How I boost attendance to my webinars

What makes a successful webinar ? 

I am sure we could all come up with a different answer. 

Though one that comes back very often is around how many people actually join the online conference. 

And I learned the hard way that, to make those numbers look great, a lot of work (and planning) is definitely required. 

The story of an epic failure

 I will indeed never forget my first webinar. 

I had spent HOURS working on my presentation. 

I had rehearsed several times to optimize my delivery (kind of an imperative when you deliver a presentation in English and you live with a thick French accent).

I was ready when the time came.

I walked into the virtual conference room, full of confidence, eager to share my knowledge and message. 

I was so proud of this masterpiece I had created. 

Though my pride quickly vanished...

Because only 3 people showed up online to listen to me... 

It made me feel... like this...

All the possible scenarios were basically rushing through my head : 

• I chose the topic poorly, and nobody is actually interested in this ;
• I picked the wrong field, nobody actually cares about it ;
• I must s... at this, I should just forget about public speaking ;  
• [FILL WITH AS MANY DOOMSDAY SCENARIO YOU CAN THINK OF HERE] 

Yeah, I felt bad indeed... 

While actually, I had NOTHING to do with all this. 

What I found out later on is that no one showed up because, well... 

Nobody knew I was organizing this. 

The registration link had been posted on an obscure platform... that nobody had actually been visiting. 

Which translates in very few registrations... 

And very very very few live attendees... 

And ultimately, a speaker (=me) down on his knees... 

This was an epic failure, I still remember it vividly.... 

The good thing here ? Failure always offers an opportunity for a new beginning. 

How I learned about content marketing

I did what I learned in my academic career : I studied. 

And I learned that they key to a webinar’s success... is actually the marketing campaign behind it. 

It might come as no surprise for marketers. 

But I am a veterinarian by trade.  

Before that experience, I actually had never ever given any thought on the importance of content marketing. 

Some told me I was wasting my time even thinking about this. 

I should just “hire the right agency” to do this for me.

Sure, that sounded like a great shortcut... 

There was just a major hiccup here... 

I had no extra budget... 

So I kept learning... and trying things... 

After all, I could only do better. 

I developed my “plan” and over the years, I even fine-tuned it.

My registration numbers became better, the numbers of attendees increased dramatically.  

I was able to share my message all across the world with many. 

And today, I want to share with you how I approach this. 

Because if you put in the work here, you can get tremendous results. 

My “plan” is actually built on 3 things.

Getting the registration links out EARLY

This first webinar I did was planned... a bit in a hurry. 

It was decided a week and a half before the event... which did not leave much room to properly promote it. 

And one thing I learned : when it comes to webinars, PLANNING is key. 

So I started doing that early... almost a year in advance actually. 

I’d define the topics, I’d work on the dates... with one goal in mind. 

On every January 1st, I wanted to have the entire webinar planning for the year. 

And around the same date, I wanted to have all the registration links for the year published.

Those were typically on the calendar section of our website. 

And now that they were out, they could be seen (and found) by anyone visiting it. 

I’d start promoting them later but with this first step, my full year was planned. 

On Jan 1st, I already knew exactly where I was going with this. 

I could then approach things one webinar after the other. 

And this is things would get really interesting. 

Because of my next step : making a buzz by creating an entire online “webinar campaign”. 

Engaging with your audience BEFORE the webinar

 There is just so much one can say during a one hour webinar presentation. 

And I really wanted the content to be tailored to the needs of my audience. 

I wanted it to really resonate with them. 

To do that, I could build it based on my experience of course... but I also wanted to ask them what they wanted. 

So 2 months BEFORE the webinar date, I’d start crafting my webinar campaign :

• I’d think of 3 short ideas or facts I could share with them before hand via a blog or a video. 
• I’d think of 3 questions I’d like to ask them to help me better prepare for the online event. 

 And with that, I’d build digital assets (blogs, videos) that I would use and share (via social media, via a newsletter) starting one month before the webinar date. 

Those would help me engage with the audience and eventually adapt the content of the webinar itself. 

And they would all come with this simple call to action : more about this during our upcoming webinar, register to attend. 

Every Friday, I’d also share a picture on how I was preparing for the webinar. 

It could be a picture of one of the slide, a picture of my webinar setting, a picture of me preparing for the online event... 

Those posts helped build momentum around the event. 

They would bring up questions I’d never thought of while preparing the content. 

Some people stumbled upon it online, we started discussing, they attended a webinar... and many years after, we are still in contact. 

(I even got to meet some of them in person during my travels, and am always glad when this happens.)

This is what my webinar campaign actually looked like on paper.

 It might sound like a lot of work and effort... but we all know the say. 

“No pain, no gain. ” 

Inviting & Reminding

The other key element to focus on here ? The email marketing campaign. 

This obviously encompasses many things, and I must admit before looking into this for my webinars, to me, terms like “opening rate” and “click through rate” were totally foreign... 

There is really a lot that can be done here, but already just focusing on the basics will make a huge difference in your registration and attendance rates. 

And here again, timing is an important aspect. 

This is how I would proceed : 

A common mistake we’d do at the beginning was to sent an initial invite... and stop there. 

When we added the reminder 2 weeks before the webinar dates to people who had not open the first email, we immediately saw a dramatic increase in the registration numbers. 

Something we also learned : having people registering is great - but it is of the utmost importance to make sure they don’t forget ! 

That’s why we’d send out reminders : 1 day and 1-2 hours before the webinar actually started. 

(And for this last part, today’s webinar platforms basically have it all automated. Which obviously makes it much easier on our end. )

But do not overlook the power of those emails !

You see, this is how I used to promote my webinar events.

And what I really want you to take away from this, is that a key to the success of a webinar, is to engage WAY in advance with your audience. 

It should always start at least a month before the presentation is actually delivered. 

This is how you will make the buzz. 

This is a way for you to get great registration & attendance numbers. 

I also believe that a webinar does not end when you close the virtual conference room. But that’s another story, let’s keep it for later ! 

 (And if you have other tips you use on how to promote your webinars, I’d obviously love to hear about them !)