Going Virtual: How to Create a Standout Webinar

If you've worked in a corporate organization, then you know that not all webinars are effective. Whether the time drags, the hosts are disorganized, or the message communicated is confusing – often brands have a hard time nailing down a well-organized virtual event.

Nonetheless, overcoming these challenges simply involves research and practice. Below are five tips to developing an effective virtual event.

1) Pick an effective message

Webinars, like any marketing event, are optional for attendees to join. If anything, it is more challenging to ensure a viewer is attending and paying attention during your presentation. When developing the framework of your webinar consider the “what’s in it for me” or WIIFM. Know in advance not just what you want to portray to your audience but make the content valuable for the participant.

First, figure out what key goal you want for your webinar like a follow up consultation, subscription to your product, or simply - knowledge sharing. Next, figure out the topic supports your goal and benefits them. Focus on the value you are bringing to the prospective customer. Then, craft your message and clearly communicate what actional tips and advice you are giving to the viewer and what action you want them to take.

2) Know your technology

A virtual event platform has many differences than a traditional web conference tool. The biggest difference is in the management of attendees and the automation for pre and post communications.

Webinar platforms are built to host a large group of people and keep their records highly organized. Most tools, like Go to Webinar, require the viewer to fill out a form to register and then carry over a unique form URL to the broadcast. Post event, analytics are provided on who came, their engagement as far as who asked questions and how long they stayed, and then what your registration versus attended and no-show rates are. These analytics can be essential to launching your next event and reporting on the success to your stakeholders.

Before launching into a webinar, you want to become familiar with the core operations. While there is plenty of overlap between common web broadcast tools, icons and buttons can look very different. Ideally all organizers have a good sense of:

- How to Mute and Unmute specific users (Also adjust settings if you want all muted by default)

- How to record, who has access to recording, and where to find recording post broadcast

- How users can ask and answer questions, leverage polls or chat

- How to add files and notify viewers with a message during the event

- How to hand off and accept requests for another presenter

3) Organize and educate your team

Now that you have a good understanding of the technology and messaging, it’s time to organize and educate your team involved. To start, organize content to have clear ownership of who is speaking to which slides for an extended period. For the sake of the viewer and ease of operations day-of, avoid switching between decks and screens as much as possible.

To that point, establish clear ownership of who is the moderator and organizer, which can be the same person. A Moderator is typically the first person to speak and reviews key items like housekeeping rules, company overview and introductions. While an Organizer is the person is managing all technical controls and functionality before and during the event.

Ensure all presenters are keenly aware of the hand off point to avoid awkward dead air too. Next, establish who the speakers are and point a specific person to take over should the main speaker have technical problems. If your session includes a question and answer portion, make sure to establish who is harvesting the questions, who is asking the questions out loud, and who is answering which questions.

Another good idea is to establish who from your company’s end will be on webcam. Showing face during an event is a great way to encourage participation and a sense of connection between the viewer and speaker.

4) Practice makes perfect

No matter how many times you’ve walked through content, being in front of a large virtual audience can be intimidating. Plus, you have technical issues which may arise.

After you’ve organized your team members, set up a test webinar with all organizers, speakers, and some participants. In this practice round, you’ll want to confirm the following:

Review technical optimizations for audio and visual

• Test headsets for audio and ensure you have a quiet room available for filming

• Hardwire into the internet if connection is known to be spotty

• If you are performing a demo, make sure your platform and view works within the webinar environment

Develop communications plan

• Confirm who is moderator, organizer, and speakers

• Run through the slides and talking points for each slide

• Establish a contingency plan for ways to answer tricky or off-topic questions and back up content and speaker selection in case initial speaker loses technical connection

Message and calls to action are clear

• Ensure no mistakes are on the slides and the screen isn’t cutting off slide or demo environment

• Make sure speaker is clearly defining WIIFM and what actions the viewer should take

5) Leverage the recording just as much as the live broadcast

Webinars by themselves can be immensely effective in getting across your message though like any event, the number of attendees can differ from registrants. I’ve found that 30% of the people who register for a webinar watch the on-demand version. Why? Because they can rewatch a portion they missed or watch it for the first time when it’s convenient to them.

There is a lot of engagement that can be missed if the viewer is no longer joining though. Find ways to engage the prospective customer through post communications by asking pointed questions and include a specific offer like a one on one workshop with their team. That way it is an excuse to continue the conversation about their specific needs, and you are satisfying their need for the content.

Bringing it Together

Virtual event or webinar has different rules of engagement than an in-person event or an intimate web call. You need to consider how you are tracking who is attending, what message you are sending, what benefits you are bringing the viewer all while making sure how to maneuver through technical issues.

Take the first step by researching a webinar platform and seeing which one meets your goals and needs as established above. Then, focus on the how and the why when constructing the content and educating your team. Always remember, bring it back to “what’s in it for me” when thinking of benefits and value to your prospective customers. These elements combined will enable you and your team to deploy an effective virtual event.

This blog was written by Maryann Werner, Sr. Portfolio Marketer and B2B Marketing Consultant who empowers businesses with forward-thinking strategies to strengthen their brand, enable their customers, and advance in the modern marketplace.

This blog was written by Maryann Werner, Sr. Portfolio Marketer and B2B Marketing Consultant who empowers businesses with forward thinking strategies to strengthen their brand, enable their customers, and advance in the modern marketplace.