Online Webinars: Definition, advantages and tips

What is the definition of a webinar?

A webinar is an online seminar that enables organizations to reach a larger, geographically dispersed audience in real time. Benefits include cost efficiency, improved participation through interactive multimedia content, lead generation, knowledge sharing, and greater accessibility. Webinars offer a flexible and efficient way to achieve marketing, sales, and educational goals.

Livestreams and webinars can be uploaded afterwards as on-demand video to a video platform. Webinar software can help automate manual processes.

Lreading tip: What is a webcast? Use cases and advantages

What are the advantages of webinars?

Online webinars have been experiencing rapid growth for several years. This is due not only to the logistical flexibility for viewers, but also to the free offerings of many providers. Online seminars offer creative and flexible solutions to prepare content in a customer-oriented manner and to disseminate it to an audience.

Free webinars are particularly effective in increasing customer loyalty, customer generation and awareness of the company or product.

Interaction

Interaction is another advantage of this event format. Viewers can not only exchange information with each other. They can also communicate with the product presenters or moderators in the easiest way possible. Gamification loosens up the atmosphere and ensures more engagement.

Especially during the Corona pandemic in the home office, interaction with each other often suffered. However, when a webinar is hosted, viewers have the opportunity to interact via various interaction tools.

Flexibility and timeliness

Another advantage of webinars is their flexibility and topicality. The topics can be based on current changes and innovations with each presentation. A wide variation of topics also excites the audience. Not only loyal customers are pleased with varied lectures, but new customers are also attracted.

Uncomplicated access and inclusion

The usually uncomplicated access also increases the company's reach. Webinars are the perfect tool for video content marketing. Increase new customer generation and retention of existing customers in one.

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Knowledge Exchange

Webinars offer companies the opportunity to showcase their expertise and thought leadership in their respective industries, further enhancing their brand and reputation.

Cost efficiency

A webinar is typically less expensive than an in-person seminar or conference, making it a cost-effective way to inform and engage clients, customers, and stakeholders.

Tips for successful webinars

You are convinced of the concept and now want to host a webinar yourself? We show you the most important things you need to pay attention to.

Find topic

The first step towards a successful webinar is to identify the topics. Sit down with your team and think about which topics you can present well in about an hour. If it's a product presentation, think carefully about which features and functions can be explained well and simply. If it's a generic topic, work out what points would interest the broad mass of people.

Establish concept

Once you have decided on a topic, the second step is to draw up a concept for its feasibility and implementation. This involves working out how to set up and bring a particular topic close, depending on the audience. Questions to be answered can be:

• What is to be achieved?
• Who is my audience?
• Who is a moderator?
• How do I engage the audience?
• What are the interactive options?
• In what time frame is content presented?
• What should be made available in the follow-up?

Find a suitable event platform

Once the concept has been finalized, a suitable virtual event platform must be found. For an on-site webinar, a location must be found accordingly. Further down in the blog article you can read about event platforms.

Invite participants

The fourth step is attendee management. First, decide how to promote and advertise the online event. Your own social media channels are ideal for this.

Second, you decide whether to invite attendees through your own channels and internal processes or directly through the event platform. We will be happy to help you successfully run the attendee management software.

Internet connection and technical setup

The preparation is complete. Shortly before and during the webinar, a stable Internet connection should be ensured and technical setup should work. Nothing is more disturbing for participants if the connection falters, the presenter's microphone or camera does not work, or even the transmission breaks off. Proactive and preventive preparation will ensure that your webinar runs smoothly.

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Follow-up

After your successful webinar, you can make your attendees even happier by providing key information, documents or a recording of the webinar as a follow-up.

This allows viewers to revisit information that is relevant to them. Customer loyalty, branding and reach are direct consequences of this. When publishing recorded livestreams, make sure that they are anonymized and comply with data protection aspects.

Need an event platform for your webinar?

Are you still looking for a suitable webinar platform? Are you looking for creative and functional webinar tools that support your product presentations, teaching events, company presentations, etc. in a varied way? Your online meetings should become more interactive? Your webinar software should be equipped with live chat, screen sharing should be possible, have social media links and participants should be able to ask questions?

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