10 Best Practices Informational Webinars

WHITEPAPER

10 Best Practices for

Informational Webinar Production

An End2End Solution for Webinar Demand Creation

October 2009

Mike Agron and Bret Smith, Co-Principals, WebAttract

WHY INFORMATIONAL WEBINARS?

Before you can have a meaningful dialogue with a prospective client, you often have to get

above the noise level. A webinar targeted to a demographically matched audience with

the right message/content is a great way to establish your thought leadership and value.

Furthermore, the “web” provides leverage from allowing a small organization with limited

resources to rise above the noise level and reach out to an audience that in the past had

been the domain of only the big guys.

It also let’s you compress time zones and geographies with ease.

Add the fact that the webinar is a “live” event, and you have created a sense of urgency

for those wishing to attend.

The idea of the digital campfire came to me six or seven years ago when I managed a large

partner organization and realized that by hosting a monthly partner call, we would show

our partners that they indeed mattered to us and we could keep them in the know with

new product and technology updates and it was a relatively cost effective way to stay


Sales LeadsBrand

Awareness

Thought

Leadership

new product and technology updates and it was a relatively cost effective way to stay

connected, and all the while it helped raise our thought leadership and brand.

From a sales perspective, it really can help accelerate the sales funnel by using such an

event to self-identify those prospects that would want to have a 1:1 or more in depth

conversation with you and your company.

When you consider the cost of a print ad in a trade journal or exhibiting at a trade show,

the price of a webinar can be pretty cost effective.

WHY INFORMATIONAL WEBINARS?

• Rise above the noise level

• Target a demographically – matched audience

• Web leverage levels the playing field

• Digital campfire – Live!


• Accelerate the sales funnel

• Cost effective

Sales LeadsBrand

Awareness

Thought

Leadership

PROOF POINT 1

According to a recent survey, if you

want to reach technical buyers,

use informational webinars!


use informational webinars!

29% of those surveyed will spend

more than 50% of their marketing

budget online this year, and 48%

will spend over one-third online.

PROOF POINT 2

As reported in BtoB Magazine,

VERTICAL MARKETING GUIDE, June

22, 2009: based on an online study


22, 2009: based on an online study

that examined the media and usage

preferences of 338 top global

business execs, if you want to reach

senior executives on the web, your

best vehicle is webinars, which 77%

of C-level execs listen to at work

INFORMATIONAL VS. SALES PITCH

Not all webinars are created equal. There are some specific differences in focus, and

between being informed and being sold.

Another word for Informational could be educational, i.e., the real value in your audience

attending is that we will provide them with something “new” that they didn’t know or

hadn't considered before attending.

So, in the case of the Sales Pitch, the focus is more on the product, features and benefits

and maybe even pricing.

In the Informational webinar, the center piece is around learning business value, which is

nicely conveyed from a case study, where you have a client or partner share what best

practices they implemented and most importantly, the audience gets to hear from a peer or

colleague some valuable lessons learned.

Generally, we don’t like being sold and there’s often a fine line between what is


Generally, we don’t like being sold and there’s often a fine line between what is

informational and a sales pitch, but if attendees can walk away better informed with some

fresh new ideas that they can take action on, then it was well worth their time.

After attendees are convinced there’s value in having a further discussion, then it becomes

perfectly appropriate to discuss features, benefits and pricing.

BEST PRACTICE 1

YOUR AUDIENCE IS YOUR TOP PRIORITY

I'm sure we all agree that, regardless of whether you're producing a theatrical event, a

radio broadcast or an informational webinar, the audience has got to be your top priority.

So before I start planning an event, I ask myself the following questions like:

...What do I know about them? Where are they from, what industries to they represent,

and what are their job functions?

With that information in-hand...

...what topic will my audience find most engaging? Clearly, this is not a decision I make

without the advice and counsel of those whose opinions I rely on, but for instance...

would the audience be more interested in a discussion of best practices? ...or an

exploration of a topical concern around something like regulatory compliance? ...or a


exploration of a topical concern around something like regulatory compliance? ...or a

presentation of a case study where a useful new technology or process is

demonstrated...and so on.

And then a very important question:...

...What will I provide so the audience is certain they invested their time well with me?...

...for instance, shall I provide insights, best practices, tips and tricks, metrics, explanations

of ROI, an interview with a subject matter expert, and so on.

And then lastly...

...How do I assure they can extend the dialogue with me following the event?...

