How to Run Webinars to Promote Your Online Course Business

8 minute read

Webinars have become an essential tool for online course creators to effectively promote their businesses and engage with their target audience.

By hosting webinars, you can provide valuable insights, showcase your expertise, and build a strong connection with potential students.

In this blog post, we will explore why webinars are a great way to promote your online course, provide a step-by-step guide to running webinars, and share some helpful tips to make your webinar a success.

What is a Webinar?

A webinar is an online event where the host delivers presentations, lectures, workshops, or training sessions to an audience.

The term "webinar" is a combination of "web" (referring to the internet) and "seminar," indicating its educational or informative nature.

Webinars are typically hosted using webinar software or platforms that facilitate real-time communication and interaction between the presenter and the attendees.

Workshop How to Market a Course Creator Climb

A workshop we held a while ago. Watch the replay here.

If you are looking for the best platform to host your webinars, check out tools like Demio (specifically designed for webinars) or - to get started - you could simply use a live communication tool like Zoom.

During a webinar, the presenter shares their screen, slides, or multimedia content while delivering a live presentation. Webinars often incorporate interactive features such as chat functionality, Q&A sessions, polls, and surveys to engage the audience and encourage participation.

While the goal of webinars is mainly to provide value and share information, they can be a great marketing tool for creators and entrepreneurs.

They provide a convenient and cost-effective way to reach a large audience, interact with potential customers and connect with them on a deeper level.

Creator Climb Monthly Creator Live Workshops

Looking for examples of successful webinars?

We run our own workshop series where every month, we host webinars for our customers with guest speakers who are some of the top experts in the world. While we do not use these webinars as a marketing tool, but as a way to offer value to our existing customers, you can get the inspiration you need by watching them - and prepare for your next event!

Check out our latest workshops in our online community of creators, Creator Climb:

Why Webinars Are a Great Way to Promote Your Online Course

As with any online business, marketing is the number one way to gain more customers. Online courses are no different, and if you are a course creator, you may want to include webinars in your marketing strategy.

Here is why hosting a webinar can be a great way to get more online course customers:

Webinars Allow for Personalized Interaction with Your Audience

Webinars allow you to connect with your audience in real time, fostering a sense of personal interaction and trust.

People who attend the event will get to know you on a deeper level. They get to interact with you, ask you questions and connect with you on a human level.

The direct interaction that results from a live event is much more powerful compared to other marketing strategies, such as running ads on social media. Once the webinar is over, both you and your audience will feel much more connected, and this may result in high conversions and more sales for your online course.

You Get to Demonstrate Your Expertise

Convincing your potential customers that you are an expert in your field should be one of the top priorities of course creators. Since you are selling knowledge, it is important that your future students trust you and consider you an expert.

Through webinars, you can showcase your knowledge and expertise, positioning yourself as an authority in your field.

Creator Climb Workshops SEO

A workshop we held a while ago. Watch the replay here.

Webinars Are Highly Engaging

By incorporating interactive elements like Q&A sessions, polls, and live chat, webinars keep participants engaged.

This can lead to higher conversions and can help you in nurturing leads and get people interested in your product offerings.

Webinars Are a Cost Effective Marketing Strategy

Similarly to email marketing, webinars are an excellent cost-effective marketing tool that can help you to promote your business.

All you need is a webinar platform, and the time to conduct your presentation!

Other expenses related to running webinars depend on how heavily you wish to promote the actual webinar, but overall this kind of marketing strategy is relatively cost-effective.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Running Webinars

Now that we have seen the benefits of running webinars to promote your online course business let's see how you can actually start hosting webinars, step by step!

In our podcast, The Creator's Adventure, we recently interviewed Ron Douglas, the founder of WebinarCon, the #1 mastermind event for Webinar Marketers.

Watch our interview with Ron below to learn from a webinar expert!

How WebinarCon Founder Ron Douglas Built 7-Figure Empires - The Creator's Adventure #71

Step 1: Plan Your Webinar Content and Define Your Goals

Your first step should be determining the objectives of your webinar. Are you looking to increase course sign-ups, build your email list, or establish yourself as a thought leader?

The objective of your webinar will determine how you promote the event and its content!

If you want to run a webinar with the purpose of attracting more students into your online course, then you will plan accordingly and make sure that, other than being informative, your webinar will serve as a sales tool.

Then, it is time to outline the key topics you will cover in your webinar and create a compelling presentation or slide deck to accompany your delivery.

The key to a successful webinar starts from its topic. You need to talk about something that your audience is interested in.

Consider what are the biggest pain points and interests of your ideal customers. This can help you come up with a compelling idea for your next webinar.

Learn more about understanding your ideal customers: Why You Should Do Market Research Before Starting an Online Course Business + How to Do it

Step 2: Prepare Your Presentation

Once you have identified the goal of your webinar and its topic, it is time to choose a webinar format and start preparing the content.

