One of the more unique advantages of the webinar format is how it engages prospects/viewers for an extended period of time. Unlike other marketing tools, the longer a webinar is, the better — even as long as 90 minutes if you have significant content to make it worthwhile.
This second article in our 3-part Webinar Success Essentials series looks at some best practices used by experts, during the lead-up to their webinars, to attract the maximium of registrants and attendees.
Make your email invite both tactile and well-timed.
Email is definitely the most effective channel to use to promote a webinar. You want to include enough pertinent information for recipients to decide if your webinar is worth registering for — and putting aside valuable time to attend — while keeping it succinct enough to encourage click-throughs. Leverage the human connection factor by including photos of the presenters who’ll be involved, especially if they’re recognized thought leaders in your field.
As with any email-based marketing, the day and time you send your email is important. While people are apt to register on any given business day, Tuesdays seem to be the best performer by industry consensus. It’s also advisable for your emails to pop up in recipients’ inboxes early, before their days take on a life of their own.
Click here to read our tips on maximizing email conversions in order to drive webinar regisrations.
Create a landing page.
Instead of driving interested prospects to your general site, create a meaningful landing page. This is key to further reinforce the reasons they should be interested in registering/attending, while giving them more details on what they can expect to learn in return.
Keep your foot on the promotion pedal.
For the typical webinar registration period, there’s a steady trickle of registrations over the first 4 weeks prior to the event — which accounts for about one-third of the total number. Another third occurs during the 2 to 7 days prior. The last third doesn’t happen until the day of the webinar.
The point is, don’t get discouraged early. Continue and escalate your efforts to fuel interest — right up to the day of the webinar, or even an hour before — by whatever means you have at your disposal. Follow up with additional emails, including reminders to people who already registered. Place a few articles on your blog. Promote your webinar via your social media channels.
Prepare for post-webinar opportunities.
Another important thing to consider is this: whether a registrant actually attends your live webinar or not, you have created an connection that can be used to continue the conversation. We’ll talk more about that in the upcoming Part 3 of this Webinar Success Essential series.