The Three Ps of Webinar Production

Webinars have become the latest marketing and communication tool for companies to not only engage their clients, but also solicit new ones. From SalesForce to TD Ameritrade, it seems I get e-mail invitations monthly to attend webinars.

If you are considering adding a webinar (in short, an online seminar) to your marketing list, consider the following: Does your company have a need to educate and engage your clients? If your answer is no, then webinars wouldn't be a strong marketing tool. (However, they could be a good internal communication method for training or informing employees.) Are your customers tech- and web-savvy enough to find your webinar? Is your product something clients/people would appreciate learning more about? Would this be a value-added addition to your current marketing or sales campaign?

If you decide to proceed, I have broken webinar production into three P's: Planning, Promotion, and Production.

P1: Planning

Part of my background is in journalism. One thing you learn as a journalist: There's always more than one way to tell a story. Producing a webinar to suit both your company's and clients' needs should be well thought out. Be creative.

What is the purpose of your event? Education? Marketing? Teambuilding? When you think about your message and agenda, you have to think about your audience. Put yourself in their shoes and understand what would entice them to commit an hour or two.

The next step is to decide what voices you will use during the event. Having a dialogue is always better than one person talking. Two to three people often work best, with one acting as a host leading the discussion. If it is appropriate for your product, including a client or user who is well-spoken can be beneficial. Then begin to outline the discussion. Establish a message that you are trying to convey, build around that, and reiterate it throughout the event.

P2: Promotion

You have to begin marketing your event in advance of the broadcast. Whether you will just play the webinar live or post it for on-demand rebroadcast, you need to make sure your audience is aware of it. Send e-mails to current and potential clients. Post a notice on your website. Include details on the loop that plays when callers are on hold. The more people who are aware of it, the greater the success it will be.

P3: Production

For most companies, this is one role that is outsourced (a strategy I recommend). Webinars can be produced and broadcast in two ways: live and on-demand. Live broadcasts allow for Q&A interaction, which engages the audience. On-demand broadcasts are pre-taped and available to view at the attendees' leisure. Any live broadcast can also be repurposed for on-demand.

Richard Morris is a principal of WPRNY, a New York-based video production company that specializes in event and business videos. For more information, visit www.wprny.com.

Originally published July 1, 2009

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