Have you ever poured your heart into creating a fantastic webinar only to find your attendance rate is disappointingly low? You are not alone in this. Though numbers say up to 57% of marketers run webinars per year for marketing, most of them need help to get views. But worry not cause we have the perfect solutions to boost your virtual seats.
Post-COVID, it has been also seen that webinars are more effective than other expensive events like tradeshows.
So, are you all in to explore 10 proven strategies that can skyrocket your webinar attendance rate and webinar ROI? Let's check them out.
“Webinars provide businesses with an affordable way to connect and collaborate; these virtual events are a great way to showcase your knowledge, generate leads and make a lasting impression.” ~ James Smith, Founder, Travel Llingual
With these strategies, you will entice potential participants to secure their seats early. Thus, you will put the foundation for a successful webinar to capture high-quality leads.
Additionally, as a webinar host, you must prepare to speak to your audience confidently. Thus, ensure to begin your regular speech practice.
So, once you are self-prepared, here are our ten tactics to get your target viewers onboard.
When there are 4.9 billion social media users globally, why shouldn't you take advantage of it?
Indeed, you must connect with potential participants where they hang out the most. That's how you can maximize your upcoming webinar's reach. In fact, you can leverage all media platforms: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or even YouTube. Here's how:
If you plan to send generic mass invitations, stop there. Such invitations are often overlooked and forgotten.
However, on the other side, personalized invitations inject life into your webinar promotions. In fact, 87% of consumers prefer personally relevant branded content. So, for your webinar invitation, ensure to do the following:
Thus, demonstrate your webinar addresses their specific challenges/needs. This way, you show them you have the solutions they've been searching for.
The more people refer your webinars to others, the higher the attendee numbers you'll receive. However, that can only happen if your initial viewers are happy with your session. One way you can make it happen is by interacting with them throughout the session.
A quote from an industry expert says:
"Webinars aren't going anywhere anytime soon in B2B, and there's a simple reason why: people trust people, and in a post-covid world, interactivity is valued more than ever. ~ Claire Trévien, Account Director, Isoline Communications
Many webinar tools allow you to stay interactive with your viewers, even if you upload your pre-recorded webinar. One such example is Livestrom. However, depending on what kind of interactive elements you want to add, you'll need to do some research on available tools.
Moving ahead, let's see various elements you can use during your webinar to boost interactivity. These are as follows:
Suppose you're hosting your business webinar, and at strategic moments, you pop up interactive polls and surveys. Bam! Instant engagement! Your audience can share their thoughts, opinions, and preferences in real-time.
Moreover, those interactive polls spark friendly competition among your attendees. And here's the magic sauce: when you embrace their opinions and make them feel valued, they're hooked!
Another way to boost interactions is to encourage viewers to ask questions. In fact, you must have dedicated time for live Q&A sessions. It's not just about answering queries; it's about creating a personal bond.
Hence, when your audience feels heard and satisfied, they'll like to invite their like-minded friends to your next event.
Do you want to transform your online event into an unforgettable live experience? This is where you bring in breakout rooms!
Here's how it works-
Don't let the buzz fade after the event. Keep it alive by sharing valuable resources like slides, readings, and exclusive offers. In fact, you must stay in touch with attendees through webinar follow up email sequences, social media, or a dedicated community platform.
Nurture these relationships, and watch their loyalty grow as they excitedly spread the word to others.
It's a no-brainer that people love to get rewarded. Thus, you can leverage it with the following tactics:
However, before you share how excellent your incentive program is, ensure to pick an ideal incentive type.
Yes! There are different types of incentive programs with their own set of pros and cons. Let's look at them:
This type of incentive program focuses on serving your webinar attendees. Here, you'll plan relevant rewards, special perks, and others for each of your attendees to convert them into loyal potential customers.
Further, you can use it to motivate them to:
However, there are pros and cons to it that you must know of:
Pros:
Cons:
In this incentive program, you reward both the existing attendees and the newly-referred viewer. Furthermore, you can reward both parties with the same and different rewards.
For example, you can offer $20 credit to each or 50 points for the advocate and a 15% discount for the referred attender.
Now, let's check out what pros and cons of this incentive program type:
Pros:
Cons:
Your aim is to create a title that tantalizes the senses and leaves your audience crucial for what you have to share. But what's the secret formula to make such a compelling webinar title? It's simple: Know your audience inside out.
Here are some tips that'll help you brainstorm the best webinar titles:
Calling renowned experts to co-host your webinar is a great strategy to boost the webinar's attendance. However, your job is to find the best person with deep knowledge about the webinar topic you'll be covering. If your chosen expert has a good following on social handles, then it's a plus.
You can ask them to promote your webinar details within their network. It'll benefit you in two ways:Earlier paid PR campaigns offered a tried-and-true method to promote various events. So, shouldn't you give it a try for promoting your webinar event too? Like traditional events, you can market webinars through:
These mediums will widen your audience reach.
Moreover, you can leverage PR agencies to manage your marketing campaigns. Make them work in your favor in the following ways:
Your partners working to launch your webinar content can also be its great promoters. Be it your event organizing team or research team, make them spread the word about your webinar.
For this, you need to reach out to your partners personally. Further do the needful:
In fact, your partners' networks can expand your reach and ensure a booming turnout for your webinar.
Slack communities are not only limited to professional communications but also to promote webinars. In fact, it's the best time to give it a try, as Slack is gaining a steady user base.
Within Slack communities, people often discuss their pain points and exchange valuable resources. Thus, it becomes a unique and non-traditional approach you can take for your webinar promotion.
When you promote webinars in Slack communities, use the following tips:
For example, you can mention the webinar broadcast date, like “Join Us on 11-08-2023.”
Or, you can mention what participants will learn, such as, “Join our 3-day event to explore the depth of content marketing.”
Can you guess what's the powerful way to grab people's attention and earn their trust? It's called showcasing social proof!
Man is a social being; it’s not surprising we love social proofs, it sells brands fast,” ~ Bernard Kelvin Clive.
Basically, when others see that lots of folks like and trust something, they tend to get curious and interested too.
Here's what we recommend you:
Now, are you ready to check out popular webinar promotions to inspire your promotional approach?
Here are a few examples of brands that use unique approaches to promote their webinars:
Mailchimp is a popular service that you must be already familiar with. The company is also known to host webinars on different marketing topics.
Below is one example of their webinar promotion. See these key elements of the promotional post:
As mentioned, one of our tactics is asking guest speakers to promote your webinar. Here, you require guest speakers to share upcoming webinar details with their network.
Here's an example of the same by the Semrush webinar's guest speaker.
The below image shows the post by the guest speaker, which includes:
Congratulations! You now know how to unlock your soaring webinar attendance rates. With these 10 proven strategies, you have the power to captivate your audience, turning your webinars into unforgettable experiences. What if we tell you there is a sure-shot way to boost your webinar attendance?
Join hands with one of the best webinar marketing services, Revnew. Our experts have the needed skills and experience in webinar marketing. Hence, let them do the work for you while you enjoy desired results.
Also, remember, it's not just about numbers; it's about building connections and leaving a lasting impression. So go forth, try out these tactics, and witness the transformation in your webinar success like never before!