66% of B2B marketers say webinars rank among their most effective content tactics – here are some top tips on how to make yours better
Content Desk devotees will already know the secrets of how to host a webinar, courtesy of these handy tips – but what if you’re still not making the most of them? Are you squandering engagement opportunities? Or overlooking on-demand content?
Webinar wizards ON24 are on the case with their 2017 Webinar Benchmarks Report. Using a cross section of well-attended webinars from 2016, the report offers insights on how to drive leads, boost internal communications and distribute information.
Here’s what you should be doing before, during and after:
Before
You’ve decided to hold a webinar, and in doing so shown yourself to be forward thinking and eager to boost your marketing output. But how can you prepare in the lead up to the big day?
Piling on the promotion is a good start. 37% of attendees register in the week before the event, but be aware that one in five sign up 15 days or more before and a last-minute flurry of registrants is common. It’s worth keeping up the plugs until right before the event.
For webinar creators, the week pivots around Tuesdays. In addition to being the best day to send out promotional emails, it’s also the best day to host a webinar. Fridays and the weekend should be avoided – this is when engagement is at its lowest.
Note also the role that timing can play. Webinar traffic peaks at 10 or 11 in the morning. Those held earlier, or dragging on past four as home time approaches, will put off potential attendees. Of course, this also requires careful knowledge of where your audience is watching from – is your webinar at a convenient time across the relevant timezones?
During
With the perfect promotional formula in hand, there are some handy tips to bear in mind as your world-beating webinar gets underway.
Engaging viewers is an essential element of interactive webinars. Q&As, used in 82% of webinars, are the most popular way to obtain spectator feedback.
Group chats are the least popular method on 8%, but there are a whole range of resources in between waiting to be tapped into – such as resources lists, social media integration, surveys and polls.
It’s also worth noting that the average webinar time has stabilised around the 50-minute mark over the last few years, providing a handy benchmark to aim for.
After
All going well, these tip-top tactics should see the attendees flocking in. But if you’re thinking of sitting back and relaxing after a webinar, think again!
With nearly a third of webinar viewers only tuning in to the on-demand version, a post-live strategy is indispensable. This is particularly true as on-demand viewing time is on the rise – just under half an hour in 2015, the 2017 average so far is 42 minutes.
Keep registrations open to bag potential latecomers. Although post-event registrations tend to spike a week after the event, they remain consistently high for a further 11 weeks afterwards. Washing your hands of your webinar once the microphone goes off could mean missing out on some valuable conversions.
The perfect webinar?
Let’s review the research – are you on track to producing a winning webinar?
If so, promotion will have started a good month in advance, peaking the week beforehand with a crescendo of midweek emails. During the webinar (held, of course, mid-morning on a Tuesday), viewers can expect a Q&A at the very least and maybe a survey or two, alongside a video and a strict 50-minute cut-off point.
Those who couldn’t make it on time need not fear – registrations will remain open for three months afterwards, with on-demand facilities including abbreviated highlights for time-poor attendees.
Getting an expert on board to ease this process along can be an effective way to hit all of these criteria – a tool like Content Cloud could be just the ticket to finding multimedia content creators available to be commissioned.
Businesses of all kinds are making use of webinars to take their content offering to the next level – is yours?
