It is hard to argue with the effectiveness of running webinars. You probably wouldn’t want to argue with marketing guru Neil Patel, who lists various advantages of webinars – including their ability to establish trust, capture high-quality leads and open up partnership opportunities.
However, all of this would depend on you getting webinars right – and you could find this harder to do than you had expected, especially if you have never held a webinar before. So, rather than simply throw yourself in at the deep end with your webinar, you should think about what help you might need with it.
Will you be able to use the required equipment and software?
You might already have all the gear you need for your webinar. Good examples of webinar production essentials include a webinar platform, a fast internet connection, good lighting and PowerPoint software – but this Medium article lists various other things your webinar could also potentially require.
However, even if you do have all the necessary equipment and software, whether you would quite be able to effectively use it by yourself remains its own question. Tools for editing videos and images would certainly be useful for visually sprucing up your webinar – but, if you lack experience of using such software, you might want to hire a few professionals in video production and graphic design.
On the other hand, you might be able to get enough done by yourself if your needs in these areas are not hugely demanding. For example, if you already have videos or training session recordings you would like to include in your webinar but not in their entirety, it could be easy for you to just trim what you don’t need.
Could you run the webinar platform yourself?
Ah, yes – the webinar platform. You might remember it being mentioned earlier in the article, but there is no need to feel awkward if you are currently just thinking: “What is a webinar platform?” Basically, it is the software you would use to host your webinar – but a good provider of this software could tell you more.
You should make sure that your webinar platform of choice will allow the host and attendees alike to enjoy a smooth, intuitive experience as the webinar itself is delivered. With luck, you could find that any help you need with handling the software is easy to source just from the software provider itself.
Always give your webinar a “dry run”
In other words, you should rehearse the webinar before delivering it in front of its intended audience – and any guest speakers lined up for the webinar should participate in this dry run, too.
Webinar expert Daniel Waas recalls one time when he was preparing for a “hotshot social media influencer” to guest-speak on one of his webinars. However, the influencer did not actually show up until five minutes before the webinar was scheduled to start – resulting in a bumpy introduction.
Whatever professional help you do get with your webinar, though, remember that your own influence should strongly shine through.
