Webinar Marketing Strategy: it starts with Power Point
Thumbs up for quick lists: your webinar content strategy domination is a mere 7 steps away
Confession: I loathe and despise doing Power Point decks. When I’m told do “do a deck” for anything, I feel much the same way that I did in school when I was asked to do math homework.
Ugh, math homework. Ugh, Power Point decks.
And so, when it came time for me to do a social listening webinar a few months back, the first thing I said, was, “Oh, no: I have to do a Power Point deck, don’t I?”
And then, realizing that this was a rhetorical question, I said, “Well, if I’m going to do a Power Point, then it is going to be the best darn Power Point that anyone has ever seen!”
And, with that lofty goal in mind, I started setting my webinar content strategy.
Now, I don’t know if the social listening deck is the best darn Power Point that you’ve ever seen; what I do know is that I performed this webinar 3 times in multiple time zones (US, Europe, Asia), and we blew away average attentiveness rates: industry standard is around 30%, and the social listening webinar I did held a 65-75% attentiveness rate.
Sweeeeet.
Since this webinar worked so well, I decided to give y’all a quick list of webinar strategy tips – from Power Point to beyond – so that the next time you have to do a Power Point deck and talk into a microphone to try to get a point across to a group of people who are sitting remotely in front of a screen that has multiple sources of distraction, you’re well-equipped for greatness.
7 Webinar Marketing Strategy Tips for a Killer Webinar Performance
1) Treat Your Slides Like Print Ads
Your deck is the only thing that people are looking at while you talk. This shouldn’t be a leave-behind deck; this is a live presentation, and your job is to keep people engaged. By making sure that your slides are pretty and engaging, and not littered with too much text, you have a much better chance of keeping people with you. I used full-bleed photography and bullet points, which you can see if you go check out the social listening webinar replay.
2) Have Someone in the Room with You
Performance into a microphone in an empty room is awkward and unnatural. Rather than trying to come off as personable and engaging to my MacBook Pro, I had my friendboss Marc sit in the room with me for rehearsals and performance. Not only does this give you someone to talk to, it also gives you someone for cues – I for example have a tendency to talk very fast, and Marc was there to give me a hand sign to slooooooow down. Pick someone you genuinely like, and someone who doesn’t make you feel nervous.
3) Practice, Practice, Practice
I really can’t stress this enough: a webinar is a performance. Good performance requires preparation, and that means practice runs. Don’t expect that great notes are going to get you there; if you’re reading your notes, you’re going to sound like you’re reading. I am a girl who, in point of fact, uses a script – but that script is a guide for me, not something to read verbatim. Until you don’t sound like you’re reading anymore, you haven’t practiced enough.
4) Stand Up
This may sound strange, but I find it incredibly helpful to stand while I present a webinar, even though the only other person in there is someone who, by the time I’m doing it live, has seen me perform the webinar between 5-10 times. You most likely wouldn’t be sitting in a chair if you were presenting in front of a room of people, so don’t do it just because that room full of people is remote. Your energy will be better and you’ll sound more natural if you’re standing.
TIP: I used a podium for my laptop and used Scotch Tape to keep it there. Yes, I am very high-tech that way. Thanks, 3M.
5) Use video
Our attentiveness rate spiked up into the 75% range when I mentioned that we were about to watch a video, and through the video itself. Keep the video about a minute or under if you can.
6) Test Your Technology
There are different webinar services out there, and all of them have something in common: things can go awry, both from a technology standpoint and from a user error standpoint. That being the case, it’s best to eliminate the second problem by having a go at the software well before you’re using it live.
7) Smile
You’d smile for the camera, so don’t forget to smile for the audio. Yes, you really can tell – you’ll sound friendlier and more relaxed, and you’ll probably feel more relaxed too. It’s easier to smile when you have someone in the room with you who you actually like, too, so when you’re tackling #2, just be sure to choose wisely.
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If you have any other groovy little tips about your own webinar marketing strategy, give us a holler in the comment field.