Here are a few keys we’ve found to conducting successful webinars:
1. Create a specific compelling title. Just like email subject lines, you have to grab reader interest in the title of your webinar.
2. Create a compelling landing page on your website and social sites for webinar registration. Be sure to include bios of all speakers and thought leaders who will be on the webinar. In the healthcare industry, webinars have higher attendance to registration ratios if customer thought leaders or leading clinicians in the field participate in the call. This BrightTalk webinar has layout recommendations for landing pages on slide 21.
3. Carefully select distribution channels for promotion of the webinar. Consider all possibilities including email outreach, social media engagement, online and print advertising. Use unique URLs for every channel so you can track from where registrations and conversions come.
4. Use frequent reminders in advance of your webinar and then send links to recorded sessions via email to registrants who didn’t attend. I frequently have to ditch out of a session early or cannot attend due to a more pressing issue, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still interested in the content. Let me view it on my time.
5. Treat the webinar as a way to engage with your prospects, minimize purchase fears and build relationships. Don’t use it as an infomercial or hard sales pitch.
6. Score leads based on participation or clicks if you use a marketing automation system.
7. Nurture and follow up. Poor followup is the #1 reason webinars don’t meet conversion goals.
If you have any tactics you’ve found helpful in increasing webinar success, please feel free to post them in the comment thread below.