DIY WEBINAR ORGANISER HANDBOOK Uluru, Northern Territory
Where to begin? Creating your own webinar from scratch can be overwhelming. From finding the right presenter and topic to having a sound marketing strategy and being on top of all the technology, where do you even begin? Now take a deep breath, we ve got you covered. This step-by-step guide contains everything you need to know about webinars and will get you hosting your next online event like a pro! - The Planning Stages - The Topic - Training your Presenter - When to run your Event - Marketing Assets - The Platform - Pre-event Marketing - During the Event - Post Event - All too much? 1
The Planning Stages Like most things, it s incredibly important to plan your webinars... and plan them well. While much of the planning will depend on your existing community and desired audience, it will also dictate how you go to market. Here are some common things to cover... What s your end goal? Always start with the end in mind. If you are holding educational events, think of the learning outcomes; if you are looking to increase revenue or lead generation opportunities, then what figure do you have in mind? Asking yourself questions like this will make it that much easier when it comes to evaluating the outcomes and measuring your Return On Investment at the conclusion of your event. vs. Paid? Will you charge for your online event or will it be offered as complimentary? Either way, it s important to consider the pros and cons of both options and understand that it will completely change the way in which your event is promoted. The Pros of Charging Expect a lower registration rate Administration - you will need to make sure that you have a secure e-commerce platform to collect the payments Your audience - people have come to expect free information from the internet, if you charge for one event, will you risk alienating your intended audience? The Cons of Charging Paid events are usually considered more valuable There are many complimentary webinars on offer, you re penetrating a nonsaturated market! Research shows that paid events attract a much higher attendance rate... you re looking at around 80% Clearly, a much higher Return On Investment! 2
Choosing your Topic Choosing the right topic for your webinar is paramount to its success. For many, the idea of what to present can be the hardest part. Here are some tips for choosing your topic: Consistency: What other topics are you talking about during any given month? For example, if your organisation is focusing on topics such as Leadership or Volunteer Management, why not add a webinar to the mix? Content Marketing: Webinars should be a part of your entire content marketing plan, not simply an add-on. Think of the written content you have and how that can be conveyed in a webinar environment. White Papers and How to Guides work well when translated to the webinar platform. 87% Research: Conducted a recent survey? Sharing the results via webinar gives you the perfect opportunity to elaborate on the results and provide further insight. Creating Sticky Webinar Topics: Once you start promoting your webinar you will be faced with the inevitable... breaking through the cluttered inbox! So how do you create subject lines that stick and convert? Take a look at our tips below: Ask the Question We all love to ponder now and then. Using the words how, why and when resonate with people and will get them thinking about their own learning objectives. Be Negative We know, we know, positivity is preferred - but trust us, this actually works! Reversing your topics will grab the attention of your audience. Use Numbers Be upfront and let people know what they re going to walk away with. People love numbers and lists - they spark curiosity and will definitely increase click through rates. As well as trying out the tips above always remember to test your webinar topics and subject lines every audience is different! Take a look at the below, which sounds better? Creating employee training programs that work VS How effective are your employee training programs? Creating employee training programs that work VS 7 ways to increase employee engagement Creating employee training programs that work VS How not to create employee training programs 3
Training your Presenter The 2016 Redback Report found that audiences overwhelmingly rated knowledge as the most important quality in a presenter, followed by engagement, passion and interaction. This means that your presenter must be a subject matter expert, be able to engage your audience and be passionate about the the content they are presenting. It s important to make sure your presenters are well trained on your chosen webinar platform and have a thorough understanding of your goals - why you are hosting the webinar and what you want to achieve. Even if they have done webinars before, a quick 10-15 minute run through the platform and PowerPoint will ensure that there aren t any surprises on the day....... {It's important to make sure your presenters have a thorough understanding of your goals - why you are hosting the webinar and what you want to achieve. { Here are some of the key points which should be covered in training: Familiarity Not all webinar platforms are the same. Always have a run through with your presenter and cover off the key basics... - Logging into the platform - How to progress slides - Using the Chat Feature PowerPoints Work with your presenter on their Presentation to make sure it s easy to read and engaging. We suggest... - Keeping text to a minimum - Demonstrating key points - Utilising images Engagement Make sure your presenter is across the interactive tools available within the platform and best practices. This includes... - Chat Features - Polling and Surveys - Multimedia Features... For a detailed guide on how to present and create online presentations, click here to download the Redback Presenter Handbook 4
