After reading our 8 Week Guide To Planning A Professional Webinar, you will have all the tools you need to produce an effective webinar program.

However, one step that most marketers find difficult when planning their program, is executing their promotional plan.

What does your landing page look like? Have you set up your email communications workflow? What other promotional strategies are you implementing?

Not sure where to start? Keep reading our guide to learn how to create your next webinar promotional strategy.

5 Step Guide To Creating An Effective Webinar Promotional Strategy

This week, I want to give you the best tips I have for pitching and promoting your webinars.

Use this 5 step guide to help choose the right promotional methods for your audience.

Pro tip #1: Make sure your webinar promotions fit together in harmony. For example, have one core message that you use on all your promotional material. Also, be sure that you are using the same call-to-action (CTA) every time. Your webinar registrants should always know exactly what the next step is.

Create a work-flow to help you create a better user experience for your audience. This will convey a stronger message in all your promotional tactics.

Step 1: Have An Optimized Landing Page & Proper Conversion Path

First, you need your conversion path set. This includes a fully optimized landing page where your audience can register. This is a crucial step before launching your webinar.

Be sure your landing page includes:

• A common pain point and how your webinar provides a solution.
• The date and time.
• The participants and speakers.
• A form where they can register.

Once your landing page is complete, make sure you have the proper conversion path. Create a thank-you page for post-registration. Supplement that with a confirmation email. Include details such as the date, time and a link to where they can find the webinar.

Pro tip #2: Ask your email list for any questions they’d like answered a few days before your event. You’ll find out what your webinar registrants want to learn. Also, you will have a bank of relevant questions to start your Q&A with. This will help improve your webinar engagement.

Step 2: Create Your Email Workflow

A. The Initial Invite:

Around 2-weeks before the event, email your list an invite to your webinar. Include information that you have on your landing page. Remember to add a button for easy navigation to your landing page. Your email content should highlight a few pain points that resonate with your cold leads. It should also include a unique solution that only your webinar provides.

B. The Did Not Opens Email:

People have busy schedules. As such, they might miss your first email. Create an email segment for those who did not open your first invite email and send it a few days later to reactivate your leads. Change the copy with a new pain point that your leads still experience.

C. 1-Week Reminder Email: 

This reminder should go out a week prior to your webinar. It can be sent to both your registered and non-registered email list.  Create a concise but engaging reminder that touches on specific pain-points for your audience. You have the solution they need, they just need to watch your webinar to learn about it.

D. Last Chance Reminder: 

Your leads will have a better idea of what their schedules will look like closer to the event. On the day before your webinar, send a last-chance reminder to your non-registrants to give them a sense of urgency. Also be sure to email your registered leads to remind them of the event they signed up for.

E. Thank You For Coming/Sorry We Missed You:

Your event may be over, but your webinar promotions are not. Reach out to your attendees and thank them for their attendance while including a link to your on-demand webinar. Also, create a “Sorry We Missed You” email with a link to your on-demand webinar and send it to your registrants who could not attend as well as your non-registered leads.

Step 3: Create A Lead Magnet

Lead Magnet  (noun)

“an irresistible bribe offering a specific chunk of value to a prospect in exchange for their contact information.” – Digital Marketer

A lead magnet is a great way to initiate the ask for your audiences’ information. This lead magnet can be added to your landing page and within your email workflow. This can be in the form of:

• A video – keep it short and simple.
• A guide – create a quick how-to guide that leads into the webinar.
• An infographic – develop an eye-catching graphic that provides value to your leads.
• Etc.

Above all, make sure your lead magnet content is quick and easy to consume. The goal is to get their contact information, so don’t give away all your secrets.

Example: If this blog post was a webinar, I would create an “Email Workflow Calendar” that laid out Step 2 with dates.

Not only are you offering them something for free, but there’s more context about your webinar and what registrants can expect.

Step 4: Promotional Blog

You already have the content (landing page and lead magnet), so promoting your webinar with a well-crafted blog will help convey your message more easily. Additionally, you can promote your blog on all of your social media platform to spread the word about your webinar event. This is another effective webinar promotional strategy to increase the number of eyes on your content.

Start sharing your blog around the same time you launch your initial email invite from step 2.

Bonus: Boost your blog post on Facebook to get more eyes on your blog.

Step 5: Exit-Intent Popups

Exit popups are effective at directing traffic to new content when site visitors are about the leave your site. A good practice is to enable your exit popup only once per visitor, not per page. This will be less intrusive when it comes to your user experience.

Alternatively, you can choose which pages to enable your exit popup on. Drive traffic to your lead magnet or directly to your landing page, depending on what your overall marketing flow looks like. Ensure that you have an exit popup on your promotional blog as another way to direct traffic to your webinar.

Let’s Recap:

When you’re creating your webinar promotion workflow, ensure all pieces work together and enhance your message across all platforms.

• Step 1: Create An Optimized Landing Page—Ensure you’ve included all the information your audience is going to need, including date, time, and how to register.
• Step 2: Create An Email Workflow—From the initial invite to the “sorry we missed you” email, you want a structured workflow to get your piece of content into the right hands.
• Step 3: Create A Lead Magnet—Give your audience instant gratification for signing up to your webinar. Create something tangible that directly compliments your webinar by providing value. Include that lead magnet in all your promotional pieces.
• Step 4: Promotional Content & Blog—An easy way to create promotional content for your webinar is to create a promotional blog. This way, you can share it across multiple social platforms to increase registrants. If you have some money in your budget, boost your promotional blog to increase your reach across social platforms.
• Step 5: Exit-Intent Popups—An effective way to generate more leads and expand your promotions. Use this only in relevant areas of your site, such as blogs or webinar libraries. 

Start planning out your most effective webinar promotional strategy using this 5 step guide. As always, reach out to me personally if you have any questions.