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Your opportunities to connect with your audience extend beyond your website, a professional blog, and social media. Research indicates that 60% of marketers use webinars as a cost-effective content marketing tool. Hosting a webinar can help generate leads, increase brand awareness and understanding of your products and services. Additionally, it builds trust, offering you a great platform to build lasting professional relationships.

Before broadcasting your first webinar, have a look at these five practical tips for success.

Choose a respected webinar platform

Reliable webinar platforms make it easy for people to register and offer multiple ways for individuals to connect, such as via a computer or smartphone app. Also, bear in mind that several webinar platforms feature ads during webinars with a limited number of attendees. If you’re not expecting a big turnout right away, be aware of how this can frustrate your attendees and prevent them from recommending your content.

Select the right day and time

When to schedule your webinar can affect participant turnout. The best day and time for you is largely based on your target audience. However, some studies suggest Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days. People typically fill their schedules on Mondays and Fridays, making them less ideal.

Fortunately, online resources like Google Analytics can help you schedule around your audience’s time zone. For example, if your highest traffic comes from the west coast of the US, you wouldn’t want to start your webinar at 9 a.m. EST.

Use reliable equipment

One thing that can hugely affect your webinar success is your microphone. While you can use the microphone built into your computer, consider an upgrade if it’s in your budget and you plan to use it frequently. Have a backup on standby and additional batteries if your gadgets need them.

Despite the considerable number of mobile apps available to contain your scripts and content, keep backups old school. Either print out or hand-write copies to avoid missing a thing.

Choose the right topic to interest your audience

Focus on particular topics relevant to your brand and audience. An in-depth presentation is more useful than one covering a broad subject. Whether you’re presenting on a product, service, or an industry trend, ensure to add more value to your participants, communicate clearly, and offer actionable tips and recommendations.

Always remember to offer visually appealing images and introduce one topic per slide to keep your audience engaged all through the session. If you’re inviting a keynote speaker, confirm they’re resourced enough to handle a topic. The goal is to offer more insights rather than doubts.

If you’re struggling with your content, remember:

Practice until you’re a webinar pro

Until the day you go live, practice your webinar several times. Go over your presentation to guarantee your tools are functioning properly and close any needless apps that may cause your PC to run slowly on the day. This will minimize potential problems, build your confidence, and ensure you deliver a webinar for the right reasons.

Webinar presentation checklist

Although some hiccups are bound to happen, everything will be fine as long as you’re well-prepared. Here’s a bonus checklist to help guarantee your webinar goes smoothly without any major interruption:

• Do a practice run (include your guest speakers if their schedule permits)
• Promote early, ideally a week in advance
• Run a speed test to ensure you have a stable internet connection that won’t lag
• Add the presenter’s bio and headshot on the registration page
• Test and optimize the webinar landing page and email invitations