When to run your webinar Choosing the right time of the day/week and duration can make all the difference when running your event. The 2016 Redback Report found the following times/days were the most popular for online events: Time of Day Corporate Government Third Sector Duration Mid Morning Early Morning Mid Morning Corporate Government Third Sector 45 & 60 minutes 45 minutes 45 minutes Day of Week Corporate Government Third Sector Friday Tuesday Tuesday Keep in mind that this is only a guideline and the best time/day/duration will always depend on the type of the event you are running, your industry and audience. We recommend the following when it comes to finalising when to hold your webinars: - What does your audience do? Are they regularly in front of a computer between 9am - 5pm? - Will you be selling organisational access to your webinars? If so, it's best to offer then during work hours - Where's your audience based? Always consider the impact of time zones - Keep track of school holidays and public holidays approaching... For a more detailed overview of when and for how long to run your event and why, click here to view the full 2016 Redback Report. 5
Marketing Assets Now that you have your topic, presenter and time, you need to start creating your marketing assets. This is how people will find out and register for your event - here is a breakdown of what you will need: Emails Invitation to attend: Includes title/host/cost and a brief description of the event and a link to register Confirmation Email: To be sent our immediately after registration. Needs to include an event link, joining instructions and add to calendar function. Reminder to attend: Includes event link and joining instructions. Landing Pages This page will provide you with the title/time/host/cost of your event as well as a brief webinar overview and presenter bio. A good template to follow is a short introduction (2-3 sentences) where you provide statistics or ask questions to get your audience interested. Then, you should provide an overview of your webinar in 3-4 bullet points. Always provide a photo of your presenter as it makes the webinar more personal. Example Landing Page Topic, Summary, Talking Points Presenter Headshot and Bio Registration Fields 6
The Platform The webinar platform is designed to make your events interactive and collaborative. There are three levels of authority that will assist you in controlling your events and making it easy for your presenter: Moderator: Recommended for those moderating or facilitating your webinar. The Moderator can... - Control all settings - Customise room layout - Activate webcams and control via on/off air function - Create and launch Polls and In-room Surveys - Access all features - Initiate Private Chat Presenter: Recommended for those presenting your webinar. The Presenter can... - Activate their own webcams - Upload and move slides - Create and launch Polls and In-room Surveys Attendee: This is the default mode for everyone joining your webinar. Your Attendees can... - Listen and view the presentation - Use the Chat Box to ask questions or chat with other attendees (depending on Private or Public mode) Attendee List Media Modules PowerPoint Settings Chat Box Webcams Tools Menu 7
Passive Marketing Once you ve defined your message and your intended audience, how do you make it known? While there is a clear abundance of marketing mediums, it s important that you use those which you are familiar with. Here s a snapshot of some of the most common and effective channels to market your online events: Email Marketing This form of email marketing is quite common and there is one reason for it - it works! When done properly, email marketing can be quite powerful in capturing your audience s attention. It is also a relatively inexpensive and an easy way to expand your contact database for future webinars. Email Signatures Think about how many people you email in one day... now multiply that by the amount of people in your organisation, yes, wow! Updating your email signatures is an easy and cost effective way to promote your event. Include a link back to your registration page and if possible, create a banner! $$ Company Website Advertising your webinar on your website is the perfect way to attract existing and prospective attendees. Once visitors click on your webinar link, direct them to your registration page. Consider placing this link on your home page and events/ promotions page - it s the first place visitors look. Google AdWords Picture this - your webinar is all about online training, how many people do you think Google the word online training in one day? Google AdWords will allow you to advertise your webinar to all of these people. $$ Your Presenters Those who you invite to speak on your event no doubt have a pretty large network! Consider asking them to assist with the marketing and if time permits, create co-branded invitations and registration pages. Your Webinar Series If you are creating a series of webinars, consider creating your registration pages ahead of time. This then allows you to market your upcoming webinars through your registration page redirect links and within the webinars you host you re speaking to a captive audience! 8
