Silence on the set, camera, action! It's time to start the webinar! We present practical tips on how to prepare for it and which tools to use to increase listener engagement. According to the livewebinar report, over 85% of surveyed companies plan to organize a webinar in 2022. What are your plans? Know that a real-time webinar is a great form of inbound marketing worth including in your strategy. The number of people eager to embark on a webinar adventure is growing year by year. In recent years, following the "face mask revolution" and the transition to remote work, they have gained an even larger fan base. Many companies have moved in-person meetings—conferences, training courses, or workshops—to the online world. Marketing, sales, and other specialists are not only eager to organize them but also participate in them. In 2021, a full 74% of survey participants said they had participated in a webinar.
At Verseo, we also share our marketing knowledge in this way Academy. Over 20 webinars on SEO, Google Ads, and Facebook advertising are waiting for you – jump in!
We're happy to share our know-how, so we've compiled some specific tips for you in this blog post. What is a webinar, what are its types, and how to best prepare for it?. Ready? Action!
Webinar – What is it? Definition
A webinar is a type of online lecture, an online meeting in which the presenter connects with webinar participants via real-time video transmission via a web browser or application (via webcasting technology), utilizing virtual tools. It is also known as webinar. The term comes from the English word "web" (meaning "network") and "seminar" (meaning "seminar"). A real-time webinar can be hosted by one or more organizers. Typically, event participants must register in advance to participate. When the organizers are on air, registered participants receive a notification that the broadcast has begun. During the webinar, participants can cancel at any time and rejoin after exiting.
During webinars, organizers typically present multimedia presentations, visualizations, reports, or walkthroughs of systems and tools to show participants what they're like "under the hood." A final Q&A has also become common practice , allowing participants to ask questions of the presenter to learn their perspective, explore best practices, or seek advice. To increase webinar participant engagement, it's also worth using surveys, quizzes, and tests related to the webinar's topic.
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Webinars – who is it for? Who benefits and when?
Webinars are a great addition to other forms of content marketing in your company.
>> Psss… Speaking of content, check out the Content Marketing Guide – step by step <<
This unobtrusive form of contact with our audience allows us to gain their trust, understand their needs, and learn more about their shopping preferences . Webinars are frequently used by, for example:
- service companies, which in this way can present the expert knowledge of their specialists,
- companies offering SAAS & CRM tools, using webinars, among other things, to present the platform or useful functions,
- store brands (both stationary and online), not only to present the latest products, but also to educate and strengthen your image.
The examples above represent the businesses that most frequently utilize the power of webinars. It's worth remembering that this form of remote conferencing can address a wide variety of topics, not just those focused on sales.
When is it worth including webinars in your communication and for what purpose?
- To enhance our image as an expert,
- to communicate important changes, news or improvements,
- to answer the most frequently asked questions of potential customers and users,
- to help clients understand a more technical issue or technology that provides a particular value and competitive advantage to our company,
- for purely educational purposes,
- to promote the company's attitude towards environmental, political and social issues or to inform about CSR activities undertaken.
What does a webinar give you?
Using the internet to organize a video broadcast (using special software or YouTube ) allows you to conduct a live meeting, practically anywhere in the world, anywhere! What are the advantages – for you and your webinar participants?
- Save money – you don't have to rent a room for training or meetings. Software is significantly cheaper!
- Flexibility and convenience – the webinar can be held anywhere!
- Save time – on travel. By organizing an online meeting, you don't have to travel anywhere!
- Interacting with potential customers.
- Ease of use of video conferencing programs.
- Strengthen your expert position – after the training, you can provide webinar participants with access to downloadable materials.
- Expanding your customer base – thanks to appropriate advertising of your service during the webinar.
Technical aspects – how long should a webinar last?
When determining the duration of our webinar, it's worth following good UX (User Experience) practices. We want to deliver value to our audience – so we need enough time to build rapport, present the topic in an engaging way, encourage interaction, and answer questions. However, we can't bore them by spending too much time on trivial matters. Let's always follow the "to the brim" principle. 🙂
How long does a webinar last?
From our experience, we distinguish several types of webinars depending on their duration:
- Short webinars lasting up to 30 minutes. In these webinars, we typically discuss recent changes, updates, or innovations. We keep it short and to the point. We focus on a single topic or answer listeners' questions. This type of virtual lecture is ideal for those who don't have much time for "outside of work" matters but still want to learn about specific aspects of their profession.
