It's nothing new to say that the popularity of webinars is on the rise. Studies show that video content is one of the most attractive forms of brand communication. As much as 89% of hosts choose webinar marketing as the best method to showcase their business. Considering this tremendously high number, it seems that clients must find watching such content entertaining. But sometimes, reaching the right audience is not a bed of roses. Each person is unique and has different preferences, which you, as a businessperson, have to accommodate.
So the question is, how to increase webinar audience? Read these methods to get inspired and reach people who are skeptical about online videos.
How to reach an audience who doesn't like webinars?
It's a difficult question how to increase webinar attendance, be will try to figure it out! As surprising as it might seem, people from many different professions use webinars for learning or entertainment purposes. Even the ratio of dentists who participate in such events has increased recently, growing from 17% at the beginning of 2020 to 64% in just six weeks! What's more, a whopping 92% of the surveyed people stated they would attend a webinar in the future, as they believe it delivers high educational value. This indicates that by creating content tailored to one's needs and tastes, you can reach people who you hadn't even dreamed of targeting.
The first step: know your audience and its tastes
You're not making video content for yourself. Before taking any action, you should think about the preferences that are characteristic for your clients. What you have to take into account first of all sounds quite obvious, yet is still crucial. That is, carrying our research in order to get to know your audience. Thanks to that, you can learn what needs to be done to live up to their expectations.
If you want to know exactly what your clients would like to watch, you can ask them about it directly by creating a survey on your social media channels.
Keep experimenting
Another tip on how to increase webinar attendance, is to experiment. When you're aware of any issues that create boundaries between you and your potential customers, you can ask yourself what could be improved. It might vary from the length of your webinar to the format of running a presentation. Some might expect just a brief introduction to a topic as a starting point for their own actions, which would last only a few minutes. Others may seek a longer video in which an entrepreneur dives deep into a topic and provides viewers with an array of insights.
If that's not the case, you can think of other solutions and get off the beaten track. This might sound challenging, but don't feel discouraged. Here are some ready to implement ideas that you can try out.
Change the length of your webinar
This research found that the perfect length of a webinar varies from 30 to 45 minutes. Let's keep in mind that these are only estimated numbers and might not be reflected in your particular case. Almost no one fits the lifestyle evaluated by averaging the scientific data. Likewise, there's no universally valid law that guarantees that a webinar lasting 40 minutes would give a great conversion rate.
The concept of lightning talks
Have you ever dreamt of getting to know a particular topic without spending hours on it? Or maybe you just don't have much time to spare and need quick solutions? If these questions might be asked by your customers, you should familiarize yourself with the concept of the lightning talks.
We know trying to find the best ways to find out how to increase webinar attendance may be difficult. But then comes lightning talk. It is a short presentation that typically lasts for about five minutes. This condensed amount of time allows an entrepreneur to give just a brief overview of a subject. Such a limitation might be either a blessing or a curse. No delaying and no skirting around the topic, so if you want to give a successful speech then you have to get straight to the point and grab attendees' attention within a minute.
It’s a great solution to reach those who only seek inspiration and have minimal leisure time. Also, it's perfectly correlated with the average attention span!
A long video for meticulous ones
Although statistics might be a great source of information, often they are too generic. Depending on the study, the results might differ. For example, according to this research, you can read that a so-called perfect webinar should last not up to even 90 minutes rather than 45.
This different finding shows that the length should vary depending on the topic and the audience's preferences. Actually, some studies say that 60-minute videos attract more attendees than shorter ones. While the general belief is that a perfect webinar duration exists, it's simply not true. If you need to dive deeper into the subject, don't hesitate to make your video longer. People who register for that kind of event are mostly keen on broadening their knowledge and are willing to use their leisure time to focus on the topic.
Create an extended version of materials
If you’re wondering how to increase the size of your webinar audience and reach those who don’t like watching video content, you should provide them with something extra. Preparing unique materials that viewers can use during the broadcast, and after it, would be a smart move. It’s also a great way to promote your company by creating a branded set of files. When your attendees use them, it’s likely that they will remember your company’s logotype and colours.
Here are a few proposals of bonus supplies that you can create and add to your webinar.
