Webinars have proven to be an effective lead generation tool for many businesses. A well-planned webinar can often generate thousands of dollars in new business, but it’s also not uncommon for webinars to fail. Webinars need to be carefully planned, at both the promotion and the presentation level.
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After analyzing some of the best webinars around, I have identified five key tips to boost your chances of a successful webinar
Tip 1: Have a compelling webinar title
This may well be the single most important part of your webinar marketing.
A compelling title will help you maximize registrations for your webinar and boost your attendance rate. Your audience is being exposed to thousands of ads every single day. If you want them to stop and even consider registering for your webinar, you need to grab their attention immediately.
You can do this by including your biggest benefit in your webinar title. What are viewers going to gain from watching your webinar? Tell your audience in the webinar title and make it specific. Famous copywriter Claude Hopkins stressed the importance of specificity in advertising in his classic book, “Scientific Advertising.”
Consider the following examples…
- “Viral Survival and Immunity” Does this webinar’s title grab your attention? Probably not. The title is too vague and does nothing to draw in the viewer. The host could have generated many more registrations by creating a specific, benefit-driven title. For example, “The 7 Most Important Supplements to Boost Your Immune Function.” This title speaks directly to the viewer. It outlines the key benefit of attending the webinar: boosting your immune function. And it’s specific, as it tells you what will be used to boost immune function (supplements) and exactly how many.
- “How to Make Your Resume APPEALING for Online Jobs!” This is a decent example of a “how to” webinar title. It does advertise a benefit in the title. However, this title could have been made more compelling by highlighting the core benefit of the webinar. The person who’s going to watch this webinar doesn’t just want to create an appealing resume. They want a job. Focusing on the core benefit and adding more specificity could have made this a more compelling title. For example, “How to Write a Resume That Will Land You Job Offers in 10 Days.”
- “3 Simple Ways to Fill Your Photography Calendar and Make Your Next $1,000” This is a perfect example of a specific and benefit-driven webinar title. This title promises a compelling benefit and is very specific. Some webinars promise too much in their titles, which raises skepticism. The host of this webinar was smart to promote a benefit that is enticing but also believable.
Related: The Dos and Don’ts for Co-Hosting a Webinar With a Business Partner
Tip 2: Capture attention in the first five minutes
The first five minutes of your webinar needs to be carefully planned. This is your opportunity to get your audience excited for what’s to come in the remainder of your webinar.
Remember, attendees have no obligation to stay for the full webinar. They can leave at any time, but if they leave before the end of the webinar, your chances of selling to them drop dramatically.
If you nail the first five minutes, your attendees will want to keep watching. Don’t waste this time giving the viewer your life story or a long and boring company history. You can get into your background and achievements later, but now is not the time. Instead, you want to create a sense of excitement.
Reiterate the core benefit that you have already included in your webinar title and expand on how your webinar will help the viewer achieve this outcome. You need to sell the rest of your webinar during this time.
You should reassure your audience that they will get a lot out of this webinar for free. People don’t register for webinars with the intention to buy. They want to learn something from the webinar itself without paying anything.
Of course, if the rest of your webinar is good, your audience will be much more receptive to a sales pitch at the end. But at the beginning, they just want to know they’re going to get value for free.
Tip 3: Build authority and credibility
In his book, “Influence,” Robert Cialdini outlines six principles of persuasion, with one being authority. People are naturally more inclined to listen to and be persuaded by those with authority.
When your webinar audience views you as a subject matter expert, you’re more likely to impact and influence them. Spend a minute or two during the webinar establishing your credibility: tell the audience why they should listen to you by sharing your credentials (but be careful not to sound like you’re just bragging).
You may use a story of how you achieved the desired outcome your audience is seeking. Depending on your industry, it may help to share your qualifications, or you can build authority by associating yourself with someone else who is an authority on the topic.
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Tip 4: Appeal to people’s desire to make their lives easier
The best webinar presenters know how to appeal to innate human desires. One that many webinar presenters will appeal to is the desire for ease and convenience. People tend to be drawn to things that make their lives easier or more convenient. Your offer will be far more compelling if you can show your audience that you have an easier way of achieving the result they want.
When planning your webinar, consider who your target audience is and what their strongest desires are. Tell your viewers how your product will help them achieve what they desire.
Tip 5: Offer a strong guarantee
One of your biggest challenges in hosting a webinar will be overcoming your viewer’s fear of loss. When you ask your audience to part with their hard-earned money, you will provoke this fear of loss.
Some people in your audience may have had bad experiences in the past where they bought a product or service that didn’t deliver the results promised. Many people are just naturally reluctant to risk and wasting their money on something that doesn’t work.
The most effective way to overcome this fear is by offering a money-back guarantee. Your guarantee needs to be strong enough to make your viewers completely comfortable in buying your product. A strong guarantee shows that you’re confident in what you’re selling, and if done correctly, it should make the customer feel like they have nothing to lose when buying your product.
Key takeaways
Following these five tips will help you to maximize conversions on your next webinar. Your pre-webinar promotion and post-webinar follow up with attendees will influence the success of your webinar, as well. The outcome of your webinar will largely be determined by what your offer is.