...What I mean by this is not simply providing an email address and phone number for

myself on the last slide, but also for the featured speakers, and links to presented

collateral and to your webinar archive where they can obtain recorded copies. AND, I

also expect to interact with the audience after the event...not just a "thanks for

registering" email, but one that provides links to other related collateral as well as offers

a poll so the audience can provide additional feedback.

BEST PRACTICE 1

• What do you know about

them?

• What topic will your audience

find most engaging?

• What will they get out of

YOUR AUDIENCE IS YOUR TOP PRIORITY


•

investing their time with you?

• How can they extend the

dialogue with you beyond the

event?

BEST PRACTICE 2

WORK PLAN DEVELOPMENT

I like to think of webinars as “mini events” and like all

events, there are a lot of moving parts

All webinars should be framed with a set of business

objectives that becomes your roadmap for all of the best

practices that follow

Led by a strong project manager and production team as

well as the key internal and external stakeholders, it’s


well as the key internal and external stakeholders, it’s

important to know what each persons roles,

responsibilities, deliverables and due dates are.

I recommend weekly meetings to measure progress

against the plan and to adjust priorities.

Eight weeks seems to be just the right amount of time

from creating your business objectives to going

live….there’s just the right amount of creative energy to

get it right…..yes, it can be done in a shorter time frame,

but too much shorter, and you cause undue stress and

produce sub optimal results.

Finally, you should plan on investing a minimum of one

plus hour for every live webinar minute.

BEST PRACTICE 2

• Lots of moving parts

• Clear business objectives

• Roles and responsibilities

• Deliverables and due dates

• 8 week planning horizon

WORK PLAN DEVELOPMENT


• 8 week planning horizon

Metric

Plan to invest 1+ hour

for each live

webinar minute

BEST PRACTICE 3

AUDIENCE RECRUITMENT

Audience Recruitment consists of 3

main components, beginning with

identifying the group you want to

recruit to your event. Once done, the

creation of an impactful series of

messages to drive registration for the

webinar follows, and then the


webinar follows, and then the

development of an intelligent,

adjustable "invitation strategy" so as to

attain the optimum number of

attendees.

BEST PRACTICE 3

• Identify the value-

proposition match group

you wish to recruit

• Create a compelling, multi-

touchpoint message

AUDIENCE RECRUITMENT


• Broadcast touchpoints over

an informed, flexible

invitation strategy

BEST PRACTICE 4

IDENTIFY TO RECRUIT

...so how DO YOU identify the group from which to recruit your audience?

First, build a profile of the intended group...

...Which industries are you interested in connecting with?... And, within those industries,

what departments, and what levels (c-level, director, etc.), and what functions, or titles,

within those departments do you seek? Do you want Fortune 1000 companies, or those

with revenues between 10 and 50 million? What geography do you want to pull from?

What other aspects of the group could provide meaningful insight? Are they current

customers, or fresh prospects?


customers, or fresh prospects?

Next, what may seem like the obvious...and that's matching the value proposition to the

group. The bottom line here is match it as granularly as possible. In other words...do you

really want to communicate to ALL of marketing, or do you want to connect with

marketing communications, product marketing, corporate marketing, and so on. This

really is crucial for 2 reasons: 1) because you want this group to be receptive to future

communications and 2) because you don't want to cannibalize the entire group for what

might have been sufficient contacts to support multiple webinars.

And last...consider the source for your group. Will you invite the right people from your

own CRM, or your client's CRM? Will you rent a list for a certain number of uses? Or will

you outsource the audience recruitment effort altogether, with the vendor providing

both the group as well as the delivery?

Clearly, there are several ways to go on this last part. Importantly, regardless of the

source, the list must be accurate and it must be deliverable. An emerging approach to

increasing both accuracy and deliverability is the methodology which WebAttract uses,

which converges traditional subscription-based contact data with social media for highly

accurate, highly-deliverable emailing.

BEST PRACTICE 4

• Build a profile of the group to

recruit your audience from

• Match the value proposition

to the group

• Consider your group source:

IDENTIFY TO RECRUIT


•

• In-house

• Outsource

• Rental

Metric

Registration = ½% - 1%

of database

outreach

BEST PRACTICE 5

This brings us to the next step in the audience recruitment process, and that is the development

of messaging which is compelling enough to secure your group's interest and attract them as

audience members for your webinar.

Apart from having the creative skills yourself, or those that can provide them, there are 4

important elements to remember, particularly as they pertain to email-based messaging...

First, write your message in the language of your expected audience. That is, take the time to

understand the vernacular of your profiled group, and use background information, press

coverage, white papers, etc. to provide a "language framework" around your topic that will best

resonate with your audience.

