How do you use webinars for Public Relations?

1 Define your goals

Before you create your webinar, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with it. Do you want to educate your audience about a topic related to your industry? Do you want to demonstrate how your product or service can solve a problem or meet a need? Do you want to showcase a success story or a case study? Do you want to announce a new feature or a launch? Depending on your goals, you will need to choose a format, a topic, a speaker, and a call to action for your webinar.

2 Choose your platform

There are many platforms that allow you to host webinars, such as Zoom, Webex, GoToWebinar, Livestorm, and more. Each platform has its own features, benefits, and limitations, so you need to do some research and compare them before you decide. Some factors to consider are the cost, the number of attendees, the registration process, the interaction options, the recording and replay options, the analytics and reporting tools, and the integration with other tools.

3 Promote your webinar

Once you have your webinar ready, you need to spread the word and attract your target audience. There are many ways to promote your webinar, such as email marketing, social media, blog posts, press releases, podcasts, influencer outreach, and more. You need to create a landing page for your webinar that explains the value proposition, the agenda, the speaker, and the registration details. You also need to create a follow-up email sequence that reminds your registrants about the webinar, sends them the access link, and encourages them to attend.

4 Deliver your webinar

On the day of your webinar, you need to make sure everything runs smoothly and professionally. You need to test your equipment, your internet connection, your slides, and your audio and video quality. You need to start on time, introduce yourself and your speaker, and set the expectations and the ground rules for the webinar. You need to deliver your content in an engaging and informative way, using stories, examples, data, and visuals. You need to interact with your audience, using polls, quizzes, Q&A, and chat. You need to end with a clear call to action, such as downloading a resource, signing up for a trial, booking a consultation, or joining a community.

5 Follow up with your audience

After your webinar, you need to keep the conversation going and nurture your leads. You need to send a thank you email to your attendees and a replay link to those who missed it or want to watch it again. You need to ask for feedback, testimonials, referrals, or reviews. You need to share your webinar recording on your website, social media, blog, or podcast. You need to segment your audience based on their level of interest, engagement, and qualification. You need to send them relevant and personalized content that moves them along the buyer's journey and builds trust and loyalty.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?