How to organize your first webinar successfully
Conducting a webinar for the first time can be intimidating. From creating the landing page, email content, webinar script to collaboration, and promotions, there’s a lot to be done.
I hosted my first webinar on February 26th in three time zones. The whole of February kept me on edge, and when I say I was always out of my comfort zone, I mean it. Then, there's a bunch of crucial learnings that gave me confidence making it all worthwhile.
I have listed down what I learned from the webinar, and if you're planning to host one, I'm sure this will give you a headstart.
1. Get the Registration Page up at Least Three Weeks Before the Webinar Date
I got the registration page live on February 5th, which gave me ample time to promote. Since my webinar was for Freshworks customers, I didn't use social media for promotion. Here's what I did instead:
Promoted the webinar through our global newsletter.
Sent an email to customer-facing teams along with a couple of email signature banners that they can use to promote the webinar.
Invited our customer base a week before the webinar through email.
Put up a banner in Freshdesk blog and support portal with CTA.
Embedded the banner in our blog's top-performing articles related to the webinar topic.
Put up a workplace post for internal promotion.
Each of these tasks took 2-5 days as it involved collaboration with other teams. They would be occupied with other tasks, not to mention the back and forth, which is usual. So, it's best to have a buffer period for these tasks and not miss out on anything.
2. Do a Pre-Recorded Webinar If You're Concerned About Last-Minute Technical Issues
There are three reasons why I decided to do a pre-recorded webinar:
Two of the webinar slots were in wee hours, and I had to host the webinar from my home. So, I didn't want to run into last-minute technical issues.
I had an itchy throat, which made it difficult for me to speak continuously without coughing. (Don't worry. It's not corona)
I had never spoken to a live audience of 500 people, and with a whole bunch of other webinar-related tasks to be done, I felt a bit anxious.
At the same time, it was not an entirely recorded webinar as there was a live Q&A session going in parallel. Attendees would raise questions about the feature, which would be answered by my colleague from the product team.
So, before you think it must have been easier for me to pre-record the webinar, believe me, it was tougher. Once I completed the script and got it reviewed, I assumed the recording would take me a couple of hours. Well, it took me multiple attempts and more than a day to get the recording done.
First 1-2 hours: Felt weird talking to an imaginary audience. Couldn't go beyond a few sentences as I found it tough to coordinate between reading the script and showing the product demo.
Next few hours: Recorded in parts only to find I hadn't screen shared from one window to another properly. I had to revisit all the video files and re-record most of them.
8 hours later: Re-recorded the whole video, noted down the places where editing needs to be done, sat with the video editor and got the recording done at last.
It was a close shave as the webinar was only six hours away when I completed the recording.
So, if you're someone who isn't used to recording a video, please get it done at least a couple of days before the webinar. I can't stress enough on this.
3. Do a Dry Run of the Webinar
No matter how many times I got a Zoom demo from my colleague, I wasn't confident until I did a dry run of the webinar with my co-host. It greatly helped reduce my anxiety before going live.
There's a list of things you need to do in Zoom before and during the live webinar. You have to add panelists, start the webinar in practice mode, hit broadcast when the time is right, trigger polls when necessary, and so on. Without a dry run, you might find it all overwhelming, coupled with the tension that the webinar needs to go well.
And yes, if you're hosting your webinar in wee hours, make sure to set your alarm.
4. Allot Some Time for Post-Webinar Work
Once my webinar was over with a good number of attendees, I thought I could carry on with my upcoming tasks. But, that's when the post-webinar work began.
I had to send the recording to all registrants and reply to people who had missed the webinar. I also had to collect the poll and Q&A data from Zoom and route them to the respective teams for following up. There was a document that needed to be done as well.
While you will feel relieved once the webinar ends, the work doesn't end there. So, it's best to allocate some time for it.
You got this!
While a webinar is a huge responsibility, it teaches you time management, multi-tasking, and people skills. It gives you a good amount of confidence and makes you a valuable team member. So, if you're thinking of doing a webinar or get an opportunity, go for it. Get your to-do list ready, ask around for help if you feel lost, and give your best shot!
Stay safe :)
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