Generate leads, produce content, create attractive visuals, find the perfect webinar platform, the podcast player: to attract visitors to your site, you have to be clever! To diversify content and especially create videos, webinars are an excellent solution. In this article, you will find all the information you need to organize them and turn them into a real lead generation lever. 

Definition of a webinar platform

A webinar is an online conference. For proper organization, you need to use a webinar platform, which offers essential features such as registration, the ability to chat in writing, mute attendees’ microphones, or share a presentation. Whether your webinar is free or paid, you will need different features. 

These platforms are decisive in ensuring your online conference runs smoothly!

Criteria for selecting your webinar tool

You understand it now: the tool that will support you in organizing and running your conference is important. Hundreds of solutions exist. Here are the criteria to help you draw up the specifications for your future tool! 

Features

The features of your webinar platform are a very important point. From preparation to post-event communication,  webinar solutions do not offer the same features. For example, Livestorm lets you see participants’ attention levels during the conference. 

So be careful: do you need reminder emails before your conference (I strongly recommend it)? How can you retrieve the video afterwards? How do participants register? 

You are starting to identify the needs for your webinar solution.

Ease of use 

We mentioned it just before, ease of use is crucial. We were talking about customization, but this extends to your entire experience on the platform. 

Choosing the date, sending the invitation to speakers and testing the platform with them, setting up emails, the sending address, and above all ease of use live! 

Customization 

A webinar is intended to promote your brand! It is therefore important to be able to customize registrations, emails, etc. This allows you to hammer home your name and logo. To do this, two criteria need to be linked: the ability to change settings, the logo, edit emails, and the ease of implementing these changes. 

Integrations 

A platform for a webinar is good, but it is rarely complete. A webinar means a registration form, confirmation emails, reminders, then nurturing, video management, etc.  Some software lets you automatically connect them to other solutions, to better manage emails, forms, replays, or nurturing. So look at the list of features, and the possibility of connecting it to other tools to complete it! 

Price 

Some tools are free, others are not, and still others offer a free version with limited features. The price is often proportional to the maximum number of participants. Some start at €20, while others go up to €1600! So set a maximum price, note the maximum number of participants you think you will invite, to make an informed decision. 

Support

As with all your tools, support must be taken into account. Some solutions will offer chat in French, while others will instead have an FAQ, more or less extensive, in English. It is up to you to know your needs to determine whether this criterion is important to you or not! 

Comparison table of solutions to organize your webinar 

Checklist for organizing a successful free webinar

A webinar is a good idea for sharing your knowledge, interacting live with your target audience, and improving your brand awareness. However, succeeding at this exercise is not easy. 

The right tool 

You now have all the keys in hand to choose the tool that suits you. The right webinar platform is essential for a successful experience. To start, landing pages and forms make people want to register. Well-configured follow-ups are essential to remind registrants and make them want to attend. Then, the ability to participate, polls, and image quality are important throughout the live session. Finally, to make your investment profitable, the ability to retrieve and use the replay is crucial. 

The right topic 

Next, the topic must be chosen carefully. It must interest the right target audience, demonstrate your expertise, and provide concrete answers. A successful webinar in 2021 is a conference from which participants leave with concrete ideas for improvement. So choose your title carefully, phrase it in a way that grabs attention, all without making promises you will not be able to keep! 

The right speaker 

To talk about the right topic, invite the right speaker. A good speaker is first and foremost someone who knows the topic from A to Z. Then, that person’s delivery must be top-notch. Who does not remember their French or history teacher with whom it was impossible to stay awake? Keep that in mind when selecting your guest. 

Communication beforehand 

As with any event, it is essential to communicate the date, time, and topic! Social media are an excellent way to promote it, especially combined with newsletters. Also think about referral sites that can relay the information! Then, on the day of the webinar and in the hour beforehand, go all out. On social media, remind people that the conference is about to start: send emails to registrants so they connect on time! 

Post-event communication

Follow up with registrants who missed your event, as well as with participants. A webinar is not your objective: the goal is to turn them into qualified leads.  Send them the replay, for example, or exclusive content related to the topic covered. You will make the most of it! 

Also read: Generate leads through webinars: marketing automation 

You now have all the keys to make your webinar a key element of your lead generation strategy! Webmecanik Automation offers integrations to improve forms, landing pages, and communication before and after your webinar. You can connect your platforms if they are available on Zapier, or Livestorm and GoToWebinar!