Webinar
- 5 minutes before the webinar, login and listen as a participant. Ask the speaker to test the microphone, connection, etc.
- Announce on social media that the webinar is about to begin
- Record the webinar
After The Webinar
- Update the registration page
- Upload the recording to your website
- Add the presentation to your website
- Send a thank-you email to the participants with a link to the recording and the presentation
- Put participants in a lead nurturing campaign
- Inform the sales team about the webinar and provide them with trackable links
- Analyze your webinar and find out who did not show up, who was the most engaged, and so on
- Have a feedback meeting with the speaker to discuss what went well, and what could be improved.
- Create content that refers to your webinar e.g., blog posts that summarize the webinar and encourage people to watch the recording
- Create and publish social media posts for the various points or issues raised in the webinar