Ten tips for better built environment webinars

Creating an engaging webinar requires thought and planning. Simply migrating a planned ‘in real-life’ event into the digital space won’t work.

The built environment is responding to the unprecedented challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic with creativity, innovation and leadership. Businesses across the sector are having to re-think their ways of communication to adapt to this rapidly changing world, using digital tools to continue to keep the world’s most valuable sector moving.

We have all had to quickly adjust hosting meetings have online with Zoom, Microsoft Teams or other platforms and events programmes too are being translated into digital formats through webinars – an old digital technology that is now being rediscovered in the coronavirus lockdown with better tech to support the format.

But as with any live event, creating an engaging webinar requires thought and planning. Simply migrating a planned ‘in real-life’ event into the digital space won’t work, as the demands are different.

So to help you create the best webinars, ING has put together a set of useful tips you should follow.

A successful webinar requires strong content, thoughtful production and a flawless execution—from promotion to engagement, from registration to reporting and follow-up. To achieve the best quality possible, think ahead and follow these nine rules:

1. A strong topic

   Think of your webinar as a piece of content. If you don’t have a strong idea or clear proposition to explore, then you need to go back to the drawing board. As with an ‘in -real-life’ event, a webinar will only succeed if the content draws people in and engages the audience.

2. Who is your audience?

   To attract larger audiences, you can work with partners to help promote the event and draw interest – that could be media partners or industry organisations. Or focus on attracting chairs and speakers who are well known and have large followings on social media or in media titles. You may have a strong topic, but without a way of reaching your target audience, your webinar will fall short of expectations.

3. Planning ahead

   Schedule your webinar at least 2-3 weeks in advance: although there is no need to plan for an event space or catering, there is still much to do in organising a webinar from briefs for speakers to dry- runs and ensuring there are no technological issues. The lead in time can be shorter than a physical event as part of the power of a webinar is the immediacy of the content, but a successful webinar still requires careful planning

4. Think format

   this mainly depends on the content you want to relay and the type of audience you want to attract. Have a minimum of two speakers and a maximum of four for the best cohesion and audio. Keep the audience entertained, keep the conversation brisk, with an ideal length between 35 to 50 mins including the Q&A.

5. Promotion

   Promote your webinar and target your audience to maximize attendance: know your audience and don’t send an invitation randomly. Understanding your audience’s expectations, challenges and issues might help you prepare the content of the event.

6. Preparation

   Brief your presenters on format and content as much as you would do during a physical talk. And brief them on the tech too. A dry-run call will be necessary, so everyone knows how to use the software. Tell everyone which format you expect their head to fit into - portrait or landscape, this matters for social media afterwards and consistency with delivery.

7. Get the tech sorted

   Whatever software you use, you can set-up different settings before the calls: mic on/off - video on/off / who’s an admin who’s not.  As call host, it’s better to turn all non-speakers' mics off so there's no feedback or interruptions.

8. Use the chat box

   Encourage questions to be asked in the chat box instead of people interrupting verbally. This is a call for more succinct questions too - win!

9. Create great visuals

   This is a must, at least for part of the event. Branding, visual alignment are essential to the cohesion of your webinar. Use different media formats on top of the slideshows (animations, short videos), it will break up the monotony of the standard webinar.

10. After the event

    Transform your webinar into on-demand webinars if it went well to create more engagement. Repurpose your webinars by sharing some excerpts on social media so they continue working for you after the event itself is over.

For further tips, attend some webinars of your own, and see what works well and what doesn’t. Some media and other organisations are producing high-quality webinars - Bisnow’s Webinars or the Financial Times’ Digital Dialogues are a good place to start.

“A successful webinar requires strong content, thoughtful production and a flawless execution—from promotion to engagement, from registration to reporting and follow-up. ”

Get in touch to learn more about how we can help your communicate better in this fast-changing and complex world.

joanna@ing-media.com
T: +44 (0) 207 247 8334