COMPELLING MESSAGE DEVELOPMENT


resonate with your audience.

Next, "Invite, enthuse, excite - but don't sell, and don't be over-exclamatory". Naturally, in

inviting your prospective audience to an INFORMATIONAL webinar, you most certainly do not

want to be commercial in your outreach to them. However, projecting a degree of enthusiasm

about the subject matter is important. Spark their interest, provoke their intellectual curiosity

and make sure they understand how excited you are to engage them.

It also goes without saying that you need to communicate "what's in it for them". Why will this

time be valuably spent with you? Again, in an informational webinar, the value is in learning

best practices, "lessons learned" and shared, metrics, ROI and case studies. You absolutely do

not want to be product-specific, delve into pricing or relate "features & benefits" the way you

would in a straight sales message.

Lastly, use a combination of HTML and plain-text messaging across multiple touchpoints. Think

about it... HTML messaging is excellent for communicating your brand through the use of logos,

colors, etc., and you don't want to lose the opportunity for raising brand awareness in

recruiting your audience. BUT, HTML messaging, which contains HTML coding, is one heckuva

spam trigger. So by sending one or more of your messages in HTML, and the remainder in

plain-text, you assure the best that each can afford...getting your brand effectively in front of

the entire group, while making certain that the majority of contacts SEE your message.

BEST PRACTICE 5

• Author in the audience’s

jargon

• Invite, enthuse, excite – but

don’t sell, and don’t be

over-exclamatory

COMPELLING MESSAGE DEVELOPMENT


• Be sure to express “what’s in

it for you”

• Utilize a combination of

HTML and text

Metric

57% higher response

rate when HTML and

plain-text messaging

used across multiple

invitations

BEST PRACTICE 6

COST EFFECTIVE E-BROADCASTING

So, we've identified the group we're going to recruit our

audience from, and we've developed some highly-impactful

messaging. Now it's time to deliver that message to market.

Clearly, there are many ways to deliver invitations to your

group. However, the most cost-effective by far is the one

which best leverages the Web itself...email or, as I call it, e-

broadcasting.

For optimum effect, plan to deliver multiple messages over a


For optimum effect, plan to deliver multiple messages over a

reasonable period in advance of your webinar. Typically,

three invitations at more or less weekly intervals beginning

no longer than three weeks prior to the event is best.

Remember, too, that you want to have an adjustable

invitation strategy. What do I mean by that? Fundamentally,

I mean you should use the intelligence you're collecting from

your audience along the way to the event. For instance,

each time you do an e-broadcast, and a number of people

then register on your landing page, utilize their answers to

expand or refine your eventual presentation, and to enhance

your invitation's effectiveness.

And, of course, it goes without saying...if you're using email

to invite your potential audience, be CAN-Spam compliant!

BEST PRACTICE 6

• Deliver multiple touchpoints

• Start promoting 2 ½ weeks to

3 weeks before webinar

• Have an adjustable invitation

strategy

COST EFFECTIVE E-BROADCASTING


• Always be CAN-Spam

compliant

Metric

Maximize registration

with 4 well timed

e-Broadcasts

BEST PRACTICE 7

ANALYTICS

When you are planning your registration landing page,

develop a few questions that will help you gain some better

insights into your audience’s interest and goals.

There’s a fine balance between asking too much, or sounding

like you are trying to qualify them as a sales prospect, but

asking non invasive questions such as which industry best

describes your organization, what city or state is your

business in, and especially What would you like to learn from

this webinar, are great ways to get a profile of who is

planning on attending your webinar.


planning on attending your webinar.

Obtaining answers to your registration questions is

extremely helpful in developing not only a compelling

message, but can help readjust your messaging strategy. It’s

not unusual to make changes after the 2nd or 3rd

e-broadcast.

This info is also extremely helpful in developing content that

is relevant to your audience too.

For example, though you may have a general idea of what

you want to present, it is the accumulation of your

registrants' responses that helps shape your webinar.

We recommend using a tool such as a Pivot Table or Business

Intelligence tool to help you slice and dice the info, as you’ll

be amazed at the insights you can observe such as tracking

and graphing the daily registration counts.

And make sure to share this info with the other stakeholders

on the webinar team to help them validate their

presentation sections.

