WHAT IS A WEBINAR?
How to Create and Manage an Effective Webinar
Turn your presentations into conversations with webinars.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
What Is a Webinar?
A webinar is an online seminar that turns a presentation into a real-time conversation from anywhere in the world. Webinars allow large groups of participants to engage in online discussions or training events and share audio, documents or slides – even when they’re not in the same place as the meeting host or in the same room where the event or presentation is taking place.
Engaging Online Discussions
Used effectively, webinars help you better understand your audience, their pain points and the topics most relevant to them.
Actionable Content
Effective webinars often pick up where traditional slide presentations leave off, adding screen sharing, presenter video and audio and downloadable materials.
USING WEBINARS
How Do Effective Webinars Work?
An effective and engaging webinar starts with three roles: an organizer, at least one presenter and attendees. A few quick steps can help you reach your target audience and spread your message to people online.
Set a Clear Objective
You’ll be more successful if you have a clear goal in mind. What are you trying to accomplish?
Understand Your Audience
What are your attendees’ pain points? What topics might resonate with them? Use those insights to create a compelling webinar title.
Schedule Your Webinar
Research shows 10am on a Tuesday or Wednesday are the best days and times to host a webinar.
Promote Your Webinar
Use email, social channels and your own network to get the word out.
Build Out Your Presentation
“How-to” content tends to perform best. Give your audience bite-size learnings they can apply.
Rehearse!
Make sure you practice your delivery as well as test your technical setup before the big day.
WHY GOTOWEBINAR
Advantages and Uses of a Webinar Software
Increased participation is just the beginning. Check out these webinar benefits for your business.
Train Employees & Customers
GoToWebinar lets you interact effectively with a widely dispersed workforce in real time. Provide pre-recorded or live workshops to audiences of up to 2,000 people.
Generate Leads & Awareness
GoToWebinar helps you better know your customers. Harness data and questions to develop a more accurate customer profile. The result: better customer targeting.
Build Rapport
Whether you use it to inform customers or educate employees, GoToWebinar helps you engage authentically. This leads to improved customer satisfaction and increased employee engagement.
Improve Sales
Focus on high-quality leads for your sales team. With GoToWebinar, you spend more time with the leads most likely to pay off.
USEFUL TIPS
Tips for Creating Effective Webinars
60 Minutes or Less
Keep your webinar to under an hour; if the webinar is too long, participation may drop.
Promote Participation
Use polls, ask thought-provoking questions and provide actionable content. The advantage of webinars over standard webcasts is that webinars encourage discussion, so be sure to take steps to keep your attendees thinking, asking questions and commenting.
Quality is Key
Use a high-quality microphone to ensure that every attendee is clearly picking up what you are sharing.
Don’t Rush
When participants feel that something is being hurried, they unconsciously try to help move it along, which means participation dries up. Instead, plan wisely so that you’ll have enough time to get through what you need to, while still leaving space for Q&A.
GETTING STARTED
How to Create a Webinar
Creating a webinar with GoToWebinar takes just a few steps.
1. Sign in to GoToWebinar
Don’t have an account yet? Start a free trial.
2. Schedule Your Webinar
Click Schedule a Webinar and create a title and description for your webinar.
3. Select Your Session Type
Select a session type, starting date and time, as well as a language the webinar will take place in.
4. Update Your Settings
Customize your webinar by adjusting audio and video settings, creating polls, questions or adding staff.
5. Change Email Settings
Set up automatic emails to remind your attendees about your webinar.
6. Ready to Go
Click Start and your webinar is ready to go.
SEE WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY
GoToWebinar Reviews
GoToWebinar is easy to use. Creating a webinar is just a few steps away.
GoToWebinar is the standard all competitors compare themselves to. GoToWebinar simply works.
This platform is complex enough to work with a number of different types of webinars - involving poll questions, handouts, multiple speakers, etc. - but simple enough to be able to explain to a novice in a short amount of time.
GETTING STARTED
Extend Your Reach
Tailored to Your Business
The world is getting smaller. Individuals can now connect with one another at any time, from almost anywhere via the internet. Mobile smart devices, HD live streaming and near-universal Wi-Fi accessibility are pushing the limits of telecommunication.
Start for Free
Webinars can help you accomplish your business goals and boost your bottom line. See our plans and pricing or sign up for a free trial.
FAQs
Get answers to all of your webinar questions.
- What are the benefits of a webinar?
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Since webinars are easily accessible online, they allow you to connect with more people. Webinars enable attendees to participate in your presentation from anywhere in the world, so long as they have access to the internet. Without the challenges of travel and room space, you can reach and engage a broad audience quickly and efficiently. Additionally, webinars can be recorded and made available for interested people to view even after the live event has ended. On-demand webinars can become part of your company’s valuable ongoing content offering.
- Does a webinar have to be live?
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While webinars are often most effective when they are held live, they do not have to take place in real time. Many companies opt to run live webinars, but then record them to make them available on -demand. In addition, some webinars may never even have a live audience. They are instead pre-recorded then uploaded to the internet for others to watch as if it were a live event.
- What is the purpose of a webinar?
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The main purpose of a webinar is to provide expert advice, training, demonstration, or direction. The best webinars are captivating conversations that provide knowledge or present skills that are immediately applicable. Some companies or individuals use webinars to promote their products by illustrating features, giving demos, and answering questions. These types of webinars are used to engage potential customers., Webinars are most effective for a broad audience when they tackle a common problem that attendees face. In these cases, the problem and solution are the main focus (and possibly the title) of the webinar, while the product or brand is simply the sponsor
- Are webinars effective?
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Webinars are effective as long as they are used strategically. The most effective webinars build trust and provide as much value as possible to current and potential customers. Webinars can be one of the most effective ways to expand your reach, engage your target market and attract new customers.
- How do you make webinars interactive?
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5 quick ways to make webinars interactive
- Spark a discussion
- Ask questions
- Launch surveys
- Challenge your audience
- Provide exclusive information or offers to only attendees
- What is the difference between a webinar and webcast?
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A webinar is typically a live interactive event that attendees join on their desktop or mobile device over the internet. A webcast, on the other hand, is just like a webinar except that attendees can join right from their web browser, no download required. These events are often larger in scope with thousands of attendees at at time.
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