Sure-Fire Tactics to Promote Your Webinar

SURE-FIRE TACTICS
to Promote Your Webinar
HANK HOFFMEIER
Strategic Insights Manager
iContact

© 2017 iContact LLC. All Rights Reserved.2
BEFORE WE BEGIN…
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TODAY’S SPEAKER
Hank Hoffmeier
Strategic Insights Manager
With a passion for all things digital and social, combined with
more than 18 years of experience in sales and marketing, Hank
enjoys partnering with organizations large and small to improve
their marketing strategy. Hank is and author, speaker and host of
a marketing podcast, Hank's Business and Marketing Tips,
available on iTunes and Google Play.
Twitter: @hankhoffmeier
LinkedIn: Hank Hoffmeier

• What is a successful webinar?
• How to increase awareness and attendance
• Choosing when and what time
• Sample promotion timetable
• Ways to promote and remind
• After the webinar: follow up
AGENDA

© 2017 iContact LLC. All Rights Reserved.
WHY WEBINARS?
5
• Webinars have emerged as one of the most
important communication vehicles for B2B and
B2C brands.
• According to the Content Marketing
Institute, 66% of marketers identified webinars
as an effective B2B tactic.
• Why? Mostly because they work — webinars
have proven to be an effective way to generate
new leads and strengthen relationships with
existing customers by building trust.
62%
of marketers
identified webinars as
an effective tactic.

A SUCCESSFUL WEBINAR IS:
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• Educational: Webinars should add value. Your
audience doesn’t have time to waste, they want
to learn something.
• Clearly communicated: Your webinar needs to
be organized and presented in a way that clearly
communicates your message so your audience
knows the value you’re providing.
• Entertaining: Don’t bore your audience or you
will find that they quickly drop off and won’t
return a second time. Let your personality shine.

• Having a registration goal in place will inspire and guide
you toward reaching it.
• Tracking your performance every week and measure
your success to make sure you can meet your
registration goals.
• Remember:
registering for your
webinar does not
mean that someone
will attend. In fact,
webinars typically
get only a 25%
attendance rate.
7
BEFORE YOU BEGIN:
SET GOALS 20%
of people sign up to
watch on-demand for
up to 2-3 weeks later.

• In order to determine how many registrants you need to
meet a goal, you also have to think about the number of
actual attendees you want.
• Keep in mind that because some registrants sign up weeks
in advance, you need to regularly remind them about the
webinar so they won’t forget.
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BEFORE YOU BEGIN:
SET GOALS
If you want to have 100 attendees, then you’re
going to need 400 registrants. How did we get
that number? Divide 100 by 25% (0.25).

HOW TO INCREASE AWARENESS AND ATTENDANCE
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Start with the basics:
Create a great landing
page with all necessary
info: program name, date,
time and zone and
registration link.

10
Provide concise and appealing
content: Keep the email message
short but pack it with information
explaining the agenda and what
attendees can learn by attending.

11
• Include information about your speakers,
especially if they have a great skillset to offer.
• Be sure to send attendees to a thank-you
page (or thank you email) that confirms their
spot and gives them any information they
might need to tune in.
• Indicate up front that if the time and date are
not convenient, anyone who registers will
receive the presentation afterward.

CHOOSING WHEN AND WHAT TIME
12
Best Day?
• Choose the right day of week; do not host your webinar during
the weekend.
• In general, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursdays are best.
• Monday and Friday always seem to get filled up with “catch up”
and “last minute emergency” happenings around the office.
• In a recent poll done by WhatCounts, the data suggested that
audiences preferred Wednesday or Thursday for webinars.

CHOOSING WHEN AND WHAT TIME
13
Best Time?
• Choose the right time of day — 1:00 or 2:00 p.m. EST is usually
best.
• If you have no clue what time would work best for your
audience, you can always ask.
• Include a field on your registration form that asks attendees to
confirm the time slots that work best for them, and schedule
your webinar based on the responses.

SAMPLE PROMOTION TIMETABLE:
About a month before:
If you are using an existing
subscriber list, send an initial
invite email that contains
information about what the
webinar is all about, the
date, and the time.
Instantly after someone
registers: Send an email
with the webinar link and a
calendar reminder.
One day before: Send
a final email to anyone
who hasn’t opened the
previous invitations or
has yet to register.
One hour before:
Send an automatic email
reminder to everyone who
registered for the webinar.
One to three Days After: Send a thank-you
email that contains a link to the recording or
slides of the webinar. Don’t forget to invite
them to future events as well; you could also
include links to other relevant content
assets you might have.
One Week After: What questions were
asked? Find any relevant content that
answers these questions and send it to
attendees or write it up in a blog post. It’s a
great way to follow up, stay on the top of your
users’ minds, and build stronger relationships.
LIVE WEBINAR

Promote webinar on social media -
LinkedIn, FB, and Twitter
15
WHERE TO
PROMOTE
AND
REMIND
Email newsletters
In an email nurture series
Your website
Market through your speakers/partners

Paid social ads
16
WHERE TO
PROMOTE
AND
REMIND
Your blog: write about the topic of the webinar
and link to registration page
Forward to your friends and networks
Ask team members to share on their social
media accounts

Calendar reminders/ push notifications
17
WAYS TO
PROMOTE
AND
REMIND
Partners and sponsors
Homepage banners/pop-ups/top bars
Give attendees something special - offer
discounts, coupons, or just something cool!
Include impactful or enticing CTA Buttons

Incorporate customer testimonials to your
promotional materials to add legitimacy
18
WAYS TO
PROMOTE
AND
REMIND
Don’t forget to promote archived webinars;
archives should be posted within 48 hours
Promote on social, email and website
Cross promote webinars, both upcoming
and archived

AFTER THE WEBINAR: FOLLOW UP
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Send a thank you
note to attendees and
registrants with link to
recorded version
Request feedback to
help improve future
sessions/webinars
Share your webinar on
other social channels
like Youtube, Vimeo
and SlideShare

FINAL CHALLENGE:
Implement the information you learned
today for your next webinar and compare
the results to your prior efforts.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MARKETING
21
• Read the iContact blog: www.icontact.com/blog
• Check out the iContact Resources page:
https://www.icontact.com/resources
• Holiday Marketing HQ:
www.icontact.com/holiday-hq
• Talk to us! Call us toll-free at: (877) 820-7837
Use code
HankFriend for a
$30 exclusive
discount

Q&A
22

THANK YOU!

Sure-Fire Tactics to Promote Your Webinar

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