Planning and hosting a webinar or online event might seem straightforward. But one element that many people tend to overlook is how to optimise attendance. So, how can you promote your event effectively? Let’s look.
Take advantage of email lists
When people sign up for your webinar, they will need to provide an email address. Thus, you can take advantage of this to send them regular reminders, and to advertise future events. However, it is important to note that you must only send such emails to those who have opted into promotional emails, and provide users with the opportunity to unsubscribe, in accordance with UK marketing legislation.
It might also be that customers or clients will have to use an email address in order to sign up to order from you. If this is the case, you can also use these email lists to send promotional material for your upcoming webinars, and offer these loyal customers incentive, such as a discount or a freebie for signing up.
Utilise your webinar platform
When selecting which webinar software to use for your online event, it is key to consider one that has an integrated customer engagement platform. This will allow you to curate a hub filled with engaging content, enhancing the customer experience and increasing the potential for conversion.
Customer engagement platforms can also have automatically generated analytics, allowing you to create actionable reports and have real time insights into the effectiveness of your promotions and inbound lead generation.
Optimise your registration page
Your registration page can be the make-or-break for if people actually sign up to your event. In this sense, a good registration page can help you to effectively promote and boost attendance for your online event.
Make it easy and natural for people to register. For example, the call to action (CTA) must feel like the obvious next step in the customer journey. Keep it simple, informative, engaging, and eye-catching. If you cannot convert from your registration page, you won’t have many participants in your webinar.
Make use of content marketing strategies
The purpose of most online events is for attendees to learn something – be it a skill, business centric training sessions, or further education. Thus, it is essential to position your brand as an authority figure in the field, showing the audience that you are experts in what you do.
One way to do this is to employ content marketing strategies. Writing a blog for your website can not only benefit search engine optimisation (SEO) and inbound linking, but it will also provide evidence to the audience that you know what you are talking about.
Share your webinar across all media platforms
And last, but certainly not least, remember to share your webinar’s registration page across all media platforms. This can include your monthly stakeholder newsletters, email advertising, posters, fliers, your website, your newly formed blog, and, of course, across all social media. Just remember to include a clickable link to direct people to the page with ease, complete with an irresistible CTA. With all this in mind, all that is left to do is to start planning your next webinar or online event, safe in the knowledge that you can effectively promote it.
