Business Webinars: Everything You Need to Know

According to on24's webinar research, 95% of business marketers believe webinars are essential for their marketing efforts.  

In this post, our Miami digital marketing experts will define what a webinar is. We'll also give you some pointers to think about in order to determine how long your webinars should last.

What Exactly Is A Webinar?

A webinar is a virtual meeting that takes place on an online platform. When conducting a webinar, the host usually uses software to lead a discussion, conduct a training session, or deliver a lecture.

Compared to face-to-face seminars, a webinar is considered a more efficient method because it allows for two-way communication without the hassle of leaving your home or office. Real-time information relay and sharing among participants is also possible with webinars.

Although webinars are convenient, business owners like you must consider time constraints. Everyone, not just business owners, values their time. So, do you know exactly how long it should be?

How Long Should A Webinar Be?

Though timing can vary based on the topic, many webinars take around 60 minutes. This gives you enough time to complete the three most crucial webinar sections.

1. Welcome and Introduction

This section should take 5 to 7 minutes.

Start with a greeting and remember to thank your attendees for attending. Then, provide a brief introduction. Avoid devoting too much time to this and instead emphasize the point so you can explain why the webinar is worth your attendees' time.

You can use power words to keep your audience engaged from beginning to end. Here are some power words recommended by our Miami digital marketing experts to help trigger emotions and increase conversions:

• Capture Greed: save money, bargain, free, earn more, convert, bonus, profit
• Inspire Curiosity: secret, unveil, discover, learn, harness, uncover
• Evoke Laziness: quickly, shortcut, guilt-free, hack, easily, fast results
• Feed Consumers' Lust: craving, desire, sinful, sexy
• Appeal To Vanity: attractive, legendary, youthful, beautiful ‍
• Make People Feel Powerful: elevated, supreme, paramount, might, potent, command ‍
• Simplify Consumers' Lives: simple, never, one-time, ease, reduce ‍
• Exude Authority: dominate, unparalleled, ideal, proven, scientifically shown

Using power words is more than just a psychological trick. It's a tried-and-true method for increasing conversions.

Moreover, it is also critical to set expectations for your participants. Tell them how they can participate, such as through polls or a chat box.  

Lastly, if you’re not the only speaker, make sure to introduce everyone else. The goal here is to keep it as natural as possible. You can share each speaker's name, brief background, and experience.

Here's a great example of how you can introducing your virtual guest speaker:

Remember not to spend too much time on guest introductions as this can bore your participants.

2. Actual Presentation

This is the most critical section and should last approximately 45 minutes.

A brief presentation may give the impression that you did not prepare thoroughly. In contrast, a lengthy presentation may bore and irritate the audience. The best approach is to create an outline to guide you through the stages of your presentation and then stick to it to avoid wasting time.

Keep your slides brief, simple, and engaging. It is critical to have visually appealing slides so that everyone can see them. Excessive use of effects and animations can result in a grating presentation.

RELATED: How to Make Engaging Webinar Presentation Using Visual Slides

This is what people signed up for, so be enthusiastic. Putting on a smile and bringing your energy can go a long way.

3. Questions and Conclusion

Set aside 10–15 minutes for this section.

After the presentation, make a quick recap of the critical points. This serves as a summary and a good jumping-off point for the question-and-answer section.

Also, don't forget to include your contact information, as participants may contact you for additional questions, or even for business opportunities. Share your email address as well as your social media profiles.

Finally, thank your attendees and conclude the webinar on a positive note.

Remember, ,how you end a presentation is just as important as how you begin it. You can follow Expert Academy's advice below on how to end a presentation so that you leave a lasting impression.

When Should I Stay Past 60 Minutes?

Webinars with extremely high client commitment rates or those covering a broad subject may require an hour and a half (90 minutes). Just keep in mind that time management is essential. Longer webinars risk crowd drop-off.

When you plan your online course to last a long time, make sure you look for opportunities to connect with your audience. Similarly, create engaging online course slides and pose questions to encourage participation.

While you must educate your audience with moving industry information, you must also avoid exhausting them. If your webinar lasts longer than expected, your audience will not only drop out, but they may never return.

How Can a Webinar Help Business Owners?

1. It saves you time, money, and effort.

This is primarily why webinars are the best—communicating with hundreds of people via the internet. Before webinars, business owners had to travel long distances, purchase expensive tickets, and devote a significant amount of time to business meetings and deals.

When webinars entered the picture, everything became more convenient. Because of webinars, you can keep up with business demands no matter where you are in the world. You can spend more time strategizing for your company's growth and development.

2. It helps you generate leads.

The primary purpose of webinars in the digital marketing industry is lead generation. Leads propel every business. If a company has an abundance of leads, it will not struggle with growth and development.

Webinars are one of the most effective ways to attract new leads and convert them into customers. Making an online course will not only help you draw in your audience on a more personal level, but it will also respond to their inquiries and allow you to be viewed as a specialist and thought leader in your field.

3. It increases audience engagement.

With online courses, your audience has a voice. They can talk, express feelings, seek clarification on pressing issues, and answer questions; the sky is the limit from there.

When someone gets clarification on pressing issues and discusses what they're being instructed about, they're more engaged and connected.

4. It fosters collaboration and strengthens partnerships.

Webinars enable business owners to collaborate with other companies to gain access to their audience—an audience that could be potential customers.

Collaboration with other organizations adds legitimacy and power to your message, establishing you as the industry leader. It will also increase participation and virtual entertainment sharing.

5. It boosts sales conversion and ROI.

Webinars can help accelerate the sales conversion process.

They allow you to quickly build trust, communicate the value of your products to your audience, and overcome objections.

Start Leveraging Webinars for Business Growth Now!

Now that you have an idea about webinars and how they can help your business grow, the next step is to plan your webinar. When will you start if you don't start now?

If you need help creating a practical webinar for your business, our digital marketing experts in Miami at Digital Resource are here to provide you with the necessary knowledge and resources.

Don't hesitate to get in touch with us for a free consultation.