The Secrets to Increasing Your Webinar Registrations

When planning an event, we can all agree that there’s one universal goal -- to ensure that everyone is able to have a fantastic time.

More often than not, accommodating accessibility is usually more of an afterthought in event planning (or not even a thought at all). As event planners, it’s on us to make sure that every component of the events we plan is accessible to every single participant -- no matter ability.

So before you fall into ADA rule-fatigue, Splash is here to give you some simple accessibility tips for your next event -- everything from venue accessibility to communications.

To effectively promote and throw a successful webinar, there’s a lot of work you have have to do upfront -- and I mean, way before you send out that first webinar invite.

As marketers, we’re busy -- after a while, our promotions for all our webinars start to look the same. But the secret to really driving webinar registrations is twofold: (1) make sure you know what your goal is, then (2) tailor all your promotions to reaching that goal.

At Webinar World, ON24’s conference for B2B marketers looking to up customer engagement, our VP of Marketing, Amy Holtzman -- alongside our Sr. Client Education Manager, Pete Richardson -- revealed the 4 questions you need to answer to put together a killer webinar promotion strategy.

Webinar pages don't have to be boring. Watch the 7 Design Principles of Highly-Converting Landing Pages, as our Sr. Client Education Manager, Pete Richardson, shares practical design tips for all your webinar promotions.

Increase Trust, Transparency, and Access to Engaging Prospects

1. Understand and Align with Key Company Metrics

1. Why are you throwing a webinar?

What is your goal? Do you want to attract net-new leads or build relationships with your current customers?

By understanding who you’re trying to capture, you can not only target the right people, but know exactly where your promotions should be coming from.

For example: if you’re trying to nurture net-new opportunities, and create a brand for yourself, you likely should be sending HTML branded communications from marketing. If you’re trying to convert opportunities into deals, you should be automating those promotions from the lead owner or an exec who is involved in the deal.

Bonus: this is also a great time to decide which internal teams need to be involved, so you can start communicating planned follow-ups or any other details early.

2. How will you reach the right audience?

Throwing a webinar for the sake of the webinar just doesn’t work. You first need to make sure you’re targeting the right audience per your goal (what you answered in the first question).

For example, if you’re looking for net-new leads, you wouldn’t email blast your own database. Instead, you would involve a media partner, use paid ads, or partner with other brands.

First thing's first: any event venue must meet required ADA guidelines! Here are a few things to always double check when it comes to the accessibility of your events:

A couple questions to ask yourself if you do decide to go outside your database:

• Do I need a promotion budget? Consider how much it will cost to execute what you’ve planned.

• Will I need promotion approval outside of my organization? You’re going to have to get approval for any ads or promotions, which can change timelines.
• Do I need to extend timelines to allow for coordination with 3rd parties? Plan way in advance to make sure you meet deadlines.

1. Does your venue provide elevator or ramp access?

Some venues will cover accessibility on their website, usually somewhere in the FAQs. However, for those that don’t, just send a quick email to the venue asking about accessibility.

2. What do accessible transportation routes to and from your venue look like?

If you’re in a metro area, it’s good to check if nearby metro/subway/train stations are accessible. To save guests some time, it’s also a great idea to provide instructions around what the most accessible routes are.

Pro tip: If you’re in a major metro area, Google has recently added wheelchair accessible routes to Google Maps on both desktop and mobile. This should make your research into routes around your venue a total breeze!

3. How do you make sure registrants actually show up?

Once your registrants have signed up for the webinar, how do you make sure that they follow through and attend on the big day?

2. Organize your data and simplify data-tracking

Some great tips to ensure they show up (use a combo of all if applicable!):

• Provide timely, relevant content (around the topic of the webinar) ahead of time either in your communications or in your blog/resources.

• If you have a great speaker who is an influencer, showcase them in your pre-event communications.
• If you’re providing a special offer (like certification or credits), make sure it’s highlighted.

Every webinar has one thing (or more!) that will push registrants to show up. Once you understand what it is, you can figure out how to appropriately structure your promotions -- like knowing what to include above the fold on your landing page, in your CTAs, or subject lines.

4. How do you measure the success?

You should be measuring the success of your webinar way before the live event. Along the way, you can see your progress and shift strategy based on where you’re falling behind.

Your Communications Checklist: What to Include

The metrics you can track throughout your promotion:

• The number of registrants and attendees signing up for the webinar

• The number of targeted accounts engaged
• The amount of opportunities opened and/or accelerated leading up to the webinar
• The amount of revenue that’s being influenced and/or generated

Sample Webinar Promotion Timeline

At Splash, we have a skeleton of a webinar promotion timeline we use that has historically worked well for us (we usually tailor it to any partners included).

6 weeks out: start identifying topics, content, and speakers, and get logistics in place.

4 weeks out: build promotions - work with designers and writers to craft landing pages and determine the number of touchpoints

2 weeks out: first webinar communication

Week of: last minute promotion for registration, final run-through

Post-event: send post-event emails, route leads ASAP, communicate follow-up and progress internally

3. Is there accessible parking available?

Is there parking nearby the event that’s accessible to wheelchairs, canes, and walkers? Can a person with mobility challenges or fatigue get from the parking section to the event venue?

