In a post-COVID-19 pandemic environment, you are probably now accustomed to attending online events in a way that was different before March 2020. You could now be in an excellent position to deliver your own online webinar to an accomplished standard.
However, one drawback of online events now being much more of a thing is that you could need help to make your own event stand out from many others also on the horizon. Fortunately, here are just a few webinar improvement suggestions the element of surprise…
Webinar Improvement Suggestions
Allow Webinar Attendees to Personalize the Experience.
Personalizing the webinar experience can enhance attendee engagement and make them feel valued. By offering options to customize content, interaction, and settings, attendees can tailor the experience to their preferences, leading to a more enjoyable and productive session. Providing opportunities for personalization can also help attendees feel more invested in the webinar, which can lead to increased participation and positive feedback. Overall, allowing webinar attendees to personalize the experience is a simple but effective way to improve the quality and impact of your online events.
For example, even an online event can have its own merchandise stall of sorts. Let’s assume that the event will be a talk with an author. In this situation, you could enable attendees to buy a signed copy of the book, which would be sent to them before or after the event.
You can also offer recipients a voucher code to redeem to access the bonus material.
Give Your Event a Distinctive, Memorable Title.
Creating a distinctive and memorable title for your event can help it stand out and attract potential attendees. A strong title should be descriptive, concise, and relevant to the event’s topic or theme. It should also be unique and eye-catching, making it easy to remember and share with others. A memorable title can generate buzz and excitement around your event, making it more likely that people will attend and engage with your content. By putting thought and creativity into your event title, you can set the tone for a successful and impactful event.
Think about what kind of thing tends to make an eye-catching headline. Then, keep this approach in mind as you come up with a title that will be used for promoting your event.
Marketing expert Neil Patel explains: “Surprises in headlines work because human brains like a novelty. Compared to expected ones, unpredicted pleasant surprises help turn on our brain’s pleasure centers even more.”
So, while ‘Digital marketing trends for 2023’ might sound dull and forgettable, ‘How to take on the digital marketing challenges of 2023’ can inspire the imagination much more effectively.
Use Video Content to Publicize the Upcoming Webinar.
Using video content to promote an upcoming webinar can be an effective way to generate interest and increase attendance. Video content can provide a visual preview of the webinar’s content and format, helping potential attendees to better understand what to expect. It can also be more engaging and attention-grabbing than text or images alone, making it more likely to be shared on social media and other platforms. Creating a promotional video can also help to build excitement and anticipation for the webinar, encouraging more people to register and participate. Overall, incorporating video content into your webinar promotion strategy can help you to reach a wider audience and make a greater impact.
Eventbrite reports: “A recent HubSpot survey found that 62% of people pay close attention to videos, with 53% wanting to see more video content in the future.”
These statistics could incentivize you to put together a promotional video — or even a series of short clips — you could then post on your website or social media pages to help spread the word about the event ahead of time.
Encourage the Attendees to Interact With You.
Encouraging attendees to interact with you during a webinar can help to foster engagement, build rapport, and create a more memorable experience. By creating opportunities for interaction, such as through live chat, polls, and Q&A sessions, attendees can ask questions, share feedback, and provide valuable insights. This can help to create a sense of community and collaboration, making the webinar more enjoyable and informative for everyone involved. Encouraging interaction can also help to establish yourself as an approachable and knowledgeable expert in your field, which can lead to increased trust and credibility. Overall, actively encouraging attendees to interact with you can lead to a more successful and impactful webinar.
Often, when people attend in-person events, it’s for networking. Fortunately, there’s no reason why you can’t encourage similar interactivity at an online event.
In this spirit, you could make the online event in question a webinar. Now you might be wondering: “What is a webinar?” It’s a virtual event where at least one speaker holds a presentation for an audience who can reply by submitting questions.
You can encourage all this and much more with the right webinar platform.
Offer Surprise Gifts
Offering surprise gifts during a webinar can be a fun and effective way to incentivize attendees and improve their overall experience. By offering rewards for participation, engagement, or feedback, you can encourage attendees to pay closer attention and take an active role in the webinar. Gifts can also create a sense of excitement and anticipation, making the webinar more memorable and enjoyable. Additionally, offering surprise gifts can help to establish goodwill and foster positive relationships with your audience, which can lead to increased loyalty and repeat attendance. Overall, offering surprise gifts can be a simple but effective way to enhance the impact and success of your webinars.
One research finding on the CMSWire website revealed that 67% of consumers deem surprise gifts vital for them to receive.
Good examples of gifts you could offer attendees of your virtual event — perhaps while it is underway or even afterward — include gift cards and product upgrades.
