What Makes a Successful Webinar?

By Jeff Vining, Director of Research and Market Analysis

“54% of B2B professionals watch webinars ever week” RingCentral Blog 2020-21

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone is somewhat familiar with registering, attending, and participating in online workshops, webinars, or virtual training sessions. That is why over 60% of marketers use webinars as part of their digital marketing programs. The goal being to sell either a product, service, or even a point of view.  People who attend these webinars do so thinking they will learn something new. Companies that conduct webinars do so thinking they can inform or influence audiences.

Not all webinars are created equal or are successful.

Did you know 73% of B2B marketing and sales leaders say webinars are the best way to generate high-quality leads--and for a good reason. In fact, the average webinar attendee session time is one hour. No other content drives that type of engagement. This is why 60% of businesses design their webinars and websites to convert users into paying customers. Yet despite webinars’ popularity, they are not all created equal.  

Have you signed up and attended the first ten minutes of a webinar, but then find yourself losing engagement and leaving early? If you’re hosting a webinar, you want to make sure that doesn’t happen. Here are tips on how to make your next webinar more successful.

Know your target audience and their habits.  

To reach the right people, many companies leverage contact databases, social media, and paid media to find a target audience hopefully receptive to their webinars and promotional activities. Getting the right people to attend your webinar is paramount to success. One method is by creating fictional characters (personas) to represent different types of buyers or users of a particular product or service so companies can assess potential audiences, content, and formats. Sometimes these personas misfire in terms of a cluster of buyers or users who exhibit similar attitudes, goals, and behaviors.  Pay attention to where and to whom you promote your webinars. Bringing an unengaged audience to your webinar may prevent you from generating sales and an ROI from the event.

Know the topic your audience cares about. 

If your webinar is neither engaging nor useful it can feel like a waste of time for both your company and audience. Oftentimes, the webinar topic is too generic, misaligned with the audience, or too sales-driven.  Avoid these mistakes by finding a way to connect your content to what your audience cares about. Make a list of common questions and challenges faced by your target audience and address them in a solution-driven approach. Well-delivered webinars can move prospects off the fence, especially, when sharing valuable content, that includes industry best practices and lessons learned, for their consumption and reaction. 

Make your webinars interactive. 

People forgive poor slide deck design, the webinar hosted at an inconvenient date and time, or if you forget to properly introduce your speakers. But if you're not providing value in the right format, you cannot possibly succeed. One value driver is hosting a live Q&A session at the end of any webinar. Webinar analytics show that the overwhelming majority of attendees prefer webinars that have a Q&A session at the end. What better way to engage and garner feedback from your audience than by conducting interactive and live formats. 

Speakers are key.  

Webinar speaker(s) can make or break a webinar. Even if they have compelling content, if their delivery is off, attendees are more likely to disengage. Too often, speakers fail to grasp how to effectively present in an interactive webinar format. They can be long-winded, disengaged, or for whatever reason, fail to capture the audience's attention. If a speaker asks, “Did I solicit well-thought-out questions?” If the answer is no then next time script out a pitch with a way to hook the audience to stay engaged, such as download this white paper or sign-up for a free trial. Intersperse personal experiences with actions and events ordered chronologically in either educational, entertaining, or visually stunning manner to drive home what is being conveyed. In doing so, a more compelling story emerges. 

Sources

Danny Goodwin, The Ultimate Guide to Webinars: 41 Tips for Successful Webinars, September 17, 2020.

Jack Steward, The Ultimate List of Webinar Statistics for 2021, Jun 16, 2021. 

 Alex Birkett, 9 Mistakes to Avoid When Marketing or Hosting Your Next Webinar, According to Experts, April 13, 2017, updated april 15, 2021.  Amber Tiffany, 10 Webinar Benchmarks Every Marketer Should Know-GotoWebinar. 

RingCental Blog, 22 Webinar statistics: what makes a successful webinar