Best Practices for Promoting & Producing Successful Webinars

1. Make Your Titles Matter

As with your other forms of thought leadership, webinar titles can make all the difference to your success. Make the real meat of your next virtual program — the subject matter, the reason for participating, the audience you have in mind (their industry, their role, etc) — clear and concrete, by including such information directly in your title.

Many organizations miss the opportunity to connect with a larger and/or targeted audience by dedicating their webinar titles to branding, generic language ... anything but the key information.

For example, imagine seeing these two titles in search results, a social share, or an email digest. Which one is clearer?

• Smith, Jones, Anderson & King Employment Law Educational Series — Virtual Program #1 of 3: The Yes and No of Recent COVID-19 Workplace Rules
• Webinar: Can I Require My Employees to Be Vaccinated? COVID-19 Workplace Q&A for Employers

2. Promote, Promote, Promote

Build a mini campaign around your webinar promotion, and ensure that all stakeholders are included in it:

• Write a brief email text for your host(s) so that they can personally invite VIP clients, important prospective clients, and anyone else who should attend the program;
• Include a link to the webinar registration (with specific language, a call to action) at the end of all on-topic thought leadership published in advance of the program;
• Provide language to stakeholders so that they can share news of the webinar on social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc);
• Include news of the upcoming webinar in appropriate client emails;
• If part of a series, promote the next webinar at the close of your current program (and in follow-up emails to current attendees, your lowest hanging fruit);
• No brainer: use JD Supra's Webinar Promotion service, which puts your program in front of a large and targeted audience in advance of the event.

3. Remember: One Equals Three

That is to say: for every webinar, keep in mind that you actually have — at a minimum — three pieces of content.

a) In the weeks leading up to the webinar, publish a piece of written thought leadership that introduces the topics that will come up in the virtual program. More than just a teaser, this piece should have depth — your most engaged readers are likely to register for the webinar to "learn more" and have specific questions answered. As I mentioned above, include a link and a call to register at the end of this post.

b) The webinar itself is another, critically important piece of content — both at the time it happens and afterwards, in recording. Make that recording available, typically in video form. Or, excerpted, in a series of much shorter videos (part of a drip campaign).

c) Turn Q&A from the webinar into a third post; or, for that matter, a next webinar. The best programming is that which responds to actual reader and attendee questions and concerns. It is content based on proven interest.

I said at the start of this that you have, at a minimum, three pieces of content surrounding a webinar. Sustained campaigns are best, so I would encourage even more. If, for example, the subject of your webinar is strategically important to your team, your organization, an individual practice group ... then it is important enough to be the focus of other thought leadership. Invite all panelists to write their own thought piece in advance of the program. Published a short, text Q&A with panelists promoting what they'll be covering. And ... important ... look at what the data says about attendee interest. Keep the momentum going by writing in response to what you learn.

Bonus

 For further tips and insights, consider reading JD Supra clients writing about webinars, including:

• Best Practices for Creating Successful Webinars for Law Firms — by Carolyn Sweet at Stotler Hayes Group
• How to Effectively Repurpose Your Webinar Content — by Stefanie Marrone

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Carla Reiner is a Client Services Specialist at JD Supra. Connect with her on LinkedIn.