Six Top Tips to Level-Up Your Webinars in 2022

Because of the primarily virtual/remote environment many of us have lived and worked in over the past two years, webinars have accelerated in popularity – making them an even more valuable opportunity for businesses to communicate with their customers and prospects at scale.

However, increasing virtual fatigue, balancing work and personal obligations, and higher audience expectations for rich, interactive virtual experiences, means it is extremely challenging for marketers and planners to attract and draw in attendees. But the good news is that with the right approach, webinars can be elevated to keep audiences entertained, educated, and most importantly, engaged, which ultimately helps organisations generate more leads and increase revenue.

Here are six tips you can use to level-up and deliver more compelling webinars in 2022: 

1) Content first

Great content will always be in demand and consumed. What’s important is that you don’t create content based solely on your business needs – but rather, prioritise the audience and craft content that will provide value to them. By using an online registration and management system, you can send personalised messages and deliver content recommendations that resonate with specific attendees (audience segmentation). Post webinar, you can direct them to additional resources that suit their interests. 

2) The speaker experience

Although the experience of the attendee comes first, it is also important to focus on the speaker. Your speakers should be just as enthused as you are hoping your audience will be, if not more so. In addition, they need to be knowledgeable and well-informed about the topic and the audience. You might like to try utilising a roundtable style format that enables multiple speakers to engage in a live, unscripted conversation, just like a talk show. Not only is this format more entertaining, but multiple speakers also bring diverse viewpoints and perspectives which provide unique insights and elevate the attendee experience.

3) Interact with the audience

As an event host or company representative, don't be afraid to jump into the chat, ask questions, or conduct polls. Done well, these engagement elements turn what was once a passive experience into an interactive one. Remember an engaged audience is a receptive one.

4) Production values

Visually bring your content to life using professional lighting, high-quality microphones, text, overlays, interesting images or video clips, and lower thirds. Just like the breaking news ticker on a news broadcast, these draw the viewer’s attention to additional information and keep them engaged too!

5) Mixing up formats   

Think of webinars as multi-layer experiences, rather than one standard experience for all attendees. For example, host smaller breakout groups post-webinar so that attendees can virtually “meet” the experts and dive into key topics. Offer different formats like a TED Talk and cap webinars to 18 minutes, which is said to be long enough to be serious and short enough to hold people's attention. Also crucial when planning is to think quality over quantity.

6) Use the right tools

Use technology to increase attendee interactivity and overall webinar engagement. There are numerous webinar platforms, but you need to find one that meets your needs. For starters, it should have:

• The ability to showcase multiple speakers, and easily switch between who is on screen
• Multiple ways to interact with your audience including chat and Q&A functions
• Broadcast quality production features including the ability to play video and use graphics
• The ability to integrate with other marketing technology and event technology tools so that webinar attendee information and revenue attribution can be seamlessly managed, reported, and maximised as part of your larger event programme strategy
   

For more resources to help take your webinars to the next level visit Cvent website.
Article written by Felicia Asiedu, senior marketing manager at Cvent.