From 'Do' to 'Action'

Updated August 8 25, 2021

Webinars are a highly effective form of content marketing, as they can breathe life into static content like a case study or research report. An engaging webinar is like an elaborate radio show with visuals. This is a small theatrical event of five acts.

A well-executed webinar can help you move a buyer's sales needle from "just doing research" to "ready to buy now". In the CMI . study Latest two-thirds (67%) of B2B marketers say they conduct webinars.

Two-thirds (67%) of B2B marketers say they conduct webinars via @CMIContent. #research Click to post a Tweet

As with any well-choreographed event, success begins with planning. For a demand-generating webinar, it will take about six to eight weeks from when you say “let's get started” to showtime. Now, let's get started with this program and the five actions of a successful webinar.

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Prologue

Webinars are more than just technology. It's about aligning business drivers with desired outcomes while managing ever-changing people, logistics, and scheduling factors. , a set of best practices and the use of email and webinar metrics to measure performance over the entire webinar lifecycle. The goal of each action and the task checklist give you a solid basis for a successful strategy.

Chapter 1 – Create a premise for a smooth production process

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Top target

Define the webinar goal and desired outcome.

Identification technology tools and group skills necessary.

Build a project plan and get on with it.

Mission

Define content type: case studies, guidelines/how-to or compliance, and standards.

Detail target .

Building title is active .

Identify the audience pain points that this webinar addresses.

Consider whether this is a “must have” or a “good-must have theme”.

Identification the source for content.

List business goals.

Determined call to action (before, during, and after the webinar).

List success factors and desired outcomes.

Determine when to go live.

Build project progress.

Determine who will be part of the project team.

Determines whether internal and/or external speakers will be used.

Evaluate which webinar hosting platform to use.

Determine hosting platform compatibility/integration with marketing automation tools.

Evaluate camera audio and video / webcam / lighting requirements.

Determine if your built-in webcam is enough, or consider an external webcam.

If using the webcam for video, consider using a pleasant virtual background to “mask” overhead fans, sunlight, natural light, and busy bookshelves.

Consider positioning and adjusting your webcam, lighting, your best look, consider video webinar platform, etc.

Hold a kick – off meeting to set the tone with all players.

Watch the kick-off meeting to Register to buy and start production.

Act II – Attracting the right audience

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Top target

Develope email invitation and email campaign schedule.

Identify listing sourcing options in addition to your general listing.

Implement an email campaign.

Mission

Pick a win theme connect with your target audience (e.g. solve a tough spot, describe how to get better results, or keep your audience aware of industry and market changes).

Develop a object profile to match the theme and value proposition.

Details industries, job titles/functions, revenue thresholds and geographies in your audienc e.

Size and source your audience beyond the company listing to meet your subscription goals.

Define listing sourcing options (e.g. media sponsor, trade association, purchased listing).

Determined email invitation format : HTML, text, or both.

Make sure that the email invite addresses the issue of the statement and provides what people will learn.

Develop a webinar registration landing page (webinar hosting or marketing-automation platform).

Create email campaign drip schedule (quantity and starting time).

Develop the ability to pay attention email subject line for each drop.

Set up benchmarks for email campaigns and track subscriptions on a daily basis.

Make sure the email is CAN-SPAM compliant .

Identification Social media advertising channels .

Test emails and pre-launch social media campaigns.

Implement an email marketing campaign and start tracking daily subscriptions.

Use email and register index to determine if the message is connecting to the desired audience and subscription results.

Act III – Engage your audience

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Top target

Collecting a d converts registration data into actionable intelligence.

Hold a board reading meeting to The structure and flow of brainstorm .

Hold your first dress rehearsal to do foreplay.

Mission

Monitor key email metrics of webinar invitations (sent, hard bounces, light bounces, sent, open rate, click rate, unsubscribe/opt out, and spam complaints).

Monitor key webinar performance metrics before you go live. (Click-through rate measures the number of people who sign up versus those who don't complete the process.)

Collect and analyze additional sign-up data from the landing page (e.g., what you can learn about the organization, industry, and job function; what they want to get from the webinar; do How did they know about this webinar?).