Social Media Marketing For those of you who do it, you know there is no escaping it and for those of you who don t... why not? Social media, if done properly, can work greatly to your advantage. Here are a few examples of the more popular channels: Twitter Start building up your network through Twitter and post the links to your invitees. On the day of your webinar, send a reminder email to your registrants and include a retweet button and a hashtag (#). This will get people talking about your events and you will soon see your Twitter community flourish Facebook Yes, it s more than just a page filled with sometimes meaningless status updates. If you have a company Facebook page that is up and running then use it to advertise your webinars/webcasts. If you don t, consider Facebook Advertising or Audiences - you need a small budget, but it will get you amazing results. YouTube Did you know that over 6 billion hours of video is watched on YouTube per month? Record your webinars and upload them to your YouTube channel. Not only will this increase your educational content and give people a little teaser... but Google will love you. LinkedIn LinkedIn is viewed as a more professional platform than Facebook and Twitter, so you should consider a business oriented tone. Your posts can also be targeted towards a specific audience based on their interests. You should also encourage your presenters and colleagues to share your LinkedIn content to increase your post reach. While these channels are all FREE - you can also take your marketing up a notch and dedicate a small budget towards Facebook and LinkedIn Sponsored Ads. For a detailed explanation on how these work as well as instructions, click here to download our Social Media Webinar Marketing Guide. 9
Dedicated Email Marketing While passive marketing will be sure to get your message out, a dedicated email invitation will definitely convert. Here s a simple direct marketing campaign that you can use: When should you send your email? It s the age old question and to be honest, it really does depend on your desired audience and industry - here are some recommendations: Initial Email Invitation No more than two weeks before. Try to create some urgency and importance by sending it closer to the date - we recommend 7-10 days. Confirmation Email Immediately! If your system permits, always use auto responders. You don t want your registrants to have to contact your for the information. Last Chance to register email Trust us, they work! These emails should be sent around two days before your event to create urgency. If your email marketing system allows, suppress those who have already registered for your event. This is the perfect opportunity to try out a different subject line to see which gets the highest click through rate. Reminder Email There s a fine line here - make people aware, but don t bombard them. We recommend either the day before or four hours before the event. Of course, this will come down to the time of your event. What should you include in your invitation emails? The aim of your invitation email is to get your audience to click through and convert. We recommend keeping them simple and only including information that will entice - everything else can be included on your registration page. As a minimum, you should include: - Topic - Brief summary and brief talking points e.g. what will people take away from joining this webinar? - Details: Time, Date, Presenter info - Link back to Presenter LinkedIn page {Looking to get attention? Test your Email Subject Lines and consider using numbers, questions and negative titles that will get your audience thinking... 10
During your Webinar The best way to make sure everything runs smoothly is to use a facilitator. Your facilitators job is to: - Conduct Event House Keeping, including introducing your presenter and providing the support contact details - Provide support for any overflow including technical difficulties - Moderate the Chat Box and activate Polls and Surveys - Take note of and prioritise questions which are to be asked in the Q&A session - Assist in engaging your attendees Your audience is the most important asset in your webinar and neglecting them will cause disengagement and therefore a lower return on your investment. To make sure your audience stays engaged during your webinar, you should make the most of the following interactive tools: Chat Box Encourage attendees to chat among themselves in order to enhance networking opportunities and build online communities. Consider using a