What is a webinar and how do I run one?

This guide will look at everything worth knowing when it comes to what a webinar is and how to run one. We’ll answer questions and provide explanations to common questions like what is a webinar? How do webinars work? How do I run a webinar? How do I record a webinar? So, let’s get started.

What is a webinar?
A webinar is a seminar conducted over the web. You can present to a significant amount of people, including in the hundreds if you’re lucky. The general purpose is to generate leads or educate your audience in some way. They’re often a feature rich platform with slide shows or demonstrations, polls, Q&As, surveys and more.
How do webinars work?
They work by allowing a presenter or several presenters to either dial in or connect via webcam. You can present your webinar live, or present it using SimLive. This is when you record it beforehand and present it as if it were live. Your audience attend your event by clicking a single URL. You can choose whether you want to include a custom registration form and password protection for individuals who are attending.
So, when would you use a webinar?
When you need to grow as a business
Webinars are an effective and affordable way to generate high quality leads. As mentioned, you can create custom registration forms, which can be made mandatory to attend the event. You choose what information is most valuable and what you’d like to gather from them, so you’re in the best position to follow up afterwards. With many of us now working remotely and unable to attend large scale conferences, you can use it as an opportunity to reach even wider audiences!
To train and develop new employees
Educating new employees on your company values, procedures etc can be a time-consuming task. The same can be said for developing your workers skill sets. With features built into the product dedicated to training such as exams and certificates you can tailor make courses, saving time and resources that can be better spent elsewhere.
To share unique insights with your audience
If used properly, they can be fantastic for building company reputability and authority. You can provide expertise, without asking for much in return. If you’re an expert in content marketing, social media, life guru, computer programming, whatever it may be, the platform can be used to educate efficiently and on a much larger scale. This in turn builds trust with you being recognised as an expert in that field and are more likely to make a purchase.
If you’re producing content that is beneficial to your audience, it’s likely they will tune in. This may be to learn about that awesome new product you’re launching, or you’re just flexing your brainpower on a certain topic. Either way, the people that sign-up to an online event are usually looking to learn something new.
How to run a webinar
Stage 1:
Before you even select a date and time for your webinar you want to make sure you have worked out your objective. This means deciding what you hope to achieve from the webinar, how much you want to promote, and how you’re going to measure success. Once you’ve set out a clear objective, you’re ready for the next stage.
Stage 2:
Select a date, time and duration for your webinar. You’ll want to consider this carefully and understand when your customers/potential customers are most active. This will also depend on your objective. For example, if you’re training employees then it will be best to schedule it during work hours. However, if you’re showcasing expert insights you might want to schedule it during lunch or evening time.
Stage 3:
Choose how you want to deliver your webinar. When it comes to setting up your webinar you need to decide how you want to deliver it. You can deliver it live but if you’re worried about potential hiccups then choose the SimLive option. As touched on earlier, this will give the illusion of a live event but in reality, it’s pre-recorded. This means you can perfect your event before unveiling it.
Stage 4:
Decide what content you’d like to upload. Make sure it’s engaging, otherwise your audience aren’t going to stick around. Decide what interactive elements you want to include to get your audience involved. This includes polls, Q&As and surveys. This will depend on how you choose to deliver your event but make sure you don’t leave it till the last minute. Upload all content beforehand and when it comes to running the webinar, it should all go smoothly. To get a more in-depth understanding of how to run a webinar, book a demo with one of our experts
How to record a webinar
It would be a waste of time and event if you delivered your webinar and then simply forgot about it. You’ll want to share the online event with attendees and have it to analyse, so that you can improve and build on future webinars. So, it’s essential that you record your webinar.
With our webinar product, events are automatically recorded saving you the hassle of having to figure it out. After your event you can download them as MP4s and share with attendees. That’s all there is to it, make sure you utilise your recordings to get the most from your webinars.

WHAT IS A WEBINAR AND HOW TO HOLD ONE SUCCESSFULLY

What is a webinar?

How do webinars work?

When you need to grow as a business

To train and develop new employees

To share unique insights with your audience

How to run a webinar

How to record a webinar

Want to find out more?