Upload the agenda in advance
When you think about how to increase webinar attendance, don't forget about the agenda long before the event. This tip is especially useful when running a webinar that’s planned to be longer than 30 minutes. By providing your audience with a presentation plan, you can show them that you respect their free time. Besides the courteous nature of this action, it may also help you gain new participants who are key to your marketing activities.
Some people might want to participate in your event, but they don't want to listen to the whole performance. They might be looking for an answer to a particular problem, but a 60-minutes webinar could seem too long for them. If you create a special agenda and send it to the participants, you can increase the size of your webinar audience by enabling people to view certain parts they’re most interested in. Such leads may not spend a whole hour listening to your speech, but they might turn out to be valuable leads because they know what they want.
No matter at what point people might want to participate in your webinar, if you have them on your contact list you can send them a reminder. You can use email testing tools (or other email apps, as LiveWebinar has integrations with 17) or even sms marketing. It’s handy from users’ perspective to receive an email or a message, as we live in a constant rush.
Mockups and templates
Most of us aren't designers, yet we still have to run social media profiles to generate profit. We seek simple solutions that don't require investing much time, but still give satisfying results. That's why creating simple mockups and templates might be a useful gift for your participants, which you can send them after the webinar straight to their email inboxes.
What is a mockup? It's a full-size model of a design or product that can be used in a presentation and adjusted for personal purposes to fit your brand's image.
Visuals are essential to attract users in the digital world. Mockups and templates deliver an appealing look of a product, and they can be easily edited and adapted to your needs.
Why is it so helpful to work on such templates? They are often relatively easy to understand and use. In general, mockups tend to be more intuitive than sketches and wireframes, which require clarification and are less visually appealing (as they're mostly created as the first design proposal).
Extended presentations
Some people prefer to acquire their knowledge through reading or writing. How to increase the size of your webinar audience when your core clients aren't fans of video content at all?
To meet such a target group's expectations, you should create an extended version of your presentation that you will send to participants after the webinar. You can add more information to the basic slides that were shown during the webinar and thus create a compendium or a script. If you wonder what an engaging presentation should consist of, we've prepared a cheat sheet that can help you to create an outstanding project.
Cheatsheets and checklists
No matter if your webinar is dedicated to business people or to those who have a different work-life, materials that they can use daily will always be welcome. Think about what fits the topic of your presentation and create a handy asset that can simplify your participants' lives.
You don't need any design skills to create such a file. It can even be a pdf of a slide you've prepared in the tool you use for making presentations. It could also just be a link to the asset, where one can download a copy and use it for their purposes. It could be a ready checklist on Google Sheets, for example, where a participant can schedule their social media posts. If your webinar is dedicated to time management, you might consider making a simple "to-do list" that every attendee can print at home and use on a daily basis. You can also gather the process documentation from group work that happened during the webinar. Combine them into one file and share it with participants as a souvenir. The possibilities are truly endless.
If you decide to create and share content like this, you might consider implementing PDF tracking for safety. It might be a cost-effective solution to find the right software asset management tool and have every important facet under control.
Tricks to increase webinar attendance rate in a nutshell
To sum up our tips on how to increase webinar attendance: reaching an audience who is skeptical about webinars is a real challenge, but the outcome might be unexpectedly profitable. Getting creative with your video content and considering the bigger picture of your marketing strategy can help you stand out from the crowd.
According to this research, webinar marketing doesn't require much financial contribution. Although video marketing can cost even a few hundred dollars, if you're a smaller company with a tight budget then you can start by choosing a robust software system before thinking about making further investments. LiveWebinar is a tool that has your back at every stage of creating video content - from promotion, through running a webinar, to evaluating the whole project by analyzing reports.
Let’s also not forget about the customer service importance, as well as media monitoring which is key for the success of digital marketing.
Thanks to integrations with the most popular email automation software systems, you can easily schedule messages. You can upload extra files in advance and be sure that the system will send them to participants after the webinar. Thanks to growth marketing hacks, the only thing you have to focus on is hosting a video and giving an outstanding performance.
Plus, if you can’t find a plan that suits your needs, don't hesitate to contact us and ask for a customized version. Choose an option tailored to your needs and never worry about how to increase the size of your webinar’s audience again. Finding the right ways to know how to increase webinar attendance can be hard when you don't know where to search. If it will happen so, don't forget about this article ;)