Hosting a webinar delivers undoubted marketing benefits. The format makes a ton of sense in the fields of elearning and education – online video presentations and seminars allow for the in-depth tackling of a topic and they free individuals interested in the opportunity from having to attend at a certain location. Because of these characteristics, a webinar can reach a large audience and it can solidify your leadership position as an authority within a specific field.

Over the years, webinars have gained a lot of popularity. According to 2020 statistics, the attendee registration conversion rate has gone up to 61 percent from 55 percent in 2019. As a result, 53 percent of marketers claim that they’ll include webinars in their video strategy in 2021, an increase of 11 percent on an annual basis.

A webinar is a powerful tool but to make the most of it, you need effective marketing. Powerful webinar marketing can take on many forms – from traditional newsletter promotion to social media ads and various others.

If you’re interested in webinar marketing best practices, here are some of the approaches to prioritize.

Use Your Own Digital Channels

As we’ve suggested before, your website is a great tool for webinar promotion, especially if you’re already fairly successful at acing search engine optimization (SEO).

Creating a dedicated landing page to the upcoming webinar and simplifying the sign up process (through a pop-up or a highly visible button, for example) will make it fairly easy for your audience to register for the upcoming event. When people do, you can follow up via email to remind them that the webinar is scheduled for a certain date and time.

It’s a good idea to start promoting the upcoming webinar as early as possible. The longer the landing page remains online, the easier it will be to find. To support this strategy, you should also consider some content creation. A couple of blog posts dedicated to the webinar topic allow you to add valuable content to your site while also doing some subtle promotion. These can also be shared via social media – an added bonus that will quickly maximize the reach of your marketing campaign.

The Power of Email Marketing

Your webinar marketing plan should most definitely feature email promotion.

Recent stats suggest that email is the number one promotional channel for webinars. Nearly 57 percent of webinar registrations are generated through this channel and the conversion rate is 27 percent higher than in the case of employing alternative inbound strategies.

You can employ newsletters in a number of ways.

A welcome email is an absolute must-send to everyone who registers. Next, you can follow up with weekly updates, useful content and recommendations to create some hype.

Don’t be afraid of sending a couple of emails the days before the webinar itself. If you already have an alternative mailing list, target everyone who hasn’t signed up for the webinar yet. 

There are additional opportunities worth exploring as far as email promotion is concerned. Adding information about the webinar in your signature, for example, is a fairly simple strategy to let your network know that the event is coming up.

Teaser Videos for Webinar Marketing

Video promotion, especially if you give your audience a glimpse into the upcoming webinar, can be amazing for your marketing

Webinar production should most definitely involve the creation of a few teaser videos that you get to share via social media in the weeks before the event.

It’s a good idea to have at least one or two videos that shed some more light on the webinar’s value and unique characteristics. The video doesn’t have to be long – 30 seconds to one minute will do. You also don’t need expensive production and complex setups. An interview with one of the leading participants is certain to get the right kind of audience interested.

Do upload the video on YouTube- the world’s second biggest search engine. If you add the right description and tags to your teaser, it will be fairly easy to find. YouTube has more than two billion logged-in users on a monthly basis and that’s a massive crowd you should be promoting to.

Partner and Influencer Involvement

You shouldn’t be counting solely on your efforts to spread the word.

Are partners and third parties involved in webinar production? If so, they also have an interest in spreading the word and getting as many registered participants as possible.

Having a strategic partner makes a lot of sense for overall webinar planning because you can easily increase the scale of the event itself and that of the lead generation efforts. Furthermore, you can tackle additional opportunities to offer elearning in a niche that’s out of your competence. Hence, you will be offering attendees a well-rounded experience that has a lot of added value.

Partners and influencers can use their social media and other online channels to increase engagement.

It’s also a good idea to seek out additional partners who’ll be involved in marketing only. Some local businesses could benefit from such a partnership as much as you will. Growing your professional network will give you additional benefits down the line, which is why reaching out right now is definitely worth it.

Press Releases and Media Publications

Apart from employing your own channels, you should consider publishing information about the upcoming webinar elsewhere.

Press releases and articles shared via third party websites need to be included in your promotional strategy. Webinar marketing should be based on as many channels as possible. Not only are such publications good for your SEO efforts (you’ll generate quality backlinks), they’ll also give you a chance to reach an audience you wouldn’t have otherwise.

Do consider investing in a professionally-drafted press release. Employing a PR distribution service is also a good idea, especially if the event is defining for your business. This way, you’ll get to reach out both online channels and offline media. Specialized magazines and publications in the learning and education fields will give you good exposure, regardless of the fact that such print promotion is fairly old-school.

Contests and Giveaways

Here’s one final idea you can easily incorporate in your webinar social media marketing strategy.

Let’s face it – everybody loves a giveaway. By creating a simple contest, you can get your audience itself involved in spreading the word about the upcoming webinar.

If you’re out of ideas, here are a few cool suggestions for social media contests and giveaways. Just like teaser videos, these don’t need expensive production. Asking people to share a publication with a friend or getting them to tag someone in a post will increase reach in an avalanche-like manner.

Conclusion

The best form of webinar promotion is cross channel.

True, your social media will give you excellent webinar marketing results. But why should you limit yourself solely to this opportunity?

Start planning your marketing efforts early enough and think about various platforms to employ. Your website, blog, social media, mailing list and partners can all be employed in the outreach efforts. Offline promotion can also be a great choice, especially if you do it during specialized events.

The earlier you get started with webinar marketing, the more time you’ll have to develop and execute the perfect campaign. Know your audience, focus on your distinctive voice and keep the message tailored. By doing so, you’ll get the highest possible return on investment.