Either you’re new to the webinar world - in which case, hi, welcome and enjoy your stay! Or, you’re a regular webinar creator who is fresh out of juice - and believe us when we feel your pain. We’ve all been there.
Coming up with a good, fresh idea for a webinar is no easy feat. When you think about it, it seems impossible that we come up with any at all - how do you choose an interesting, inviting topic? That’s relevant? That includes a clear CTA? That engages your attendees? Knowing how to choose the perfect webinar topic is no exact science.
Choose the type of webinar you want
You don’t need to address every aspect of your industry or product all at once. The key to a good webinar is creating a piece of content that can engage an audience for a lengthy enough period, sure - but it also needs to be digestible, with a concise and clear purpose.
So, stage 1 of choosing a webinar topic? Choose what kind of webinar you want to host. There are several kinds, all which can be approached in different ways to explore a myriad of topics. Don’t over complicate it.
What does your audience want?
Unfortunately, if the only person in the world interested in your webinar is you, there’s not much point. Webinars are useful because they engage an audience and generate a discussion or new leads. You need to host a webinar that others, particularly in your industry, will be interested in receiving.
The best way to do this? Ask them. Communicate through your social channels and email leads. Use polls and surveys, or ask outright. You can also take the feedback generated from previous webinars - Q&A sessions at the end of your webcasts could be utilised for generating new topics. Or, alternatively, host a webinar entirely for a Q&A session. This will be a fantastic way to start that conversation and get to know your audience, who you can then tailor your content for moving forward.
What does your industry need?
You don’t need to have the answer to every problem, but putting forward ideas and becoming a thought leader are certainly key ways to make your webinars stand out. It also lessens the risk of making webinars that are too generic, don’t stand out, or have an unclear CTA, the latter of which is one of our personal pet hates.
Alternatively, perhaps you have a product that you believe will make a real difference in your industry. A webinar surrounding this launch may work, or perhaps, provided you have the resources, you could generate a series of webinars within a campaign surrounding the existing problem and how your upcoming product strives to offer a solution.
Once you have a solid contribution to your niche, you can really get creative in how you incorporate it into a webinar. The important thing is simply to ensure that this idea isn’t half-hearted - that you really do have something you can base an entire webinar around without wasting the time of your attendees.
What's the purpose?
Have a clear CTA and outline your objective as well as your goals whilst you’re planning your webinar - this will also help you to monitor the success of your webinar alongside your overarching content strategy.
Similarly, how does your webinar fit into this strategy? Does it complement your current marketing plan? We’re sure you can understand how, say, planning a content strategy that revolves around digital marketing trends and then organising a webinar about yachting wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense; well-planned webinars are becoming so successful because of the ways that they weave into your content strategy so seamlessly.
Speaking of which, if you plan your webinar correctly and integrate it into your business strategy in a smooth, relevant way, you’re left with a huge amount of material that you can repurpose successfully to create fresh and exciting content across your social channels, blog, podcast or whitepaper.
When well planned and delivered, the success of webinars is second to none - but sometimes it is hard to get there. So let's help out each other as fellow webcasters; leave us a comment, or contact us on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn and tell us which of these tools you use to come up with ideas. Or if you have a totally different approach, let us know that too!
