The pandemic and the restrictions that started in 2020 have made any kind of move impossible. But, in fact, there has been a shift: we have gone from analogue to digital. We have opened the doors to webinars and online events. 

In this article we will see what a webinar is, how to create one and turn it into a business opportunity, we will walk among the most complete and used platforms on the market and answer the most frequently asked questions on this topic. 

Webinar: what is it?

This is an interactive online seminar, which allows you to present your content to anyone, anywhere in the world. 

You can invite people to participate live, or you can record the presentation fax database and send it to those who registered but were unable to attend the event.

In the meantime, you can also collect participant information that you can use to segment your target audience and design customized marketing campaigns. Plus, you can integrate a question and answer session to directly answer any questions or concerns from your audience. First mission: completed! Let’s move on to the second goal: to understand how a webinar works. To do this, we came up with a 10-step plan. It seems like a lot, but don’t worry: it’s easier than you think.

How to record a webinar

1. Choose a specific topic 

Your webinar can be about anything, but make sure it is about a specific topic that is highly relevant to your audience.

For example, if you’re reaching out to people interested in ecommerce marketing, you can figure out how to record an SEO webinar .

There are several ways you can find out which topics are the most interesting for your target market, for example:

• Start with yourself. What are the topics you know best? 
• Analyze your social media pages. Look for posts and images with the most shares or, more generally, with a high level of engagement. They will help you pinpoint the type of content that could easily convert to a webinar; 
• Look at your FAQ. Are your customers and potential customers always asking the same questions? Identify any gaps in their knowledge that you may be able to fill with one or more webinars;
• Check out the blog . What are the most clicked articles on your website? Why not turn them into a webinar? The art of repurposing content in different formats is fundamental in order to rapidly scale the production of valuable materials;
• Analyze your customers’ searches. Use a tool like AnswerThePublic to find out what people are asking. Look at the results and choose the questions you could answer.

Once you have an idea of ​​your audience’s interests, you’ll be ready to pick a topic and start creating a webinar. 

2. Choose a format for your webinar

Finding the best way to present your topic can help you structure your webinar more effectively. It’s about choosing a format that fits your personality and goals. Here are some popular formats:

Presentation

This is one of the most used formats for webinars.

Webinars created in the form of a presentation involve the participation of a single presenter who presents a PowerPoint presentation with audio or video in the background.

Another option is to invite an expert from your field to talk about a particular topic and to answer questions from attendees. This could be an industry leader, an experienced professional, or a micro-influencer with knowledge in your industry. To get the most out of this format, be sure to send your expert a list of questions in advance, asking him to prepare the answers.

Product

Product webinars allow you to demonstrate how to use a certain product or service.

You can show attendees how to use a physical product through video, or take advantage of tools like screen sharing if it’s a software or service.

If someone is still wondering how a certain feature of your product works, they will have their answer, and they can then decide to buy it with all the information at their disposal.

3. Choose a platform for your webinar

There are many webinar software – paid and free – that you can use. Let’s take a quick look at the most popular and complete ones. 

Zoom

Zoom is definitely one of the most popular solutions when it comes to webinar platforms. It is a highly scalable solution: it is perfect for small companies with a few dozen participants as well as for large brands that host events with thousands of users. This webinar platform is very easy to use thanks to its intuitive interface. It allows you to register an event and present in a few clicks and connects with other software and applications (eg HubSpot, Salesforce, Pardot…).