How to Maximize Webinar Registrations

For many of us in the marketing world, when we seek to maximize registrations for a webinar, we’re thinking “let’s get as many butts in seats as we possibly can.” 

That’s not what this post is about.

Here, we’re exploring how to maximize webinar registrations so you get the most value out of your work. We’re talking, smart, not hard; attracting the right leads; focusing on the most impactful areas so you can make the most out of the resources you have.

Attracting leads is one thing, but attracting the right leads is more important. Quality beats quantity. Let’s go.

Host your webinar at the right time

Studies have shown that web conferences held during specific days and times lead to higher conversion rates when compared to others.

According to reports from ON24, web conferences held midweek by 11:00 am Pacific Time (2:00 pm Eastern Time) have attracted more conversation rates. Aside from choosing a time that will accommodate your audience, make sure your online events are on-demand so attendees can tune in whenever they can after the event airs.

Know your target audience’s sweet spot. If you’re seeking to connect with a target audience that is most active during the business day, mid-morning is likely a good bet. If you’re seeking to reach a school-aged audience, that time will fall flat. 

Aside from choosing the right day of the week and hour of the day, consider the time of year when scheduling your webinar. Are you going to conflict with a large industry event? Major holiday? Consider calendar milestones when setting a date for your event. 

Optimize Your Webinar Registration Page

The content of your webinar registration page will make or break your signup rate. Optimize your registration page for better engagement. Remember: your webinar is a way to connect with your target audience. You’re offering them the value of your company and your brand. You’re building trust and helping your target audience decide if they want to use your products or services. Your registration form should reflect that. 

Don’t chase prospects away by asking for as much information as possible; ask for the essentials so you can draw them in and do your qualification at a later stage. Information requested should be necessary for the webinar, and the form fields should be short and straight to the point.

Let your prospects qualify themselves on your landing page. Embed graphics, testimonial videos from previous attendees, keywords in headlines, and short video clips so they can quickly decide to register for your webinar or not. 

Make sure your calls to action are effective. If it’s hard to register, most prospects won’t take the time to figure out how. Optimizing your registration page is one of the best methods for boosting attendance and reaching potential customers.

Advertise Your Webinar on Social Media

Advertising your upcoming event on social media is one of the webinar's best practices for boosting attendance and maximizing registration. Platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook are great for building awareness and drawing attention to your online event.

But advertising on social media is barely table stakes. How can you use social media to maximize your registrations? 

Find a platform where your target customers are most active and launch paid and organic ads for your upcoming event. Use keywords and hashtags that are relevant to your target audience, and use audience mirroring tools to reach more prospects that match your current list of contacts.

Leverage your colleagues’ professional network. After posting about an upcoming event online, send direct messages to your most connected contacts asking them to have a look at the post and add their thoughts to get a conversation started. Tag prospects in the comments section of the post, but keep it relevant: you don’t want to spam people, you want to add value to their network.

Don’t forget the link to the registration page in your posts or comments!

Work with an Influencer

Influencer marketing is one of the best methods for maximizing registration and attendance. A web conference advertised through an influencer will have a higher turnover registration rate than one without.

Influencers have a built-in audience and if you choose the right one, you can drive valuable leads into your marketing funnel. Engage with an influencer by asking them to be a guest at your webinar or by advertising with them on their own platform. 

Partnering with a top influencer in your industry can give your upcoming online conference the right exposure to attract qualified leads and maximize your webinar registrations. 

Offer Incentives

Including incentives as a bonus will attract more audiences to register for your event. It is a creative method of encouraging your audience to register, attend and engage through the entire web conference. 

Be careful that your incentive is aligned with what you’re offering and that it will bring value to that offer. A great incentive that has nothing to do with your product or service will attract the wrong types of leads, taking valuable seats away from the right ones.

Share value through your incentives: embed a free ebook, PDF report, presentation, handout, or training video as the incentive for attendees after a web conference. 

Send a Personalized Email

Email marketing can successfully increase webinar registration and attendance. It is one of the webinar best practices for converting prospective attendees to registrants. Webinar emails reach more audiences than standard emails.

Segment your contact lists to create a personalized email cadence. Share reasons why each group would benefit from attending your webinar. Then, invite them to register for the event. As the event nears, you can continue to refine each message for those who haven’t registered yet. 

Follow up with reminder emails for registered guests a day before the web conference and another an hour before the event. 

After the event ends, send one more message thanking your audience for attending with an embedded recording of the event and any incentives you promised. 

Collaborate with Another Business

Forming partnerships with other businesses in your industry is another best practice for reaching new leads to attend your webinar. It is cost-effective and will boost your online event by attracting the right audience.

For added effectiveness, partner with businesses in your industry and propose a collaboration with them. It will not only help increase the number of your registrants, but it will also boost your brand's visibility and attract prospective customers. 

You could offer a service bundle, giving webinar attendees a discount if they engage with both businesses at the same time, driving sales for both companies.

Prepare your sales teams for follow-up

Aside from driving the most relevant registrations possible to your webinar, you should prepare your sales and customer success teams so they can follow up with the right leads and convert them into new business. 

Make sure your sales teams are aware that you are hosting a webinar; brief them on the subject and content of the presentation, and give them access to information about the event in advance. Provide follow-up emails and scripts to make it easy for your sales team to connect with highly-engaged leads from your webinar to really maximize those registrations. And, of course, gain consensus about when follow-up from the webinar will take place so engagement isn't lost.

Summary

Although webinars are powerful tools for boosting the visibility of your brand, attracting and converting registrants remains a challenge for many marketing brands. Outlined above are some of the best practices for maximizing webinar registrations.