BEST PRACTICE 7

• Use your registration landing

page strategy to understand

your audience’s interests and

goals

• Start tracking & graphing daily

stats after e-broadcasting

ANALYTICS


stats after e-broadcasting

• Cross check & publish daily

results to stakeholders

Metric

Ratio of attendees to

registrants will vary

30% - 60%

BEST PRACTICE 8

Now that we’ve developed the content, delivered the message, it’s time now to do a table

read and start to assemble the content from all of the providers.

First, start with a time line to examine the flow and order of the presenters.

Then take a hard look to make sure that the content supports the messaging in the

invitation and that the flow is of interest, relevant and something that, based on what you

know about your audience, will engage them.

Usually it takes a few table reads to get the rough edges off, but its well worth it.

DRESS REHEARSALS


Usually it takes a few table reads to get the rough edges off, but its well worth it.

Once you have the flow and content down, then it’s time to insert transitions, and cues so

again, the flow is natural and any “dead or awkward air” is eliminated.

A professional moderator is a good investment as they can be the orchestra leader and

keep the rhythm and energy moving in the right direction.

An experienced moderator can also play the role of a coach to help and motivate presenters

to net it out and be as engaging as possible. This is especially important with presenters

who aren’t used to this Type of medium

Oh yes, as they say when you are about to take off on an airplane….in the unlikely event of

an emergency landing….we’ll all of this webinar stuff is technology driven, and technology

can surprise you when you least expect it, so have a back up plan if something goes south

on you.

Audio is the "Achilles heel" of all webinars….VoIP, speakerphones, noisy headsets…..

So, you should budget a minimum of 2-3 dress rehearsals to practice not only a crisp

delivery, but your transitions and cues should be nailed down too.

BEST PRACTICE 8

• Does the content support

the invitation messaging?

• Is the flow interesting,

relevant and engaging?

• Practice cues and

DRESS REHEARSALS


•

transitions, eliminate “dead

air”

• Technology familiarity and

have a back up plan

• Audio is often the Achilles

heel, VoIP, Speakerphones,

noisy headset, etc.Metric

Budget for 2-3 Dress

Rehearsals

BEST PRACTICE 9

SOUND CHECK – GO LIVE!

Always start with a sound check, and I recommend you

have all presenters and panelists login an hour before

going live….to both check out the technology, learn

about any updates, and make sure everything works.

A few things to always do:

Show respect for your audience by starting as on time

as possible and end on time

Since your only real connection to your audience is


Since your only real connection to your audience is

your voice, use it as an instrument as it will help you

project your natural self….and keep a glass of cold

water handy, as it’s important to keep your throat

moist.

Since you can’t look at your audience in the eyes, you

can interact with them through the use of 1 or 2 Polls.

Try to budget the hour including the welcome and

other parts to end with about 10 or so minutes for

Q/A.

A back of the envelope metric that I’ve found is that

attendance will peak as you get into 1 or 2 questions,

and it’s not unusual to have people leave, as they are

busy too.

A good target is to hold onto about 90% of your

audience into the Q/A

BEST PRACTICE 9

• Audience respect means you

start and end on time

• Use your natural voice as an

instrument

• Interact with your audience

SOUND CHECK – GO LIVE!


•

through Polls

• Budget a min of 5- 10

minutes for Q/AMetric

Attendance will peak

at the

Q/A with 90%

retention as a good

target

BEST PRACTICE 10

EXTENDING THE DIALOGUE (POST WEBINAR)

Ok, the webinar was a big hit and the recording sounds

better than you thought it would.

Now it’s time to do the final analytics that include not only

the registration, but attendance and performance stats.


the registration, but attendance and performance stats.

How long did they stay? How did they vote in the Polls?

Answers to these questions indicate how well you did in

achieving your webinar objectives.

Always make a recording of the webinar, and consider

“airbrushing” out any audio imperfections and then posting

it where it can be retrieved as an on demand viewing.

We’ve found that this can generate another 10% to 40% of

fresh new interest.

Also, make sure that you follow up within 24 -48 hours

after the webcast of all warm leads.

BEST PRACTICE 10

• Do final analytics on

registration, attendance,

and performance objectives

EXTENDING THE DIALOGUE (POST WEBINAR)


and performance objectives

• Post a copy of the recorded

webinar and track on-

demand viewings which can

be 10% - 40% of registration

• Post webinar registrant

enhancementMetric

Follow up on all warm

leads within 24 – 48

hours

of webcast

10 Best Practices for

Informational Webinar Production

and Audience Recruitment


Principals


Principals

Mike Agron

WebAttract

Bret Smith

WebAttract

For more Information on WebAttract call us at 1.866.467.0003 or

visit us at www.webattract.com