7 Super Tips for Organizing Online Events

If you aren’t used to hosting online events like webinars, it might seem like a very difficult and time-consuming task. Content marketers constantly emphasize the value of these events and how much they contribute to the brand. This puts a lot of pressure on the host and speakers to deliver the best possible results. It’s not a very well understood process, but the numbers show that webinars are pretty effective tools for brands. Below you’ll find some tips on how to make your webinars more successful.

1. Make it personal

Web events don’t feel very engaging most of the time. The speaker rarely gives off the impression that they’re talking to actual people. Instead, it mostly seems as though they are speaking to the camera and vaguely acknowledging watchers as if it were a video that they would be uploading. This is something you want to avoid when hosting your online event.

Instead, you want to make it feel as personal and engaging as possible. Don't let the fact that you're speaking to a monitor or camera distract from the fact that you're actively talking to hundreds or thousands of viewers. Treat it as a live demonstration and you'll be able to engage every single viewer.

2. Get creative with visuals

A virtual audience has a very short attention span. Whether you’re hosting a podcast or webinar, you’re unlikely to have viewers that are completely engaged in your content. After a few minutes, viewers will check social media, decide to play games on their phones, and exercise before getting back to your presentation. This kind of multitasking is pretty much expected of viewers, but that doesn’t mean you can’t fight the distractions.

You should strive to create some interesting visuals during your online session. Interactive images and questions will keep viewers on edge and stimulated throughout the discussion. They will stop and wonder about the questions you pose and try to answer them. This creates ideal breaks between speaking that will keep your video session engaging.

3.  Get rid of filler words

A good speaker will need to learn how to filter certain words out. Better yet, filtering filler words like “uh” and “you know” would be the best course of action. They aren’t exactly words, but rather pauses between sentences that disrupt the flow of speaking. It’s a small detail that viewers will pick up on.

Using too many filler words makes your presentation seem unprofessional. Try to practice speaking without using those words because they can harm viewership numbers.

4.  Have a specific goal in mind

Webinars aren’t held for the fun of it. There are a couple of reasons your business might want to hold online events and attract viewers. For some, it’s increasing exposure for the business and its many products and services. For others, it’s all about networking and creating business opportunities with new clients.

The important thing is that you keep your presentation consistent with your goals. It would help figure out where to aim your priorities.

5.  Build a database

Having good content which keeps viewers coming back is great, but how do you get them to come back in the first place? Even ideal content isn't always going to get people interested in the next installment of your webinar. Another topic might not interest them as much, which means they probably won't be excited enough to follow the next one religiously.

This is why they could use the occasional reminder about your latest seminar. Why not send them a reminder in the form of an email? Keep a list of people that have an affinity for your business and its services. Sending them an email could spark interest in the topic being covered. To get more people on your list of potential watchers, send out newsletters and white papers. These are ideal tools for expanding your client email database.

6.  Give it extra value

When deciding on how to produce your webinar, you might be wondering whether or not to charge a fee for the whole event. Conventional wisdom will tell you that charging a fee or subscription would lower attendance and lower the viewership while also bringing you more profits. However, this isn’t necessarily true. In many cases, adding a fee could even increase your viewership.

This is because attendees might think that a free webinar just acts as an ad to help increase exposure to the business running it. They’ll be skeptical of the motivation of the speakers and they’re less likely to follow it with interest. However, adding a fee also adds some perceived value to the whole event, giving it some weight.

Plus, charging a fee will add a nice boost to your webinar budget. You can increase the quality of your online events by incorporating more digital event services and making them even more attractive to attendees. Paying a fee is made even more worthwhile when attendees can get live event streaming and videos on demand. It’s a pretty attractive offer, especially if the fee isn’t too large.

7.  Deliver high-quality work

Webinars can serve a bunch of different purposes. In many cases, they serve as a branch of a business’s content marketing team, which aims to create some extra exposure for the brand. However, you should never let this be the obvious focus of your web events.

People watch your presentations with the intent of learning something new. This is what you have to provide them. Always strive to create a knowledge base that will benefit watchers and attendees alike. As long as they’re getting useful information out of it, everything else is pretty much just icing on the cake.

Conclusion

Hosting web events is a lot less complicated than it might seem. When you’re organizing your webinar, you want to make it as effective as possible. As long as you stick to these tips, you’re going to find that your webinar is going to be a smash hit.