Examples in the Verseo Academy? 😎
An example at the Verseo Academy? Or even three!
Here are some more examples from the Verseo Academy
How often should you organize webinars?
There are many paths to success in webinar frequency. Here are a few good, well-developed tips:
- Match the webinar date to the season and schedule of your potential client. Knowing that at certain times we are all busy with completely different things, for example in December we finish the last topics to start the new year with a clean slate, or during the holidays our most frequent listeners take vacations and do not spend long hours in front of the computer - let's not try to force them to take part in the event.
- Create a series or cycle – every month, every three months, or maybe once a week? This will allow your recipients to know when they can expect the next views of the recording and add the event date to their calendar.
How many people can participate in a webinar?
Most webinar tools, such as Livewebinar, Clickmeeting, and Livestorm ( Check out the 10 most popular tools here !), offer free versions for 20 to 100 participants. More advanced packages will allow you to host a webinar for 1000 or more people. It's also worth comparing programs based on the number of presenters and recording length. If you're planning a larger audience (over 250 people), it's worth upgrading to a one-time plan to ensure everyone has a virtual seat if needed.
Webinar – how is it different from videoconferencing?
A video conference is a meeting where several or more people can present and connect remotely. In this case, each participant can become the meeting leader and speak "on camera" at any time or share their screen. Video conferencing enables two-way communication. Such online broadcasts are most often organized internally within teams or between teams to discuss specific issues within the company. Webinars are online workshops conducted for external participants and allow only one or a few people to present. The rest of the participants act as listeners.
Types of webinars – examples
The growing interest in webinars has led to the emergence of various types. Depending on the type of transmission, access, and number of presenters, we can distinguish:
- Evergreen webinars, also known as on-demand. They are characterized by a very specific agenda. Most often, they are training, demo recordings or short “how to” videos.
Pros:
- you can watch them at any time,
- they become outdated more difficultly,
- are helpful in educating and familiarizing customers with our services or products.
Minuses:
- no possibility for participants to ask questions,
- no interaction from the audience – the presenter talks to himself.
- Live. That is, inebinar is conducted “live”, available to everyone, whoever happens to stumble upon it online. Very often, live webinars are broadcast on social media or YouTube.
Pros :
- wide reach – we can reach people interested in the topic who did not know our company before,
- we can broadcast on different channels.
Cons :
- the time when we broadcast a webinar is not always free time for people who would be interested in it (that's why it's always worth recording and sharing it live on your website)
- It doesn't require registration – a plus for the recipient. They receive valuable content without having to provide their personal information. However, it's a minus for your company. A shallow relationship with listeners means no way to move them down the sales funnel.
- Partner webinars. These are those created in collaboration between two or even several companies.
Pros :
- greater reach – we can use the company's customer base and establish a partnership exchange.
- We present an objective point of view, thanks to which we discuss a given issue in a more interesting and less repetitive way.
Cons :
- coordination – it is much more difficult to find a date that suits all the presenters and to connect their webinar systems.
- The possibility of frequent digressions, which can cause the conversation between the presenters to drag on too long. It's definitely harder to stick to the established framework and agenda.
How to prepare an effective webinar – a step-by-step guide
Preparing for a webinar could be a blog post in itself. In this article, we'll provide a quick guide to planning and organizing your event. Ready? Here it is!
Preparing for the webinar:
- Contacts – check whether the place where you plan to conduct the webinar will allow you to connect all the necessary cables (computer power supply, internet, microphone and maybe something else?).
- Lighting Are you hosting a webinar in the afternoon? Perhaps daylight isn't enough at this time. Check that indoor lighting won't disturb your audience or accidentally reflect on the monitor, distorting the image or blurring an important presentation.
- Sound – Run tests, connect other devices, do a dress rehearsal. There's nothing worse than technical glitches at the beginning of your webinar if your audience wants to invest their time in you. Be prepared!
- Materials and presentations – open the most important tabs and arrange them so that you can easily click between them if necessary.
- Pinned Additional Information & FAQ – If the tool you're using allows it, remind webinar participants of the most important information at the top of the chat. This could include instructions on what to do if a feature isn't working, where to download any files you'll be mentioning, or a note that the webinar will be recorded.
- Pre- and post-event emails – make sure that registered people receive notifications and that they receive a thank you note after a successful meeting.
