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QUICK AND DIRTY ROADMAP TO CREATING A WEBINAR PROGRAM FROM THE GROUND UPJessica Vionas-SingerSenior Marketing ConsultantSmartBug Mediajessica@smartbugmedia.com | @jvionassinger

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1. Why webinars? 2. Planning3. Promotion4. Timeline5. How to make your content

remarkable6. The day is here!7. Follow up

AGENDA

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1 WHY WEBINARS?

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Different people prefer different ways of consuming content.

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of B2B marketers say that webinars are effective or very effective at accomplishing their overall objectives.

Marketing Profs, B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks 2015

64%

(Whitepapers were 58% and eBooks were 55%.)

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WEBINARS FIT IN ALL STAGES OF THE INBOUND MARKETING METHODOLOGY

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WEBINARS FIT IN ALL STAGES OF THE BUYER’S JOURNEY

Educational webinar

Comparison webinar

Product demo webinar

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At the end of the day,

WEBINARS ARE AN INCREDIBLY POWERFUL TOOL

available in your marketing toolbox.

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2 PLANNING

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1. Goal2. Topic3. Speaker4. Other people5. Live or on-demand6. Date/time7. Software

PLANNING

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ALWAYS START WITH YOUR GOAL.This will determine what type of webinar you’ll create.

1

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WHAT SHOULD THE TOPIC BE? What are

competitors talking about?

What trends are showing up social media?

Do you have an ebookthat could be repurposed?

What is theindustry currently buzzing about? What’s “hot”?

What keywords is your website trending for?

Ask your customers: What topic would entice you before you were a customer?

Ask the sales team: What news that has been popping up in your

conversations?

2

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CHOOSING YOUR SPEAKERExternal Speaker

Pro: less prep work for you Pro: brings a built-in audience

(if speaker is well-known) Pro: gives you credibility Con: may need to give an

honorarium Con: less direct connection to

you/your product

Internal Speaker Pro: establishes you as a

thought leader Pro: easy “yes” Pro: know you are committed Con: will take time to develop

content Con: some people may not

attend because they think it will be a product pitch

3

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WHAT MAKES A WEBINAR SUCK?According to 48% of people, it’s a poor presenter.

RedBack Report, Exposing the 9 Webinar Myths

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1. Marketer (You)

2. Graphic Designer

3. Moderator

4. Recorder

5. Technical Help Chat

6. Audience Member

OTHER PEOPLE4

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Should your webinar be live or on-demand?

5

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Best day to host a webinar (according to attendance statistics): Wednesday or Thursday

6

ON24, Webinar Benchmarks Report 2015

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Best time to host a webinar (according to attendance statistics): 11 am PST / 2 pm EST

ON24, Webinar Benchmarks Report 2015

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Softwareup to 100 attendees Cost per month Integrates with

HubSpot?

GoToWebinar $89 Native

ReadyTalk $119 Connect Integration

Zoom + Zapier $75 With Zapier

AnyMeeting + Zapier $98 With Zapier

Webinar Software Comparison 7

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Software Cost/mo Limitations Benefit

YouTube Free None Cost, SEO

Vimeo $10 Up to 5 GB/week Metrics, aesthetics

Wistia $10 Up to 25videos

Metrics, aesthetics, integrates with

HubSpot

Recording Hosting Platforms Comparison

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3 PROMOTION

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Send emails: Try both HTML and text format

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Be where your target

audience is

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Consider paid social media if you have budget

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Use the real estate you already have

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Write a post or two

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Invite your customers

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Leverage Other People’s Audiences (LOPA) including partners, employees, and the speaker’s

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Write a guest post and/or a LinkedIn Pulse post

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Put out a press release

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Have employees add a PS in their email signature

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ONLY 43% OF REGISTRANTS WILL ATTEND. (Plan accordingly.)

ON24, Webinar Benchmarks Report 2015

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4 TIMELINE

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Start planning Determine your goal, type of

webinar, topic, etc. Decide if speaker will be

internal/external/panel Select speaker and

moderator Purchase software

6 WEEKS OUT

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Finalize date and time Create title and abstract Get speaker bio and

headshot Registration form & page Define post-event follow up Create slide template Make sure everyone at your

company knows the plan

4 WEEKS OUT

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Send out first email Start social media

promotion Start any paid social media Add webinar to your

website Review content with

internal speaker

3 WEEKS OUT

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Continue promotional efforts, including email, social media, etc.

Send out press release Put up blog post and/or

guest blog posts Determine poll(s) and/or

post-event survey

2 WEEKS OUT

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Dry run (or two or three) Any final promotion Designer polishes slides Prepare back-up and seed

questions Determine if there are any

questions that the speaker doesn’t want to cover

1 WEEK OUT

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5 HOW TO MAKE YOUR CONTENT REMARKABLE

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Practice! Dry run(s) are absolutely essential.

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WHAT SHOULD THE MARKETER ASK?

Are there places where a visual aid would help?

Does this presentation deliver on what we

promised the attendees?

Are there any holes or gaps?

Does the webinar fit in the given amount of time?

Are there an agenda at the beginning and a conclusion at the end?

Is there a “story”—that is, how everything in the webinar fits

together?

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Plan how and where you’ll interact with the audience and between the speaker

and moderator

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Invest in your slides

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Know your content

Practice

Record and listen

Have confidence

Smile, get energized

BE A GREAT PRESENTER

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6 THE DAY IS HERE!

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Make sure team is ready to go

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Turn office phones and cell phones off or put them on silent.

Put a sign on their door that they are not to be disturbed. Shut down all computer programs except the webinar

software and slides (don’t forget email and chat!). Have drinking water nearby in case throat gets dry. Use the microphone/headset used at the dry run.

CHECKLIST for speaker & moderator:

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Give back-up/seed questions and off limits topics to the moderator

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Log in 30 minutes early, start the broadcast 15 minutes out, and begin the actual webinar right on time

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If you are the speaker or moderator, get fired up!

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If you aren’t the speaker or moderator, then sit back, watch, and monitor

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average time spent viewing live webinar of 45-60 minutes.

56 minutesON24, Webinar Benchmarks Report 2015

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7 FOLLOW UP

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Email individuals who had questions not answered during the webinar

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Upload recording and update landing page, website, and CTAs

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Send a follow up email with goodies

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Coordinate with Sales team and implementlead nurturing

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20-40% OF WEBINAR ATTENDEES TURN INTO QUALIFIED LEADS.

ReadyTalk, Benchmarking Webinar Best Practices: Pre-Event

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Promote the recording too!

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Go over results, communicate with team,

and do a post-event wrap-up

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HOW CAN YOU REUSE THE CONTENT?

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WEBINAR EBOOK& CHECKLIST

https://www.smartbugmedia.com/ webinar-ebook

BLOG POSTShttps://www.smartbugmedia.com/

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