How to plan a successful webinar, step by step

What is a webinar?

A webinar is a seminar held online. Participants join via a computer, phone or tablet and can take part in the content live or in a pre-recorded format.

Webinar is a combination of the words "web" and "seminar" and is often used for education, knowledge sharing, lead generation, customer care, onboarding and sales. For many companies, a webinar is a smart way to reach more people without having to book a venue, arrange travel or gather everyone in the same place. At the same time, you get the chance to build relationships, answer questions and follow up on interest right after the broadcast.

A webinar is a digital event

It is easy to think of a webinar as just a video presentation, but in practice a webinar is a digital event. That is why you need the same basic parts as for other events, such as registration, participant management, confirmations, reminders and follow-up.

If you want to create a better overall experience, it is smart to gather this in an event platform where you can handle registrations, communication and follow-up in the same flow. That makes it easier both for you and for the participants.

What you need to plan a webinar

Before you start marketing your webinar, you need to get the basics in place. A successful webinar is almost always built on the same parts:

• a clear purpose
• a defined target audience
• a relevant topic
• a clear agenda
• a smooth registration
• reminders before the start
• a plan for follow-up

You gain a lot by thinking through the whole journey from the first invitation to the last follow-up. With a clear digital invitation, a simple registration and good follow-up afterwards, the chances increase that more people register and that more of them actually show up.

Start with the purpose and the target audience

The first step is to decide why you are holding the webinar. Is the goal to educate existing customers, create new leads, book meetings, launch something new or strengthen the relationship with your target audience? The clearer the purpose, the easier it is to choose the topic, the content and the call to action.

Once the purpose is clear, you need to define who the webinar is for. A webinar for new leads often looks different from a webinar for existing customers. The target audience affects the tone, level, length and which type of follow-up fits best.

If you are unsure who you are targeting, it can be wise to start with your target audience and their most common questions, problems or needs.

Choose a topic that attracts the right participants

A good webinar topic is clear, relevant and concrete. Try to choose a topic that solves a problem, explains something difficult or helps the participant reach a clear result. Being generally interesting is rarely enough. It also needs to feel useful.

Instead of a broad topic like "digital marketing", a clearer angle is often better, for example "how to create a registration page that gets more participants" or "how to follow up an event with newsletters and SMS".

The clearer the benefit you promise, the easier it becomes to get registrations.

Create a clear registration page for the webinar

Your registration page is one of the most important parts of the whole webinar flow. This is often where it is decided whether the visitor actually registers or leaves the page. That is why the registration page should be simple, clear and focused on a single goal: getting the right people to register.

A good webinar registration page usually contains:

• a clear headline
• what the participant will learn
• the date and time
• who the webinar is for
• the name of the speaker or host
• a simple form

If you want to increase conversion further, it is a good idea to keep the form short. A well-thought-out registration form with only the most important fields usually gives better results than a long form with many questions.

Write an invitation that makes people register

A good invitation should quickly answer three questions: what is the webinar about, why should I take part and what will I get out of it? Try to write concretely and clearly. Put benefits before features and avoid making the invitation too long.

Your invitation can be sent by email, shared on social media and used on the landing page. The same basic message should come through in all channels so that the webinar feels clear and professional.

It is often a good idea to tell people already in the invitation:

• which problem the webinar helps to solve
• how long it is
• whether it is live or recorded
• whether there is an opportunity to ask questions

Market your webinar in the right channels

When the page and the invitation are ready, you need to get the webinar out to the right people. Start with your own channels. If you have an email list, newsletters are often one of the best channels for driving relevant registrations. There you can segment recipients, adapt the message and follow up with reminders.

You can also market the webinar via LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, organic posts, ads and partners. If the webinar is part of a larger campaign, it can be smart to combine email, social media and a dedicated registration page to gather the traffic in one place.

If you want to build a more automated flow, you can also use marketing automation to send the right message at the right time, for example a confirmation after registration, reminders before the start and follow-up after the webinar.

Confirmations and reminders are crucial

Many webinars lose participants between registration and the start. That is why confirmations and reminders are important. When someone registers, they should immediately get a clear confirmation with the date, time and information on how to join.

Before the webinar, it is wise to send at least one or two reminders. For some target audiences, SMS reminders also work very well, especially if the webinar is held during working hours or if registration happens long in advance.

