Top 10 Webinar Best Practices

Webinar is very effective and economical method to market the products or services to the prospect. Here are some useful guidelines which you can consider while conducting or promoting a webinar. There are many more best practices and I feel these are the top 10 best ones which can help to improve the effectiveness of webinars. A bit of extra effort can help in better returns.

1. Use of Guest Speakers: Guest speakers help in increasing the attendance rates of a webinar. This usually generates interest among the attendees and having a guest speaker is the top best practice while conducting a webinar.
2. Rehearsal of Webinar: Rehearsal in stage shows, dance and plays is always a best and important practice. Likewise, rehearsal prior to the live webinar is also very important. This will have you run a trial webinar and you will be aware of the glitches and you will have time to rectify them.
3. Promotion of Webinar: Yes. Do promote the webinar well in advance. This is one of the difficult practices but, very important one. If people are not aware of the webinar, then how can you expect them to attend it? Sending personalized email invitations to prospects will work well. Other methods are banner ads, direct mailing and press release. Social media websites like LinkedIn and Twitter also do help in promoting the webinars.
4. Have Attendees Profile Information: Always get the attendees profile information prior to the webinar. This will help you to customize the content of the webinar accordingly. You can always match the content to the needs of the participants so that the turn-out is better and the webinar is successful.
5. Invitations to be sent 2-weeks in advance: It is better to send the invitations and reminders 1-2 weeks in advance. Provide ample time for attendees to plan their schedule accordingly. Many do not prefer to be reminded on the last minute. Also, do remind them about the software requirements and methods to test the audio and other technical details. Do provide a technical support contact no. or email.
6. Have 60 minute Webinars: It is always a best practice to limit the webinar to 60-90 minutes. This helps in less disruptions and it will be easy to get the attendees attention for this period.
7. Have Q & A Session: It is always better to have a questions and answers session for 15-20 minutes. If this time is not sufficient, then provide a provision for the participants to ask questions through email or a form and the same can be answered at a later stage.
8. Poll Questions: It is also a best practice to have poll questions during the webinars. This will help in engaging the participants and helps in getting more feedback on the content and to improvise it in the next webinar.
9. Product Demos: Why use these webinars only to share knowledge. If you feel this is the right audience of prospect for your products, then have a short demo on the same and solicit feedback.
10. Post Event Survey: This is the last but important best practice which is often ignored. Such post-event surveys help in suggestions in conducting the next webinar. Moreover, the responses can help in making sales calls.