Unsurprisingly, the popularity of webinars has flourished since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, so many webinars have now been delivered in such a short space of time that you could be short of distinctive ideas for what to focus on in your next webinar.
Here are some techniques you could try to help yourself decide on just the right webinar topic.
Define your audience
If you can already describe your audience in just one or two words, you can probably skip this step. Otherwise, though, you should think carefully about which end of a spectrum your company’s customers – or, at least, target customers – occupy.
For example, are those people mainly male or female? Are they relatively affluent, or on a lower rung of the income ladder?
Ask your audience what they want
Yes, sometimes, the obvious thing to do is also the right thing to do. Perhaps you could be open about the fact that you are preparing to hold a webinar but aren’t certain what it should be about.
You could then explain that, for this reason, you would like suggestions of potential topics for that webinar. You could say all of this on your brand’s social media channels or on surveys you email out.
Avoid trying to cover too many bases
As digital marketing consultant Shane Barker explains in an article published by the Content Marketing Institute: “One major mistake made by organizers is picking a generic topic because they are so eager to share their knowledge.”
However, in making this mistake yourself, you could end up spreading your attention too thinly, resulting in a webinar that feels essentially “Jack of all trades, master of none”.
Make the content timely
For example, as the world slowly reopens in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, you could put together a webinar titled “Post-Lockdown Strategies for Your Content Marketing”.
In research by webinar expert Daniel Waas, a topical title like this was found to earn a webinar 12% more attendees. Meanwhile, a title including the word “New” – think something like “New Content Marketing Strategies for the Post-COVID Era” – sparked a 16% increase in attendees.
Look up your best-performing blog posts
If your business has its own blog and regularly adds new content to it, why not use your analytics tool to see which of this blog’s articles have attracted the most views, comments and shares?
Your blog posts that have scored most highly in these areas could provide you with an intriguing insight into which subjects you should consider further exploring in a webinar.
Consider what your customers ask during your webinars
The Q&A section of a webinar is invaluable for facilitating interactions between audience members and the webinar’s hosts and panelists.
According to research findings mentioned in a LinkedIn article, Q&As feature in 81% of webinars, while 92% of webinar attendees expect the event to be wrapped up with a live Q&A session. Thus, when holding a webinar, remember to use a webinar platform that includes support for Q&As.