Create a dashboard to see daily subscription tracking progress (e.g. email campaign metrics by contact, audience demographics, and daily subscriptions by contact, including CTR metrics) .

Monitor campaign metrics to see if they're on track and adjust campaign messaging, as needed.

Consider asking the custodians of the fence (those who opened the email but didn't complete the subscription) to commit by sending a reminder email.

Schedule a one-hour panel reading of the webinar.

Prepare and send the agenda read on the board to the organizers and keynote speakers.

Hold a table-top reading meeting (virtual or in-person):
- Make sure the webinar content matches the invitation.
- Discuss structure, timing, and process.
- To create one production script – identify each segment, duration and speaker.
- Prepare PowerPoint slides and templates.
- Make sure the speakers have the proper audio equipment, provide them with a USB headset, if necessary.
- 90-minute schedule for the first dress rehearsal.

Prepare and submit the first dress rehearsal program.

Hold your first dress rehearsal:
- Share insights gathered from daily check-ins.
- Amended and content optimization when needed.
- Look through the slides.
- Check speakers and audio equipment.
- Start developing questions for the online poll (icebreaker, close and next steps).
- 90-minute schedule for the second dress rehearsal.

Create six bookend slides – splash screen, speaker intro, audience members, housekeeping, call to action, ask the experts.

Create the ultimate survey to measure satisfaction and other qualitative feedback .

Draft thank-you emails to all attendees and absentees with links to view the webinar and any other next steps to continue the conversation.

Test recording software.

Organizing the second costume rehearsal:
- Take a look through the slides and probe over time (tape breaks, closes, and next steps).
- Optimize the role of moderators.
- Seeding the number of questions for the Q&A.
- Does the story sound natural and real?

RELATED CONTENT TO BE HAND-VIEWED: Fill all the seats at your webinar with these 6 steps

Stage IV – Live Streaming

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Top target

Make the final audio and test the video.

Live streaming and interviews.

Take action steps right after the webinar.

Mission

Prepare a webinar program.

Meet your team an hour before the webinar.

Perform a final audio and video test.

Review the last slide.

Ensure that polls, surveys and seed questions are loaded into the ar platform webin.

Set up a Plan B – backup audio and network.

Record the webinar and designate two backup creators.

Give the team an interview phone number to call after the webinar.

Launch splash screen at least 15 minutes before going live.

Mute all bells and anything that may beep or bark.

Mute everyone who doesn't have a speaker.

Send a welcome message to the audience one to two minutes before the start of the broadcast.

Start on time, greet the audience and wish you good luck.

Real-time monitoring of performance metrics to measure engagement .

Give your audience a clear call to action and next steps one to two minutes before closing.

Closing on time, thank you to the speakers and audience.

Get a private call for a 15-minute group interview.

Edit the webinar recording to remove the cleaning instructions and any ums and ahs.

Send a thank you email 24 to 48 hours after the webinar.

Action V – Convert your audience

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Top target

Prepare Final figures and analysis .

Convert analytics into actionable sales tracking.

Evaluate the success of the webinar.

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Mission

Collect end-of-life data from marketing-automation platforms and webinar hosting platforms.

Analyze six key webinar metrics: click-through rate, attendee rate, online polls, viewer retention, exit surveys, and on-demand views.

Generate reports with a narrative on the final metrics (e.g. email and subscription metrics, summary daily subscription tracking, polls and surveys, lead sourcing profiles, information attendees details and campaign results via email).

Build an actionable executive summary.

Determine who is ready to sell, who needs nurturing, and who is not a good fit.

Assign sales-ready leads to the sales team.

Create a nurturing campaign after the webinar.

Determine whether the original planning goals are being met.

Evaluate how effectively the webinar ctive meets your commercial goals.

Details of lessons learned.

Determine if there is enough interest for a second webinar or a series.

The end

I am confident that if you follow this pattern, along with your own best practices, you will achieve results that create commercial demand while adding value to your audience.

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Cover photo by Joseph Kalinowski / Content Marketing Institute