Hosting successful webinars with Matthew Moggridge

The Steel Portfolio at QBM has successfully hosted over 25 webinars since COVID-19 hit as a method of bringing the industry together during what has been an extremely challenging time.

Here we speak to Matt Moggridge, Editor of Steel Times International about the why, how and what.

How do you go about hosting a webinar for the steel industry?

Beware of anybody who tells you there is no market for webinars! We have successfully produced over 25 webinars for readers of Steel Times International, bringing together over 1,900 industry professionals online since March 2020.

We have been running a mix of editorially led webinars with multiple speakers focusing on a particular topic, and what we have come to term “ADINARS”, which are straightforward presentations and discussion led by a single sponsor.

The sales message to potential sponsors is very strong as a webinar has longevity due to on-demand content, but also involves exposure to the market, branding, obviously a speaker slot, and access to registered delegates, which is invaluable to any company trying to gain exposure to senior executives in the market.

Once a sponsor is in place, you then need to find speakers and this is where market knowledge is crucial. Some of our best discussions have come from hosting a mix of industry executives and suppliers. If you’re running a webinar on a specialist subject, a leading supplier with knowledge of that subject is invaluable. Ultimately, you want around three speakers to keep things to around one hour in duration – any longer than that and attendees get distracted and discussion starts to wane.

Once speakers are confirmed, be clear on deadlines for receiving presentations, details of the link they need to access the platform and dates and times for a run-through and test of the system.

As the moderator, it’s very important for me to know the details of what they intend to speak about – this will help produce content for the marketing campaign, landing pages and help me prepare for Q&A sessions. As a minimum you’re going to need:

1.??????Title of Presentation.

2.??????A Short Summary of Content (Abstract).

3.??????Speaker Details: Name, Job Title, Photograph and Short Biography.

Once this information is received, you’re ready to promote the webinar. We tend to run 2 week campaigns involving multiple email invitations, coverage on social media, advertising on our industry newsletter and collaterals that sponsors and speakers can use to announce their own involvement. Don’t forget to keep tagging and mentioning speakers and the companies involved to encourage sharing.

It is important to offer all speakers a run-through of the technology a couple of days prior to the event in order to familiarise them with the platform being used and to iron out any IT issues they might have.

On the day of the webinar ensure that the host (that’s my role) is online around 10 minutes prior to the start time and then once the host has made a short speech outlining the event ahead, he or she introduces the first speaker and the whole thing should run smoothly from thereon, barring any technical glitches that can (and will) occur. Very often glitches occur at the speaker end, not the platform end, so be prepared to fill some time whilst issues are fixed!

What’s your best skill that enables you to carry out this task?

I’m a journalist, writer, and I know the industry and subject matter well. This means I have a good understanding of the topics that matter to the industry and makes it relatively easy to secure speakers. It also means I’m comfortable jumping in and contributing to discussions if needed and managing Q&A sessions between participants. Thankfully I’m not phased by giving speeches or ‘broadcasting’!

Tell us the most unexpected thing you’ve learnt about the industry you cover?

The way that the industry (at all levels) has embraced the webinar and virtual event format certainly took me by surprise and the issues we’ve discussed have all been interesting and thought-provoking. It doesn’t beat face-to-face events, but it’s a really good solution for bringing people together in a cost-effective and low maintenance way. Even though we’re now planning for our first in-person Future Steel Forum in Prague later this year, we are continuing to run webinars every month. As long as the industry wants them, we’ll be there!

And lastly, what advice would you give to someone starting out to host webinars?

You 100% need market knowledge if you’re going to find good speakers. Knowing your market, therefore, is crucial.