Webinars have become an effective tool to showcase your product to an audience while also keeping them informed on a topic they’ve always wanted to learn more about. Especially now in 2020 when working from home is the new norm, webinars have become an increasingly popular trend.
While webinars are a great, low-cost way to reach a large audience at once to showcase your product, build relationships or shed some knowledge, it’s important you’re taking the right steps to ensure everything goes well. Even though an online event may seem easier, there are quite a few things that can ruin your virtual event. Here are 10 common mistakes to avoid when planning your next webinar.
1. Choosing The Wrong Time
While this may seem obvious to some, it’s important to choose a time that’s more likely to fit into everyone’s schedule. Consider things such as time differences or lunch time and work from there. It’s impossible to find the perfect time for everyone that’s invited, but narrowing it down can make it easier to find a time that might be best for the majority.
2. Going Past Your Scheduled Time
This is a BIG one as it can lead to a major downfall of your webinar – meaning that many people may not want to tune in to the next one if it runs over much longer than it was supposed to. Set a start and end time and make sure you stick to it. As mentioned before, everyone has a busy schedule and it’s impossible to know when’s the perfect time, however if they are making time to attend a webinar you’ve organized the respectable thing to do is stick to the timing you have set up.
3. Not Making It Interactive
It’s crucial to maintain your audience’s attention throughout your presentation. Be sure to enable a chat function so they can stay engaged by asking questions throughout the presentation. Then, make sure to set aside 10-15 minutes at the end to provide answers, and offer them a chance to email you with any questions you didn’t have time to get to.
4. Forgetting Visuals
This goes hand in hand with tip number three. Your audience doesn’t want to be staring at words, bulleted lists or listening to a voice throughout the entire presentation. Visuals are a great way to capture your audience and keep them entertained.
5. Forgetting the Purpose of Your Webinar
Once you’ve started your webinar, don’t forget why you’re doing one in the first place. Make sure you’re telling a story throughout the presentation, so your audience doesn’t get lost throughout it. If you end up losing track of your topic, they’ll be lost too.
6. Little to No Preparation
Practice makes perfect! Just like you would take the time to go over a public presentation, you should do the same for your virtual presentation. Practice it enough so everything runs smoothly when the time comes. The more you memorize your topic, the more naturally it will come when you start speaking about it.
7. Forgetting Who Your Audience Is
Whether your webinar is to promote your business or spread knowledge, never forget who the audience is. Take the time to analyze your leads and who is participating in the webinar. This way you’ll know the webinar will be beneficial to both you and the audience.
8. Forgetting a Call to Action at the End
Your attendees will want a call to action, so remember to provide them with information once it’s over. A post-webinar communication plan needs to be in place for those who attended and those who couldn’t make it. Be sure to give everyone access to a recording of the webinar, a link to the slides or anything that will allow them to get a hold of the presentation.
9. Pitching Your Product Too Hard
If the purpose of your webinar is to pitch your brand or product, remember that your attendees are there to learn something valuable and worth their time. Making it a giant sales pitch could potentially deter the audience from ever wanting to listen to you again. With this in mind, use your webinar to open a conversation with a potential client, by identifying a problem and highlighting how your company can help them fix that problem.
10. Not Enough Promotion
There’s nothing worse than taking care to follow steps 1-9, then on the big day of your webinar, the presentation starts and you realize there’s no one watching. To avoid running into this problem, create a communication plan so your attendees remember that they have an event coming up. Whether it’s a text reminder or email confirmation, guarantee that they receive enough reminders to make it to their scheduled event.
Interested in more tips or need help promoting your next webinar? Reach out to us.