4. Is there enough seating and personal space?

If you have seating, do you have space for persons living with disabilities? Are you making sure that it’s communicated in your event space that persons living with disabilities get priority seating in a designated area? What about personal space, is there enough space per person in the venue to accommodate those with wheelchairs, canes, walkers, and service animals?

5. Did you confirm access days before your event?

Making your event accessible is a big part of it. The other part is making sure your attendees know about all the details so they can prepare ahead of time.

There is so much room for upfront attendee communications when it comes to the inclusion and accessibility of your events.

Consider doing the following:

1. Put accessibility information in your event page footer.

Take a look at the example below of an event page that looks great, feels great, and is displaying helpful accessibility information at the footer of the page.

2. Use your RSVP form to gather attendee needs ahead of time.

Your RSVP or ticket order form is the perfect opportunity to help yourself be better prepared, all while assuring your attendees up front that you’re thinking about their needs.

Here are some custom questions you can include in your forms:

• Dietary restrictions

• Requests for interpreting services or assistive listening devices

• Requests for accessible parking or seating

• An open text area asking about other accommodations that will help ensure full guest participation

• If you’re going to be using your attendee’s information to print badges, it’s also a good idea to include preferred pronouns on your form so you can display them on those badges.

Here's an example in Splash:

Of course, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all timeline -- make sure you decide your goal and your audience beforehand, and plan your promotions accordingly.

Should you ever receive a request that you’re unfamiliar with, you can simply collaborate with the requesting attendee. There is no shame in asking questions - if anything, it shows that you take accessibility seriously and want your event to be as enjoyable as possible for all who wish to attend.

3. Send an email about accessible transportation options.

In the weeks before your event, whip up an email in the Splash Email Sender that let’s all of your guests know how they can best travel to your event. Within this email, take some time to lay out accessible route options.

Take a look at this example:

4. Disclose any specifics in your pre-event communications.

In terms of accessibility, it’s better to over-communicate. It's extremely important to note the following in your pre-event communications to your attendees:

• Use of flash photography

• Any sort of strobe lights or flashing images that may cause seizures

• Distinctly amplified sounds/music

• The use of fog machines/any other chemicals or smells that may make your space inaccessible to individuals with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) or Idiopathic Environmental Intolerances (IEI)

• Whether or not interpreting services will be provided for various speakers, panels, talks, etc.

• Whether or not you will be providing assistive listening devices for hard of hearing attendees. (Fact: these are fairly inexpensive!)

• Disclose all additional/optional parts of your event. This pertains to social activities off site, recreational activities, and more. If an activity is not fully accessible, communicate those details in advance so individuals living with disabilities can determine their interest and ability to participate.

5. Let your speakers know about any special accommodations beforehand.

The speakers at your event should know about any special accommodations so they can be prepared. Some accessibility notes to provide speakers may include some of the following:

• Speak clearly (ideally facing forward without covering your mouth)

• Avoid acronyms and colloquialisms as much as possible

• When addressing someone specifically, ask for his/her/their name and pronouns to confirm

• Specify when you’re finished speaking

• If there is an interpreter, avoid addressing them in a conversation with a hard-of-hearing attendee. Always look at/address the participating attendee.

Every single touchpoint in the webinar process is an opportunity to engage with your attendees. Watch Amy and Pete’s full presentation at Webinar World to get more details.

Want to know how to throw a killer webinar? We give you easy steps, tips, and tricks on how to do it on Splash.

Become an advocate

Making your event more accessible and inclusive is the first step. It also opens up a space to begin a much-needed conversation around accessible event planning and becoming an advocate.

This may require some thought and work, as it will probably force you to rethink how you typically throw events and do business around your events.

Part of this rethinking might also include reaching out to your attendees both during and after the event to see how things went and if they were comfortable, informed, and able to fully participate. It’s a great idea to get feedback and continue to improve your planning practices around accessibility.

Once you’ve thrown some events with these accessibility tips put to the test, we also encourage you to educate others within your business and within the event planning and marketing community! It’s up to us all to create a conversation around accessibility in order to spread best practices and throw events that are that much more inclusive and, in turn, that much more extraordinary.

Do you have any accessibility best practices from your own events? Let us know in the comments below!

We surveyed event planners and they shared their biggest planning mistakes. See the surprising results.

author

Ivy Zhao

Ivy is a Marketing Intern at Splash, helping out on all things content and social media. She loves to draw and doodle in her free time, and even created an Instagram (@the_foodler) where she transforms everyday food items into doodles. And as an avid matcha lover, she's always in search of her new favorite spot in the city.

About the Author

Ben Hindman is co-founder and CEO of Splash, the country's fastest-growing event marketing platform that helps businesses and brands more effectively market through their events. An event planner turned tech entrepreneur, events are in Ben’s DNA. Prior to starting Splash, Ben was the Director of Events at Thrillist, where he produced large-scale events from concerts to mystery fly-aways.