A simple reminder structure can look like this:

• a confirmation right after registration
• a reminder the day before
• a reminder on the day
• a short reminder just before the start

How to set up registration for your webinar in Paloma

Registration, reminders and follow-up are the same job for a webinar as for any event – and that is exactly the job an event platform does for you. This is what the flow looks like in Paloma, from the registration page to the follow-up:

Everything happens in Paloma's event platform, where the webinar's registrations share a contact list with your newsletters and other mailings. The free tier covers up to 80 participants per event – enough for most webinars.

Plan the content carefully

A successful webinar needs a clear structure. The participant should quickly understand what is going to happen and why it is worth staying. So make a run sheet with clear parts and stick to it.

A common structure can be:

1. a short introduction and welcome
2. a problem or need
3. solutions, examples or training
4. questions and answers
5. a clear next step

Try to keep the focus on the participant's benefit. A webinar that just becomes a long sales presentation often loses engagement. Offer concrete value instead, and let your offer become a natural continuation.

A live or pre-recorded webinar?

Both live and pre-recorded webinars have their advantages. Live works best when you want to create dialogue, build trust and give participants the opportunity to ask questions. Pre-recorded works better when you want to reuse the content over time or let more people watch it when it suits them.

For many companies, a combination works well. For example, you can hold the webinar live the first time and then use the recording in later flows, on a landing page or as part of an automated customer journey.

Technology for a webinar, this needs to work

The technology does not need to be advanced, but it must be stable. Poor sound, a shaky connection or a blurry picture can lower the experience immediately. So test everything in good time before the broadcast.

Make sure you have:

• a stable internet connection
• a working camera
• a clear microphone
• good lighting
• a calm and tidy background

If several of you take part in the broadcast, it is wise to do a joint technology test. If you can, an external microphone is often a better investment than an expensive camera, because the sound affects the experience a lot.

Checklist before the webinar starts

• check that the computer and equipment are charged
• test sound, picture and internet
• open the presentation and links in advance
• have the run sheet available
• make sure who is responsible for the chat
• check that the participant link works
• be online in good time before the start

How to keep participants engaged during the webinar

It is not enough for participants to register; they also need to want to stay. That is why the webinar must be clear, lively and relevant. Start strong and quickly show why the topic matters. Explain what the participants will take away and then keep the pace up.

Some simple ways to increase engagement are to:

• ask questions during the webinar
• use concrete examples
• have a clear common thread
• vary between talking, slides and demonstration
• set aside time for questions

If there are two of you, one can give the presentation while the other takes questions in the chat. That usually makes for a calmer and more professional delivery.

How long should a webinar be?

There is no exact right answer, but many webinars work well in the range of 30 to 60 minutes. Shorter webinars can suit introductions or concrete tips, while longer webinars suit training or going deeper.

The most important thing is that the length matches the topic and the target audience. A clear and focused 35-minute webinar almost always beats a drawn-out 75-minute one.

Should a webinar be free or cost money?

Many companies use free webinars to create interest, build relationships and generate leads. That often works well when the goal is to reach new people or introduce a topic. If, on the other hand, you offer in-depth content, exclusive training or specialized expert knowledge, it can be reasonable to charge.

Consider what value the participant gets, how strong the demand is and what you want the webinar to lead to. In some cases, the webinar itself is the goal. In other cases, the webinar is a step towards the next action, for example a booking, a demo, a purchase or a follow-up meeting.

How to follow up after the webinar

The follow-up is often what decides whether the webinar actually leads on to business, dialogue or a continued relationship. So always send a follow-up email afterwards. Thank people for taking part, share the material and make it easy to take the next step.

A good follow-up can contain:

• thanks for taking part
• a link to the recording
• the presentation or a summary
• relevant guides or resources
• a clear call to action

Webinars as part of a larger event strategy

Webinars rarely work best as an isolated activity. They become stronger when they are connected to the rest of your communication. For example, you can use webinars as part of your event strategy, your lead generation or your customer care.

A common and effective setup is to combine webinars with:

• newsletters for invitations and follow-up
• SMS for important reminders
• marketing automation for automated flows
• event guides for going deeper

When everything is connected, the webinar becomes not just a one-off occasion, but part of a clear and sustainable way of working with digital events.

Summary, how to succeed with webinars

To plan a successful webinar, you need to start with the purpose, the target audience and the topic. After that, you need to create a clear registration page, write a good invitation, plan reminders and make sure the technology works. The webinar itself needs to be clear, relevant and engaging, and afterwards you need to follow up in a well-thought-out way.

If you see a webinar as a digital event, it also becomes easier to build a better whole around registration, communication and follow-up. That increases the chance that the webinar is not only well attended, but also creates real value for both the participants and the business.

Frequently asked questions about webinars