How To Improve the Effectiveness of Your Online Webinar

A year ago, I thought that there were a lot of free webinars on the market.

How wrong I was back then!

Now there are truly a LOT of them.

Every day there are a huge number of free webinars on any topic, in any language, as well as hundreds of free live streams on Instagram and YouTube too... not to mention damn ClubHouse, which has dozens of rooms on a range of topics, on any given day!

Conversion rates have dropped significantly. Thus, one cannot but mention a drop in webinars' effectiveness as marketing tools

The era of simple free webinars is officially over since the nowadays market is way too competitive for such things.

If you want to use webinars as an effective marketing channel, you need to modernize, improve, and add value to your event. Below are a few ideas on how you can improve your webinars to increase efficiency, conversion rates, sales, and viewer satisfaction.

1. Add some entertainment

Forget boring continuous talking head presentations. Try adding different formats to your webinar:

• writing a list

• drawing on a board or tablet

• connecting with guests remotely or just in the frame

• adding background music to your speech in some parts of the webinar

• showing real cases

• adding comedy and stand-up elements

• wearing goofy clothes, like custom-made suits or custom branded logo socks for participants to see

Make an online show, not just a boring presentation.

2. Add a completion certificate to the webinar

Make sure the webinar viewers can take something with them after the event. It increases the webinar value for the visitors and serves as an excellent tool for viral marketing. Webinar visitors will share certificates on socials and add them to their LinkedIn profile.

You can use a tool like Certifier to easily create free digital certificates for your webinar participants. Yes, you can create PDF certificates for webinars in bulk with different names.

See how to create a certificate for webinar with Certifier. It's super simple!

3. Add a practice activity to the event

Give a workshop, not a webinar. People can enjoy a little practical lesson during the online webinar. This will give them the feeling of acquiring a new skill (even a small one).

Tip! Remember about time tracking during the webinar so that one activity doesn't become too long. The good idea is to break down the learning into smaller chunks and focus on one skill or problem per session. This way, participants won’t get overwhelmed by too much information. 

4. Increase availability on LIVE

Only 20-25% of registration for a free webinar comes to LIVE. You need to do your best to get registered people to participate in your webinar. There are several ways to do this. You need to drag people to the webinar by any way, from those who are registered:

• reminder emails, SMS, voice, and chatbots

• calendar plugins

• bonuses for participants

• graduation webinar certificates

5. Add free materials

It can be anything to add value to webinar visitors:

• webinar recording

• presentation and drawings from the webinar

• cheat-sheet or mind card from the webinar

• checklists and templates that complement what was said at the webinar

To increase the conversion rate to registration, you need to add value to your webinar for potential attendees.

6. Give real value

All of the above items will not work without this item. You can give five certificates of completion, but this won't mean a thing if you don't provide real value during the event. Give knowledge, show how to solve a problem, show a real case study.

That's the most important item.

The competition to get viewers is huge. You are not only competing with other webinars but in general with any events that your viewer might watch on any given evening.

Conclusion

The competition to get viewers has increased, which reduces conversion rates. But webinars are still a very effective marketing tool. In conclusion, there are 5 items that I recommend you implement to increase the effectiveness of your webinars:

• Add some entertainment
• Add a certificate for webinars
• Add a practice activity to the event
• Increase availability on LIVE
• Add free materials
• Give real value