A few weeks ago here on #TechTuesdays we took a look at the benefits hosting webinars provide for your small business, including their ability to provide customers with educational resources, their influence in making you an authority, and their effectiveness in raising your brand awareness and creating new sales leads. These are all great benefits, but it all may have left you thinking: “How’s the best way to go about all this?”
This week, let’s take a time out and look at 7 Best Practices for Hosting Small Business Webinars.
Consider Whether You Should Host a Webinar to Begin With
Don’t go into this process determined to host a webinar for your small business just for the sake of hosting a webinar. That’s the wrong way to go about it. Have a solid example of what you want to achieve with your webinar before moving forward. Don’t attempt to produce a webinar based around a minor product update, a general topic, or a vague idea. Instead, zero in on a niche topic that hasn’t been covered thoroughly in the past, a fantastic “how-to,” or an interview with a guru within your industry. Ensure the content behind your webinar is interesting, timely, or ideally, both.
Zero In On a Webinar Format
You have your webinar topic, but how will you present the information? Will there be one webinar presenter? Two? Three? Will speakers be on camera separately, or at the same time in a panel format? Also, will there be a Q&A session at any point? Lock down these specifics prior to moving forward.
Select Competent Webinar Speakers
Let’s be real for a moment: Not everyone is cut out to be in front of the camera, regardless of their enthusiasm level or how much they may want to. And that’s okay. However, don’t make the mistake of featuring someone in your webinar that is either not comfortable in front of the camera or is too comfortable in front of the camera despite their lack of efficacy. Also, ensure you only feature individuals on-camera who are knowledgeable in the field they are speaking on and the products they may be discussing.
Also, remember, you don’t have to be in front of the camera, either. Don’t force yourself into a situation you may not be suited for. Others can do your work for you, and they can do it well.
Produce a Webinar Script
Even if you and those around you are talented speakers, don’t assume that you can pull off an entire hour-long (or more!) webinar without some kind of guide. Prepare a script ahead of time that provides some kind of guideline for your efforts, and outlines topics to be covered.
Focus on Your Webinar Microphones
Audio quality is wickedly important to your small business webinar efforts. Forgo relying on whatever microphone is built directly into your desktop or laptop. This could distort your audio. Instead, get a dedicated, wired headset microphone and use that.
Leave the Audience Seeking More From You
Provide actionable advice at the end of your webinar and ensure that you provide a call-to-action that leads your webinar attendees to your website or social media channels. Also, provide general contact information so that your attendees can seek out more details from each of your featured speakers. Make the most of your opportunity! Finally, consider providing a recording of your webinar so that your clients may refer back to it at a later date.
Run a Test Webinar
No matter how well-prepared you may feel, always assume that something will go wrong. With this in mind, cut down on potential snafus by running a full test webinar shortly before the actual broadcast. Perform a full run-through as if it were the real thing. This should help iron out any potential wrinkles before the live broadcast.
Wrap-Up
Those are just a few best practices you can use in attempting to conduct the best darn webinar for your small business that you can possibly muster. Some of these may seem self-evident, but it’s easy to get wrapped up in the process once you begin and quickly lose focus and get sloppy. Make yourself a checklist and stick to it! You’ll find you’ll reach the finish line in far better shape than you would otherwise, trust us.
Have we mentioned before that S-FX offers full webinar support at nifty rates? Actually, we have, but just in case it’s slipped your mind, here’s some details on how we can make a world of difference in your endeavor.
Until next #TechTuesday, have a tremendous week!