A webinar can be all sorts of things: you can choose to host a workshop, a presentation with a slide deck, run a Q&A, invite outside speakers, or hold a talk with your audience and more...

However you decide to run your webinar, you should be prepared before the event and rehearse your presentation.

This is the time to familiarize yourself with the webinar platform of your choosing, test your audio and video setup, and rehearse your presentation to ensure a smooth delivery.

Step 3: Decide How to Price Your Webinar

Setting a price for a webinar depends on your goals.

Many creators offer webinars for free, as they consider the event as a marketing tool to promote other products in their business.

If you want to run webinars to promote your online course, then consider offering access for free, or at a very low price.

Adding a price to the webinar enrollment does have its benefits as well. Other than generating revenue, paid access ensures that the majority of the attendees who signed up will actually show up to the event, as they made a monetary commitment.

Are you struggling with pricing your webinar, or online course? Check out this article from our blog: Ultimate Guide to Pricing Your Online Course (With Earnings Calculator)

Step 4: Promote Your Webinar

No one will attend your event if you do not promote it.

You can use various marketing channels, such as social media, email newsletters, and your website, to promote your webinar and generate registrations.

Share posts on social media platforms about your upcoming webinar, send a newsletter to your email list, add a banner on your website or even create a webinar landing page, consider using paid advertisement or affiliate marketing... there are so many ways you can use to promote your webinar.

Step 5: Engage With Your Audience During and After the Webinar

Once the big day arrives, make sure to actively involve your participants through Q&A sessions, and interactive activities that can enhance engagement.

Make sure that the webinar presentation is providing value to the attendees, before making any sales pitch to your paid products.

After the webinar, send a thank-you email to participants and provide them with additional resources. This also allows you to collect feedback and analyze the webinar's performance to improve future sessions.

This is also the time to send the webinar recording to all the people who registered for the event who may want to rewatch your presentation or were not able to attend the live webinar.

Step 6: Use the Webinar Recording as a Lead Magnet (Optional)

The webinar recording is a valuable piece of content at your disposal. It would be a pity to never share it outside of the original attendees!

So why not promote the replay as a lead magnet or low-cost product offering?

A lead magnet is a free resource or incentive offered in exchange for a person's contact information, usually their email address.

Before using the webinar recording as a lead magnet, consider editing the video to improve its quality, remove any technical glitches, and make it more visually appealing. You can also enhance the recording by adding captions, annotations, or additional graphics to highlight key points.

Then, design a dedicated landing page on your website, and add an email capturing space where people can leave their names and emails before acceding the replay.

With the email addresses you have collected, you can continue to engage with your audience through targeted email marketing campaigns.

If you prefer to host live webinars, you can always re-run the same event to a different audience, instead of promoting the recording.

Helpful Tips When Hosting Webinars

Now you know how to run webinars to promote an online course! Before we wrap this up, here are a few tips for delivering exceptional webinars and keeping your audience engaged:

Keep it Concise: Respect your audience's time by delivering valuable content within a reasonable timeframe.
Interact and Respond: Encourage participants to ask questions and respond to them promptly or during a Q&A session, making attendees feel heard and valued.
Use Visual Aids: Incorporate visually appealing slides, graphics, and multimedia elements to enhance the presentation and maintain audience interest.
Practice, Practice, Practice: Rehearse your webinar multiple times to ensure a smooth flow and confident delivery.
Offer Exclusive Bonuses: Incentivize webinar attendees with exclusive discounts, bonus materials, or limited-time offers to encourage them to enroll in your online course.
Enroll in Other People's Webinars: If you do not have a clear idea of how to run your event, consider checking out other webinars to understand what works and get an idea of how the webinar works.

Are you looking for inspiration from successful webinars?

At Heights Platform, we organize a workshop series that includes monthly webinars featuring external guest speakers and industry experts exclusively for our customers.

Feel free to explore our latest workshops in our online community of creators, Creator Climb:

Conclusion

Webinars are a powerful tool for online course creators to promote their businesses and connect with their target audience.

Hosting webinars allows for personalized interaction, helps demonstrate expertise, and keeps participants engaged through interactive features.

Moreover, webinars offer a cost-effective marketing strategy and can be used to generate leads and sales for online courses.

By following a step-by-step guide that includes planning the content, preparing the presentation, promoting the webinar, and engaging with the audience, course creators can successfully run webinars as a valuable way to connect with their potential customers and increase conversions.

And if you need inspiration for your next event, check out our live webinar series inside Creator Climb!

Join the Workshops

Post Topics: Build and Promote Your Course

How to Run Webinars to Promote Your Online Course Business

What is a Webinar?

Why Webinars Are a Great Way to Promote Your Online Course