In this article I will tell you about 3 different types of webinars that you can do based on your budget and level of ambition.
In these times when physical fairs, events, meetings and seminars are cancelled, we need to start thinking again. Because we can't just stop meeting and communicating with customers and potential customers, we just need to adapt to the situation. We need to think a little differently and work in a different way.
Many people have previously believed that the physical meeting has been crucial for us to do business. To some extent this is certainly true, but when we cannot meet in the same way, we still have to find a way to continue doing business.
I myself have believed that we need to meet our customers face to face in order to do business. But I was disproved a while ago when we got new business only through digital touch points - wow it worked! The reason is that we all need to rethink our approach and we all want to keep doing business.
So with that said, below I will tell you about 3 different types of webinars that you can use and work with instead of fairs, events and seminars. I will also list some different advantages when you start working with webinars instead of face-to-face meetings.
What is a webinar?
A webinar is a digital lecture where you can share your knowledge of your industry and tell how your services or products help your customers. It's a perfect way to bring people together who are interested in learning more about different areas that interest them.
There are many different formats for what a webinar can look like. For example, a webinar can be held live, where participants can discuss and ask questions on the fly while you deliver the lecture. In this way, you can interact with participants in a very flexible way. A webinar can also be pre-recorded and sent out at a set time.
A webinar is a great way to meet and communicate with your customers and potential customers. If you don't want to, you don't even have to leave the office or your home office when you do this. Further down in this blog post I will go through 5 different benefits of working with webinars in your marketing communications.
3 different types of webinars
1 Basic - webinarsThefirst variant of webinars that I am going to talk about here is also the simplest and the most affordable. First of all, you should choose a system or tool to set up your webinar.
There are lots of good and easy freeware programs out there that you can use. These are only a Googling away. You can also use Zoom, Teams or similar video tools. Usually it's free up to a certain number of participants. Sometimes it can be up to 100 participants or more. Once you go over that, it costs a penny.
You also need to think about who you are going to speak to (which target group and which decision-makers) and what these people might be interested in. What are the challenges and needs of your customers and potential customers right now? What do they want to learn more about in order to develop themselves and their business?
Once you have decided on this, prepare a presentation in PPT or Keynote (whichever suits you best). A webinar can last anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours or more. The first time you do a webinar, it might be a bit shorter and maybe 30 to 45 min is most appropriate. Always leave time to answer questions afterwards.
Tip: If you are running the webinar live, it is a good idea to say that participants can post their questions in the chat and that you will answer as many of them as possible afterwards.
If it's your first time doing a webinar, it can be nice to have two people. Feel free to bring a colleague and make something fun out of it. Also, don't focus on how many people attend, focus on giving participants as much value as you possibly can. Better that 3 people listen and are really interested than 100 people who listen for a while and then leave the webinar.
Tip: Try running the webinar with a few colleagues the day before to make sure everything is working properly. This type of webinar requires only a computer and an Internet connection. This means that the price for such a webinar is only your time.
It is also important that you do not forget to record the webinar. This will allow you to send it to people who were prevented from attending and to use it for marketing and internal training purposes afterwards. I will give you all the tips and tricks on how to market your webinar in the best way later in the blog post.
2 Standard webinars
Once you've warmed up and want to improve your web beacons, you can make them even more professional with fairly simple means. The next step is to set up a simple little studio in your office or somewhere else that works. What you need is someone who knows how to handle cameras and how to produce a really professional webinar.
A good setup for this is to create a studio corner somewhere in the office. Two armchairs and a small table might be enough. Then you use two cameras that film from different angles and an image switcher that makes it possible to throw up a presentation at the same time. The cameraperson can then switch between different camera angles and post images to talk about during the webinar.
This type of webinar gives a completely different feel and is much more dynamic. If you don't want the studio feel, it's also possible to give a traditional talk without a physical audience, streamed live and also recorded for use afterwards.This type of webinar is perceived as more professional and the recorded material that can be put together afterwards is much nicer. I would say this is an incredibly good addition instead of physical breakfast seminars or evening lectures. This type of webinar will also be more cost-effective than face-to-face meetings and there is no limit to the number of participants. As for webinar certificates, it's a good idea to invest a small amount of money in a system that has all the features you need.
