6 Keys to a Successful Webinar
Written by Damaris Villalva Cruz
Marketing Manager
With the recent events going on the world companies are finding ways to connect and bring information to people. At Vision Care Connect we want to continue educating people of their options to restore their vision. Holding seminars in-person has long been an effective tool in the past. However, with recent events going on in the world, the shift towards virtual seminars has been necessary. Virtual seminars or webinars are a powerful tool during this time, they allow you to conduct online versions of seminars that do not require you to rent a room, and are conducted from the comfort and safety of everyone's homes. There are several things to keep in mind to have a successful webinar. One of the first things to remember is that most people are too busy to stop what they’re doing and watch a webinar that doesn’t interest them. So whatever type of webinar you are planning, make sure that it's a topic that people are interested in and that you have the correct target market. When done correctly, webinars can be highly beneficial to your audience and a great lead generation tool. Here are a few things to consider when doing a webinar.
Roles
Hosting a webinar by yourself is definitely possible, but it is not an easy thing to do and can be very challenging. That’s why it’s always preferable to have someone (or multiple people) working with you to make sure everything goes smoothly. You will need someone who has a good understanding of your webinar equipment, software, topic and they should be able to troubleshoot issues and moderate interactions with attendees. This also means that everyone should be clear on the role they play during the webinar. Whether it’s answering chats, speaking, advancing slides, being the back up person, or any other role that might be needed.
Practice
Make sure you practice beforehand, this is the time where you will learn what needs to be improved or changes you need to make. This will be the time to make sure that your audio and visuals are working properly. The settings will also differ depending on the platform you are using for your webinars. With ZOOM two settings that we have learned that are key for good audio and visual is that videos must be optimized and computer audio share must be enabled for the person that is sharing their screen. There is a cool feature with ZOOM that allows you to have a practice session before start time and when you are ready, you can go live.
Start on time
Don't make your attendees wait, even with in-person seminars, it is important to start on time. People get impatient and will not wait for you to start. If you are not quite ready to start, then let your attendees know that you will be with them shortly.It is ideal to start 10-15 min early, during this time you can have a video playing or a count down. By starting early it allows your attendees to know that they are in the right meeting. When you notice that someone has joined, acknowledge them and thank them for joining.
Technical difficulties
Be prepared for technical difficulties and address them right away. There is something that can always go wrong when it comes to technology. Attendees might have trouble joining, may be hard of hearing, or have bad internet, etc. These are just some of the most common things that can go wrong but they are also things that can be avoided. The most important thing is to have a good internet connection. We have learned that if there is not a strong WIFI connection it will result in a poor quality of videos and poor quality of presentation in general. Have a backup person during the webinar in case you get disconnected. And for those attendees that are not used to the technology and the new normal of virtual meetings, have a person on hand that can answer the phone for troubleshooting questions.
Keep attendees engaged
Having a virtual seminar is very different from in-person because it’s hard to keep people engaged. Let's be honest, virtual meetings can be hard because of all the distractions around your home, whether it's your dog barking, children playing, or the temptation to multitask, there will always be distractions. One very useful feature in ZOOM is the chatbox. This allows you to communicate with your attendees throughout the webinar. If they have questions throughout the webinar this is a great way to answer those questions and be open to communication with them.
Accept that things might go wrong
As much as we want things to run smoothly, we can never be prepared for every scenario. There are always unexpected things that will happen. Your WIFI could go down, your computer can choose to die, or you could lose electricity. Maybe those are major things that could happen but unlikely, it’s more likely that small hiccups occur. The best that we can do is to be prepared for the unexpected and uncomfortable situations.
These are just a few things and a broad overview of things that can be done to have a successful webinar. There are many other things that need to be done leading up to a webinar. Keep your attendees, technology, and your crew in mind when doing webinars. This has been a great tool for Vision Care Connect to utilize in order to continue delivering information to our patients during this difficult time.