The year 2020 is one that we won’t soon forget! Social distancing turned the entire marketing world on its head, especially live events.
Without the competition of live, in-person networking, webinars have become the new standard (even if it wasn’t 100% by choice). Webinar best practices are evolving fast as we enter into 2021.
The 2020 numbers for webinar platform usage say it all:
Webinars have some unique selling points that help ensure they’ll stick around long after the coronavirus crisis has passed. We’re watching event marketing history unfold before our eyes!
We love webinars because:
Now that webinar overload is a thing (how many e-vites did you get last week?), audiences are getting picky about which events to attend. Their expectations are getting higher, so you’ll need to step it up to keep their attention.
Check out these numbers:
You have to pay attention to what your attendees want if you plan to fill virtual seats. If you don’t, your competition will—and you’ll lose those viewers forever.
Check out these 5 tips for webinar best practices in 2021:
Your invitees get a lot of emails about webinars, so you have to make an effort to cut through the noise. That means sending one invite isn’t enough. Heck, it’s not enough to send two or three!
Consider sending out reminders on a mindful schedule to keep your event on the invitee’s mind, for instance:
It’s best to space reminders out and not send them every single day at first. Putting them out every second day keeps you in the invitee’s sights without overwhelming them.
The morning of the webinar is the only exception. You’ll want to send an email a few hours before and a few minutes before the event starts. It’s your last chance!
Content is the biggest factor for over a third of attendees. It’s not enough to slap together a pretty presentation on Google Slides if the deck doesn’t actually have anything to say.
To capture and hold viewers, your webinar has to:
On many platforms, if the attendees log in before you, the room appears to be inactive until you join as the host. That can lead them to wonder. “Am I in the right place?” and potentially bounce.
Log in before your attendees do—as early as 30+ minutes prior. Throw up a pre-webinar slide to assure everyone that they found the right virtual room. Attendees tend to be more patient if they know they’re not lost!
We’re all crunched for time, and every hour is valuable. When you’re putting your deck together, keep that in mind.
Ask yourself this:
Does every slide add tangible value, so the reader is getting back more than their time investment?
If not, it gets the ax. That’s simple, right?
Out of your registrants, it’s common for 35% to 45% to actually attend. That doesn’t mean that the rest don’t want the information. In fact, many B2B business owners actually prefer recordings over live attendance.
It could be that there’s a time conflict and they’re hoping they can get a copy of the webinar by registering.
Make sure you deliver for those who can’t make it by sending out the recording and deck within 24 hours of the presentation.
They’ll thank you for not making them wait! And honestly, you’ll thank yourself too. The longer you wait, the more likely they are to forget about it entirely.
Putting on the perfect webinar means attention to detail and firsthand knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. If you’re not an event planner, you might be scratching your head and wondering how you can put these best practices to work.
You could order a copy of Webinars for Dummies and put your scholar hat on, or you could get help from the experts who know how to tell a vibrant story in 100 slides.
(Hint: That’s ContentBacon. We built the Ultimate Live Events Toolkit just for you, so download it now to get the scoop on throwing the best live events ever!)