facilitator to monitor all questions and help with any queries. Polling Use polls to engage attendees from the get go, quiz for Professional Development purposes or guide your presentation. Prompt attendees and presenters by inserting a slide when polls should be launched. Video Break the ice, introduce new concepts and accommodate visual learning styles by launching a video component into your event. Choose to upload a file or stream directly from YouTube - the choice is yours! Webcams Putting a face to a name will increase engagement during your webinars. If bandwidth is an issue, consider activating webcams for your introduction and Q&A sessions only. Surveys Capture feedback when it's fresh! This feature can be activated at any time during your webinar and will allow you to increase your response rates and allow attendees to opt-in for Lead Generation Webinars 11
Post Webinar How did it all go? Once your webinar ends you have access to a range of the reports that will allow you to measure your webinar success here s a description of the reports: Attendance Reports View everything from how many registrations joined your webinar to how long they stayed. This report also contains entry/exit times, locations and IP address. Polling Reports Surveys Do you plan to launch polls during your webinar? If so, this report will let you know who answered which question. Want a 60% increase in feedback responses? In-room surveys are a great way to collect feedback while it is fresh in your audience s mind. They can be launched within the platform and full results can be exported post webinar. This is great for when you re surveying or quizzing your online audience. Next Steps - You've closed down your webinar, now what? Follow up recording and documents This is to be sent out to everyone who registered for the event (usually within 48 hours). Typically this includes your webinar recording slides and audio, a pdf of the PowerPoint presented and any other supporting documentation or call to actions. Where will you host your webinar? You can choose whether you would like to host your webinar recording on-demand on your own web pages or social media sites or utilise a dedicated hosting page to do it for you. The advantage of hosting on-demand videos? They allow your content to live on post-event as well as giving you the ability to track who is watching your content and for how long. Reporting... and Improving You should also take note of the conversion rates for your landing pages, email open rates and feedback. This will show how successful your marketing page was and how you can make your events more successful in the future. Extend the life of your content You ve invested so much time and energy into your webinar, created great content and received amazing feedback but now what? Just because your event is over, it doesn t mean the life of your content has to be too. 12
All too much? If organising a webinar from scratch seems like a little too much work, why not opt in for the managed option instead? The Redback Managed Webinar service gives you more than just a seamless event that will get people raving it gives you peace of mind and assurance, and let s be honest, there s no better guarantee than that! Our dedicated Event Managers know what it takes to create a seamless and professional event that everyone will remember. All you have to do is choose your topic, select your speakers and we ll take over the rest! Here is what s included: Email Marketing: Let us design fully branded email invitations, confirmations and reminder emails Registration Collection: Responsive registration templates can be designed to replicate your website Payment: Looking to charge for your event? We have that covered too Presenter Training: Leave it to us to train your presenter on the platform and ways to get the most out of your online audience Professional Facilitation: Take your webinar up a notch and let us facilitate, guide or interview your presenter Support: We re online throughout your entire event - and, your online attendees have complimentary access to our support line Room Rental: Our State of Art Broadcast Studios have been designed specifically to host webinars Reporting: Email Tracking, Attendance, Conversions and Online Behaviour - we give you access to it all! Consultation: We ve been there, done that - speak to our Event Managers or have a one-on-one call with our Marketing Department Click here to find out more 13
Want more? VIDEOS: Hosting Your First Webinar Looking for an engaging video series to inspire you even more?this seven part online series contains 3-10 mins videos and will provide you with all the necessary steps needed to organise and deliver seamless webinars! Watch the Webcast Inspirational Content From gaining sponsorship to getting your CPD programs off the ground - we've got it all! Take a look at our inspiring range of resources and become a Digital Event expert today! Download Content Keep in touch! Looking for a webinar or webcast provider? Or perhaps you're just wanting to keep in touch with everything Redback - either way, we're here to help! Request an Online Demo Redback Conferencing Pty Ltd Sydney Melbourne www.redbackconferencing.com.au 1800 733 416 Discover More