Do you remember this meme floating around at the beginning of the pandemic? 

I laughed the first time I saw it because it drives home just how popular Zoom became at the beginning of the pandemic. With businesses shutting down, schools closing, and family get-togethers being canceled, Zoom became our sole source of interaction with people outside our homes. It surely felt like it was taking over the world.

Fast forward a few months later, and we all have Zoom fatigue. We’ve used it for everything from work meetings and school sessions to brunch meetups and book clubs. 

Now the question becomes: How do you make a webinar unique and interesting when we’re using Zoom for almost everything? How do you make your message stand out from the crowd?

Here are five tips for creating a successful webinar that drives results — even when everyone’s doing it.

Choose A Topic That Resonates

Take a moment to think about your target audience. What’s the biggest challenge they’re facing right now during the coronavirus pandemic? What are they most worried about? What obstacle can you help them overcome? That’s what your webinar should be about.

I know the word “unprecedented” has been overused these past few months, but it’s true. We’re in unprecedented times and your audience needs a webinar that speaks to the situation they’re in right now, at this very moment. 

A lot of financial services companies have pivoted their marketing message to talk about navigating the pandemic. Some popular webinar ideas during COVID-19 are anything related to:

• Relieving stress (whether it’s financial stress or emotional stress)
• Coping with the loss of a job or loved one
• Working from home (especially while parenting and possible juggling distance-learning)
• Doing anything during a pandemic (starting or growing a business, buying your first house, creating a debt repayment plan, taking out a life insurance policy, etc.)

Even if your company is ready to start introducing non-pandemic related content, you can still weave current events throughout. 

For example, if you’re hosting a webinar on “Real Estate 101: What You Need To Know About Buying Your First Home,” you can keep the webinar evergreen, but then throw in some tips for buying your first home during a recession or financial crisis. 

How To Choose The Best Webinar Topic

If you’re having trouble narrowing down a relevant and engaging webinar topic, try these two tips:

• Poll your audience. Create a short survey and blast it out to your email list or social media channels. It can even be as simple as, “What topic would you like us to cover in our next webinar?” with a list of three to five multiple-choice answers. 
• Do A/B split testing. If you really want to get technical, create a few paid ads on different webinar topics to see which one gets the most clicks. Then, create a webinar on that topic.

Share The Spotlight With A Guest Speaker

Is there an industry expert or influencer your target audience would love to hear from? Add some credibility, excitement, and value to your webinar with a guest speaker.

 In a time where webinars seem somewhat mundane, a guest speaker can help you: 

• Expand your reach,
• Increase your credibility, and
• Bring a fresh perspective and a unique voice to the table. 

The key is to find a well-known expert in your industry who also has a large following. That way they can invite their audience to join the webinar, thus expanding your reach. 

Where To Find A Guest Speaker For Your Webinar

Here are three places to look for your next webinar guest speaker: 

• Tap into your network. Put some feelers out to see if you or anyone in your inner circle knows someone who would be a good fit for your next webinar.  
• Look at social media. Search for industry experts on LinkedIn or let your followers know you’re looking for a guest speaker on a certain topic. If you have a list of potential speakers, you can even create a poll on social media to see which one your followers are most excited to hear from.
• Check out conferences and other events. Think about the conferences you’ve attended in the past. Which guest speakers were there? Look at Ted Talks, podcasts, and other webinars for inspiration.

Make Your Call To Action Irresistible

The whole point of a webinar is to show people why they can’t live without your product or service. When they get to the end of your presentation, they should feel so compelled to take action that they immediately click on your offer. 

Because at the end of the day, your call to action is where the true magic happens. It’s where you turn attendees into customers. It’s where you drive up conversion rates. 

Throughout your webinar, focus on the value you offer your clients, the problem you solve for them, and what the outcome will look like when they take action. Then, create clear instructions on how they can take the next step. 

Build An Optimized Landing Page

People will need a place to go when they’re ready to register for your webinar. That’s where an optimized landing page comes in. 

Studies show that 51% of people who go to your landing page will sign up. Then, around 36% of those people will attend.

Create a highly-optimized landing page with these four elements: 

• The topic. Give detailed information about what you’ll be covering. Include some bullet points of key takeaways your audience will learn. 
• Date and time. Include when the webinar will take place. If it’s automated, give them a list of dates and times to choose from. 
• Social proof. List speaker information and touch on why the audience should trust them. Why are they qualified to speak on this topic? 

Promote Your Webinar, Then Promote It Some More

By this point, you’ve done all the hard work. You’ve found the perfect topic, invited an expert guest to add some authority, created an irresistible call to action, and built an optimized landing page. 

Now it’s time to promote that bad boy and spread the word. While the options for promoting your webinar are endless, here are 5 super-effective ways to do it: 

1. Create paid social ads for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
2. Build a compelling email sequence to send to your list.
3. Add the webinar as a call to action on the bottom of your blog posts.
4. Produce a one-minute teaser video explaining what your webinar is about.
5. Design a lead magnet or exit popup for your homepage.

Start implementing these strategies as soon as you build your landing page, so you can pivot if something isn’t converting as predicted.

Summary

There seems to be a never-ending sea of webinars out there right now. But they’re still an effective way to get your message out to more people. Over 60% of marketing professionals use webinars, and 73% of them say they’re the best way to generate high-quality leads. 

Webinars aren’t going away anytime soon. In fact, we expect this trend to grow as people continue to use Zoom and other video conferencing tools to stay connected. 

Even in an oversaturated market, you can make your webinar interesting with these five tips: 

• Choose A Topic That Resonates
• Share The Spotlight With A Guest Speaker
• Make Your Call To Action Irresistible
• Build An Optimized Landing Page
• Promote Your Webinar, Then Promote It Some More

Vested is a global digital marketing agency for financial services with experience building creative and thoughtful campaigns that resonate with your audience. If you are interested in seeing how Vested can help you better connect with your audience, contact us.