A webinar checklist with 14 essential steps for success

Do you want to host a webinar, but aren't sure where to begin? It is not easy to conduct a quality video conference. Preparation is key to capturing your audience and achieving your objectives. How should we proceed? When it comes to a webinar, what are the essential steps? Are you sure you won't forget anything before, during, and after your event? Here is our checklist for a successful webinar to make sure your event is outstanding.

Webinar preparation - the essentials

1) Identify your goals

To develop a successful event, you must define your goals. Do you want to sell a product or service? Do you want to build customer loyalty? Do you want to share your knowledge? By clearly stating your objectives, you can tailor your webinar's content to suit your goals.

2) Target your audience

Defining your target audience is crucial to achieving your objectives. What is the purpose of your videoconference? Are you trying to attract, convince, or retain customers? Your communication will be more effective if you know exactly who you are addressing. You need to choose content that is adapted to your audience in order to make your communication effective.

3) Make a plan and prepare for your event

It takes several weeks to prepare a webinar. Prepare a list of actions to be taken before your event. Date and time must be:

• Adapted for your target audience (e.g., Wednesday afternoon for high school students ...).
• In accordance with your objectives (e.g., 15 days before the sales opening of your training).
• Doable with your workload is realistic (at everyone's discretion).

4) Gather materials and prepare your plan

Your objectives and persona (target) have been determined. You have set the date and duration of your webinar. It's time to prepare your presentation's structure and to prepare the supporting documents, such as slides, questionnaires, infographics, etc. As a result, you will be able to maintain focus, guide your audience, and engage them in the virtual meeting.

5) Select the platform for broadcasting

The format of your videoconference has been decided. The next step is to choose a webinar platform that meets your webinar requirements. The platform must:

• Meet your functional needs: registration tools, online payment, accessibility on all screens, etc.
• Provide a good user experience: ease of use, customization possibilities, audience participation, etc.
• Be technically efficient: low latency, sound and image quality, and support for large audiences.

👉 Click here to create your first event on Lemon!

6) Promote your event online and invite participants

Spread the word about your event through social networks, blogs, newsletters, promotional emails, advertising, specialized press... There are many possibilities. The choice depends on your marketing strategy (objectives, target,budget, planning). Every communication operation must, in any case:

• Promote your webinar with calls to action.
• Provide a registration link to a presentation page.

7) Gather the necessary equipment for a successful videoconference

Don't neglect your tools if you want to give a neat video conference:

• A stable Internet connection with sufficient speed
• A powerful and reliable computer
• High-quality microphone: a poor sound will scare away the audience
• Good webcams : the ones on computers and smartphones usually work well. Test it!

8) Select a suitable location:

You need to be relaxed in order to make a flawless presentation. Choose a place where you feel comfortable. For your event, this space should be perfectly silent and have the right lighting. Check the image and acoustics at the location if you are unfamiliar with it, set up your equipment as you see fit...

A rehearsal before your live event is the best way to check your preparation, your tools, and your content. There will still be time for you to make a few adjustments before the big day.

Engaging videoconferences - the keys to success

9) Plan a live event that reflects your brand

Whatever the purpose of your webinar, it must be memorable. You should work on your presentation's visual identity to ensure your audience leaves your presentation with a positive and well-anchored impression. Personalize your virtual room by displaying your company colors, logo, competitive advantages... Be yourself, but maintain your image!

10) Captivate your audience

It is not easy to keep an audience engaged during a conference. Use captivating anecdotes, shocking statistics, humorous infographics... Use storytelling techniques whenever possible. Provide real-life examples, comparisons, and case studies to illustrate your point. Materials designed beforehand will provide rhythm to your speech and keep your audience's attention.

11) Interact with your community

The best way to engage your audience is to create an exchange. It is essential to provide them with an experience that is as close to face-to-face as possible. Engage them as much as possible through questionnaires, opinion polls, reflection moments, and Q&A sessions. Audience involvement is possible in many ways. It is important to note, however, that not all platforms offer the same features for interaction. Adapt your videoconferencing solution to your project.

Taking action after the webinar: tracking your audience and results

12) Stay in touch with your audience

The importance of maintaining close contact with your audience cannot be overstated. You should send a thank-you email to participants shortly after the videoconference. You can consolidate the bond you have started building by offering them new content to download, a discount on your next training session, or a sponsorship code. A satisfaction questionnaire is also a valuable tool for evaluating your performance and improving.

13) Reuse your webinar

The majority of video conferencing platforms allow you to record your live event. Integrate the work done into other stages of your business strategy:

• Provide the replay link to attendees and absentees whose contact information you have.
• You can upload the video to your website, your YouTube channel.
• Share the replay link on social media.
• Promote your next webinar with a clip from the video.

14) Assess your performance

Have you achieved your goals? Fill out an evaluation grid based on your criteria to find out. This can be :

• The number of attendees at the event.
• Participation rate of the audience (e.g., 2 out of 3 people spoke in the chat).
• Videoconference content download rate.
• Email open rates for thank-you messages.
• Acquired new contacts.

Checklist for a successful webinar - summary

All levels of a marketing process can benefit from webinars. This is an excellent way to engage your community and generate leads. A webinar requires methodical preparation in order to be successful. Every step is strategic. To create a webinar that converts, follow these steps:

1. Identify your goals
2. Target your audience
3. Make a plan and prepare for your event
4. Gather materials and prepare your plan
5. Select the platform for broadcasting
6. Promote your event online and invite participants
7. Gather the necessary equipment for a successful event
8. Select a suitable location
9. Plan a live event that reflects your brand
10. Captivate your audience
11. Interact with your community
12. Stay in touch with your audience
13. Reuse your webinar
14. Assess your performance

This is the general process of producing, conducting, and following up on a quality webinar. Each project is unique, of course. There must be a good fit between the format and the content. Let's get started: create your first webinar today!