Making the Most of Your Webinars: Overcoming Common Mistakes

As a startup, it’s important to leave no stone unturned when it comes to finding ways of reaching new and prospective customers. However, navigating a potentially limited marketing budget can be difficult, especially when searching for cost-efficient solutions which yield worthwhile returns. Thankfully, webinars can often be a great solution to this conundrum.

These virtual events also allow you to target specific segments of the market and delve into topics that are pertinent to your business and its consumers – and the good news is that they cost a fraction of the price of setting up an in-person event. (The average cost of a webinar is between $100-$3000).

But with all of the advantages that come with hosting a webinar, there are some common mistakes that can derail their success if they’re not identified and addressed ahead of time. In this article, we’ll look at how to avoid these errors and make the most out of your webinar.

Not Preparing For Technical Difficulties

Nobody likes experiencing unexpected interruptions or dealing with long loading times while waiting for services such as audio and video to work properly. Often these issues are out of our hands but if you prepare for them in advance and have a contingency plan ready for when they do happen, you’ll have the tools necessary to mitigate any potential disaster.

As such, make sure all systems are tested beforehand so you know what kind of resources you need, and set up backups just in case something doesn’t work. If you’re hosting a webinar with multiple people, ensure everyone is aware of the technical requirements for participation and make sure your facilitator understands how to use the virtual events platform you’ve chosen.

Failing To Engage Your Audience

One of the most important mistakes that can be made when hosting a webinar is failing to engage your audience. Oftentimes, companies see webinars as something akin to a mass presentation and fail to realize that they must be interactive to truly benefit everyone involved. Therefore, if you want to make the most out of your webinar, it’s important that you plan ahead and think about how you will engage with your attendees.

Consider having polls or asking questions throughout the session so they can get involved in the conversation – this way everyone stays engaged and you ensure they’re getting the most out of your webinar.

You should also think about how to offer something exclusive to those who have attended. This could be in the form of a freebie or some kind of discount – it will give them the incentive to tune in and give your efforts an even greater return.

Forgetting Key Points

It can be hard to remember all the key takeaways from your presentation, so it’s essential that you prepare ahead of time by writing down key points or using visuals and diagrams that can help jog your memory should you forget something during your live session.

After all, it can be a little daunting to have hundreds, and potentially thousands, of people watching your webinar, so it’s understandable if you miss a few points here and there.

To help keep track of your points, create a template or checklist that will help you remember the main elements of your talk. Having cue cards prepared is also helpful as they keep track of topics that require further explanation and serve as an effective way of staying on top of your message without getting lost along the way.

Not Promoting Your Webinar Enough

Promotion plays an important role in ensuring success for any webinar, but many people often don’t give it enough thought or attention before their event goes live.

Make sure you spread the word about your webinar both before and after it takes place – use social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn – as well as email campaigns or even printed materials like brochures or flyers depending on who is attending.

You should also think about how you can make the most of your promotional efforts. Perhaps you could set up a landing page for people to register on, or as mentioned earlier, you could entice people to attend with exclusive discounts or giveaways. This will help you build excitement about your webinar and drive more attendance.

Failing To Follow Up With Attendees

One of the most common mistakes made when hosting webinars is failing to follow up with attendees after the event. This is a missed opportunity, as it’s an ideal time to build relationships with your audience and encourage further engagement.

Make sure you take the time to thank each attendee for joining your webinar. Additionally, sending out surveys and polls to gauge their opinion on how the event went is also a great way to receive feedback and find areas of improvement for next time.

You could also send them relevant content related to the topics covered, or even just touch base to enquire how they’re doing and if there’s anything you can do to help them out. The possibilities are endless.

Final word

Webinars are an amazing way to engage with your customers – both new and existing. However, in order to get the most out of this type of event, it’s important to not fall victim to the common pitfalls that come with hosting them.

By taking the time to plan ahead, promote your event properly, and follow up with attendees afterward, you can ensure you have a successful and impactful webinar. Just remember to keep your audience in mind every step of the way, as this is ultimately what will make your webinar a success.