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If you’ve ever held a conventional, in-person seminar, with many people turning up at a physical venue to see a presenter or two deliver a presentation, it probably isn’t too much of a stretch for you to imagine what a web seminar involves. There’s even a commonly-used portmanteau for a web seminar: “webinar”!
Done right, running a webinar can help you to promote your brand and authority, generate new leads, and create content for repurposing later as blog posts, videos and so forth. However, a webinar is easy to get wrong, with 8.78% of seminars garnering 50 or fewer attendees, as Search Engine Journal points out.
So, you have an interest in making sure your webinar is both accessible and informative – so that people can not only attend your webinar but also see a good reason to continue watching it.
How should you structure your webinar?
Some good news here is that webinars tend to follow a specific – if somewhat loose – structure. For example, the webinar opens with an inspirational story, follows up with an audiovisual presentation and is then wrapped up with a Q&A section. So, you’ve now got a “skeleton” upon which to hang the “meat” of your webinar.
The Content Marketing Institute recommends that you write a script for your webinar, in the process telling a story that will keep the audience engrossed. Through illustrating your script points with examples and – when possible – incorporating the audience into these, you can clarify how the webinar could benefit them.
Of course, you might not strictly need a detailed script for a webinar dominated by an interview or Q&A, where much of the beauty of the webinar would be in its ability to go off-tangent. Nonetheless, you should craft a roadmap to prevent the webinar from drifting too off-course.
What format should you choose for your webinar?
Once you have decided on the webinar’s topic, you should think about what webinar format would best accommodate this. However, you should be wary of being too fancy with this format, as you don’t want it to be tricky for attendees to follow. Fortunately, there are many popular formats that could inspire you.
For example, you could have just one or two presenters sharing their insights or tips – or opt for a live panel where a group of experts would discuss the topic. Webinars are also good for holding interviews and product demonstrations – not to mention Q&As where viewers are invited to put forward questions.
Choose the right software for delivering your webinar
Before you can present a webinar, you need to find a webinar platform that ticks the right boxes. This platform should fit your budget, allow for a suitable number of attendees and enable you to record.
One example of a reliable online webinar platform would be the ON24 Digital Experience Platform, where you would be able to create, scale and personalise your webinar with the same piece of software. Then, you could schedule your webinar for a time when your target audience would be able to attend. For evergreen content, you may wish to explore automated webinar platforms designed specifically for this purpose.
You may also like: Hosting Your First Webinar: Learn The What, Why, And How
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