3 Premium webinars
The last type of webinar is recorded in a physical studio or a proper studio is set up in your office. The participant should get the feeling that they are watching a TV programme like Skavlan, Malou efter 10 or Vinterstudion (I don't know much about sports but I think there is a programme called that) etc. In this type of set-up it is possible to create really professional webinars.
Here you can invite physical guests or invite them via a link as you do with foreign correspondents on the news. In other words, bring in experts in different fields and let them share their knowledge and experience. You can also showcase physical products or digital services such as different types of apps and systems.
Imagine setting up a stand like at a trade fair and letting your experts talk about the challenges and problems your customers face, as well as being able to educate them. If you broadcast this live, you could have a section in the programme where participants can ask questions which you then address in the form of a conversation between each other.
This type of webinar is really cool and to be honest not that expensive. If you add up all the costs of a physical seminar with renting a room, staff on site, offering breakfast, drinks or coffee to lots of people etc then this type of webinar is probably more cost effective.
In conclusion, when it comes to these 3 different types of webinars, I would say that it's all about starting at a healthy level if you haven't done this before. Test yourself and don't be afraid to fail. You will learn a lot.
Work out what you are willing to spend on a webinar and make a strategy for how many webinars you will hold a year and what you will talk about. To get started, I recommend that you enlist the help of a colleague who thinks this will be fun and then plan a time in your calendar in a few weeks when you will have your first webinar. Then you will have something to work towards and around. Think of the first webinar as a test.
7 benefits of working with webinars
- More people can participate (almost unlimited)
- Can be held from home with the help of a computer
- Can be kept live
- Can be recorded and used afterwards in different types of marketing
- Suitable for training (internal and external)
- Really good for generating new leads and business
- Very cost-effective
How do I promote my webinar?
Okay now I've talked a lot about the different types of webinars that can be done and the benefits of starting to work with this. But now to an incredibly important part of creating a successful webinar -marketing!
It's no fun if you spend time and money to make a webinar and nobody shows up. So like any event, it takes marketing to attract participants. Step one is to talk about a topic that many people are curious about and that sparks interest in your target audience. Then you need to spread the word to as many people as possible who you want to attend. There are a number of different strategies here.
You will probably hold one or more webinars to attract more customers. You will most likely invite your existing customers as well as many of your contacts that you have in your mailing list.
Then you probably have a list of companies you would like to work with and the decision-makers you would like to reach in those companies. It can be a really good idea to ask your sales people to make personal contact with these people via LinkedIn, for example. It could be as simple as sending them a request or a personal message with a link to more info about webinars and where the person can sign up.
It will not be so sales-focused, but the salesperson will just inform about a webinar that might be interesting for the person in question. In addition to sharing information about upcoming webinars on your website and social media, it's also a good idea to post it on Eventbrite. This is because there people can search for different events based on different topics and areas. They can also search for the topics they are interested in, which means your webinar might show up there and they will then sign up for it.
If you want to boost your webinar even more, you can also do a targeted advertising to your target audience. Also try to get people in your digital networks (e.g. LinkedIn) to promote the webinar and tag people. Don't forget that repetition is key. You can tell people about this webinar as many times as you like. It doesn't matter if you nag.
An important part is that once a person has signed up, they need to be reminded about the webinar. Otherwise it is easy to forget. Therefore, send a few reminders before and one the same day in the morning.
Then it is a very good idea to record the whole webinar so that it can be sent to people who were unable to attend. It is also possible to make many things out of a one-hour webinar. It can be cut down to short teasers that you can use in your social media afterwards to promote the next webinar.
You can also put your webinars as gated content (content that can be exchanged for an email address) to generate more leads. You can also, if you wish, put the whole webinar on YouTube to reach even more people.
There are also lots of other fun things you can do to maximise marketing before and after a webinar.
I hope this has inspired you to want to start doing webinars.
If you want help getting started or help with the whole production, please contact us at Contitude and we will help you.
Then you can book a consultation with us by pressing the button below:
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