As more people get vaccinated, we are seeing events begin to pick back up. However, when it comes to panels and networking we are not yet where we were pre-pandemic. Many people are still working from home and are glued to their phones and computers most of the day. Now is a great time to share your messaging by hosting a webinar. A webinar can be a great tool to reach new potential customers and clients, but it needs to be done correctly.

Here are a few things you should keep in mind when considering a webinar:

• What will you discuss? You want to make sure your topic is something that will provide benefit to your audience. A direct sales pitch or rehashing a widely-known topic won’t make for a compelling webinar. New legislation, explaining a recent news angle or issue, how-to or reworking a conference presentation all make for great webinar topics.
• Who will be involved? Do you want to strictly have speakers from your company? Partnering up is a great way to bring your message to a broader audience, which could mean new business. For example, if you are considering a webinar on the legalities of new finance-related legislation, it makes sense to partner with a financial expert or bank to help widen the scope of knowledge for your viewers. As a benefit, the speakers you bring in will then promote the event to their contacts, essentially doubling your potential audience. Here at Boardroom, we are legal marketing experts, so you can reach out with any questions you might have.
• Get Organized! Once you have your webinar topic and know who will take part, you need to get organized! How long will it be? Will you have time for Q&A at the end? Create an outline and PowerPoint of the event. Assign slides to specific speakers to avoid anyone speaking over each other or awkward pauses. You will want to do at least one run through and make sure you assign a person to move through the slides and deal with comments and questions from participants.
• Create invites. Create a nice invite with all the webinar details and share it everywhere! Newsletters, e-blasts and social media are all great ways to get the word out. Don’t forget a follow up invite a few days before.
• Have fun! Once the webinar kicks off, have fun! Show your personality, try to get the best information out there and go with the flow. Don’t stress if something goes wrong, webinar attendees are very understanding, so just regroup and move on.
• Follow-up. Not everyone who RSVP’s will be able to make it, so send them the taped version of your webinar in case they are still interested in seeing it. Be sure to send a thank you email to the people who did attend and let them know who to contact with any follow up questions.

With a little planning, a webinar is a great way to establish your company as a thought leader and generate new business. Still feeling overwhelmed? If you need a South Florida public relations firm, contact BoardroomPR and we can help you will all your webinar and marketing needs!

Lauren Berger

Account Director