One of the reasons why a webinar is so great for online marketing is that it is cheap and easy to produce.
Although technology is central to holding these events online, it shouldn’t be a huge obstacle.
You can create excellent professional webinars without the technical headaches — if you do it right.
Choose the Right Webinar Platform
There is a huge variety of platforms and software programs available for holding a webinar.
When choosing yours, the main consideration should be ease-of-use.
You’ll need to learn how to use it before you can start planning your event.
Two great platforms that are very common and easy to use are Zoom and WebinarNinja.
Each has more than enough features for your event.
Zoom is a great, free resource to get you started with your first webinar.
Once you are ready to expand your webinar activities, WebinarNinja has more comprehensive scheduling and participation tools and integrates with all your favourite CRM and email software.
It even lets you charge for your webinars and handles payment processing.
Simplify Your Webinar Presentation
When planning your webinar, try to make it as simple as possible from a technical point of view.
For example, rather than bothering with survey or chat features during presentation portion of your webinar, it is easier to create a Q&A session at the end that you can do live.
Try not to get bogged down in features that may present a challenge.
Use Minimal Gear
If you talk to people who’ve done webinars in the past, they might start recommending a laundry list of equipment that they claim is absolutely essential.
However, you probably already have most of what you need to get started.
Your computer’s webcam is enough to hold a professional-looking webinar.
The only other technical essentials are a stable Internet connection, the necessary cables and adapters, and a good microphone.
You should probably invest in an external microphone as PC mics don’t offer the best quality.
It may seem strange, but sound quality is more important in a webinar than high quality video .
It’s best to use what you already have at first and upgrade only as needed.
Cutting Down on Technical Catastrophes
There are a few ways you can cut down on anything going wrong during your webinar.
The first is to practice.
Run through your webinar with actual live guests.
You can enlist coworkers or family members to do this for you.
In this practice run, you’ll discover any glitches to correct before you have actual customers joining.
It also helps a great deal to have a dedicated technical person on-hand during the event.
They don’t have to be an IT professional, just someone who can turn things on and off and deal with technical headaches if they arise.
This way, you won’t be distracted from giving your presentation.
It’s very disruptive if the host has to stop and take care of something, and it’s guaranteed to lose you viewers.
Don’t Sweat the Technical Stuff
Keep in mind that the value your webinar offers doesn’t come from the fancy, high-tech bells and whistles.
It’s the actual content that will help your audience solve their problems.
Focus on making it smooth and easy, and also keep in mind that it’ll get easier with experience.