Organized online broadcasts, online training, or business meetings conducted online also have their own technical requirements. A good internet connection (ensuring quality transmission) and the use of specialized software and a good webcam will be useful. If you're the host, prepare a slideshow in advance (a presentation will be helpful during the meeting and will further enhance your training). A Q&A session at the end of the meeting is also useful so that webinar participants can weigh in. You can also ask them to complete a survey to find out if your training , presentation, or presentation met with their approval!
Beyond technical matters, how you deliver your message to your audience is also crucial. How should you speak to be clearly understood, achieve your goals, and "win over your audience" with a well-executed presentation? Krzysztof Rzepkowski, President of Sandler Training Polska, shared this with us. Read the interview and learn more!
How to Check if Your Webinar Was Effective? Useful Success Metrics
To assess the effectiveness of a webinar, it is worth considering the following indicators:
- The number of registered participants who can become your customers.
- Their quality – were they decision-makers? Key to your company?
- How long did people participate in the event? In other words, how long did it take to capture their attention and interest? Did the webinar meet their expectations in terms of time and deadlines?
- % engagement – we can measure, for example, the number of questions asked,
Most importantly! Number of customers/appointments or consultations scheduled – if the webinar also aimed to promote your offer or product, the best indicator of success will be the number of people who decided to make a purchase within a few days of the webinar.
Webinar on the Internet - Pro Tip!
If you're using an automation and CRM tool , you can easily analyze the path a person took before completing a transaction. Perhaps after the webinar, they checked out your website and carefully read the offer, reading customer testimonials? Or perhaps they jumped into their cart immediately after you announced a promotion during the webinar? It's worth keeping an eye on this.
Summary – are webinars worth it?
Conducted in an engaging manner, tailored to your target audience, and offering a nuanced knowledge base that's hard to come by in your industry, they're a recipe for success. Both in terms of image (your company as an expert!) and sales. Webinars allow you to show the true face of your organization by showcasing a specialist. They provide the opportunity to build better relationships with your audience and often serve as a great sales tool . If you're unsure whether webinars make sense for your company, contact us and we'll advise you!
Frequently asked questions about webinars
A webinar (short for "web seminar") is a type of online meeting, training, or presentation held live via a video platform. Its key feature is interactivity – the presenter (speaker) not only speaks into the camera but also communicates in real time with the audience gathered in front of the screens.
From an internet marketing perspective, it is one of the most effective tools for:
- Building an expert image: sharing knowledge builds trust in the brand.
- Lead Generation: To participate in a free event, users typically provide their email address and name, entering your contact database.
- Customer education: This is a great way to show how a complex product or service (e.g. software) works in practice.
From a technical perspective, to organize professional online training, you need:
- Appropriate software/platform (e.g. ClickMeeting, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet).
- A good quality microphone – importantly, clear sound is much more important for participants than a 4K image.
- A webcam and a stable, fast internet connection.
- Valuable visual materials (e.g. an engaging background presentation).
A webinar shouldn't be a one-sided lecture. The best platforms offer tools to increase engagement, such as:
- Live chat where viewers can share their feedback.
- Polls and votes conducted in real time.
- Possibility of sharing the presenter's screen (so-called screen sharing).
- Q&A sessions (Questions and Answers), most often planned at the very end of the meeting.
Even the most substantively sound webinar won't be successful without an audience. It's best to start promoting it two to three weeks before the event. The best channels include sending a newsletter to your existing subscriber base, organic social media posts (especially LinkedIn), and paid Social Ads or Google Ads campaigns, which will drive traffic to a well-designed registration page (landing page).
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- A webinar is an online lecture conducted in real time via video transmission, during which participants can watch multimedia presentations and ask questions to the presenter.
- Webinars are used by service companies, SAAS tool manufacturers, and store brands to strengthen expert image, communicate news, educate customers, and promote company values.
- Webinars save you money and time, enable you to interact with your customers, strengthen your position as an expert, and expand your customer base thanks to their flexibility and ease of organization.
- The optimal length of a webinar is around 45 minutes, although short workshops last up to 30 minutes and longer ones can last up to an hour and a half – the key is to stick to the “to the edge” rule.
- A video conference enables two-way communication between all participants, while a webinar is a workshop for external people, where only selected people present, while the rest act as listeners.
- Webinars are divided into evergreen (available on demand without interaction), live (broadcast live with a wide reach) and partner (run jointly by several companies with a wider reach).
- Effective webinar preparation requires checking contacts and lighting, conducting sound tests, organizing materials, and preparing pre- and post-event emails.
