How to Create an Effective On-Demand Webinar Guide

On-demand webinars have become essential tools for modern sales funnels, offering a flexible and convenient way for audiences to consume content. Unlike scheduled events, on-demand webinars are pre-recorded online presentations accessible at any time, providing evergreen content for your marketing efforts. This guide will walk you through creating, optimizing, and promoting on-demand webinars that sell, focusing on how to transform one-time presentations into consistent lead-generating machines.

Understanding On-Demand Webinars

An on-demand webinar is a pre-recorded webinar available for users to access when it suits them. Unlike live webinars, participants can sign up and view the content anytime. These webinars remain available 24/7, allowing participants to watch the content whenever it suits them best.

Live vs. On-Demand Webinars

The fundamental difference between live and on-demand webinars lies in their timing and accessibility. Live webinars happen in real-time, with presenters and attendees participating simultaneously. On-demand webinars can be viewed anytime after recording.

Benefits of On-Demand Webinars for Marketers

For marketers, on-demand webinars offer substantial advantages that extend beyond the initial broadcast. They dramatically expand your potential audience reach. One study showed that within just three months after a live event, 70% of total webinar views came from on-demand recordings. This explains why 84% of B2B consumers either prefer on-demand viewing or have no preference between live and recorded formats.

On-demand webinars have become indispensable components of effective sales funnels for several reasons. They serve as excellent qualification tools for leads at various funnel stages. These webinars provide valuable behavioral data that helps sales teams identify serious prospects. You can track viewing patterns, popular sections, and drop-off points to refine future content and tailor follow-up strategies. The evergreen nature of on-demand webinars also means they continue generating leads long after creation. As one industry expert noted, “On-demand webinars transform from a single event into a steady, long-term lead generation machine.”

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Planning Your On-Demand Webinar

Creating an effective on-demand webinar requires careful planning and execution.

Selecting a Topic

The foundation of any successful on-demand webinar begins with selecting a topic that directly addresses your audience’s challenges. Instead of reinventing the wheel, examine which blog posts or content pieces consistently perform well in your industry. First, identify your audience’s specific pain points through surveys or by analyzing common questions from your existing customers. Focus on solving a single problem rather than covering multiple issues, as this prevents overwhelming your viewers. Above all, ensure your topic aligns with your product as the logical next step.

Content Creation and Repurposing

Once you’ve selected your topic, decide whether to create new content or repurpose existing material. If repurposing live webinars, remember that approximately 30% of your audience will watch the on-demand version rather than attending live.

Recording Your Video

You need a video to host an on-demand webinar. Most of the time you do this by actually hosting a live webinar, that also is recorded. You can use your webinar platform to record your webinar (it's automatically recorded when you press 'go live') or use a local software.

Editing for Engagement

Effective editing transforms raw webinar recordings into polished, engaging experiences. Subsequently, enhance visual engagement by incorporating on-screen text for emphasis, graphs, or brief animations to reinforce key points. During editing, focus on creating a strong hook at the beginning.

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Enhancing Engagement and Interactivity

Turning passive viewers into active participants requires strategic engagement techniques.

Interactive Elements

Interactive elements significantly boost engagement in on-demand webinars. Add chapters to your content so viewers can easily navigate to specific sections of interest. Include strategic calls-to-action (CTAs) that guide viewers toward next steps, whether that’s signing up for another webinar, downloading resources, or requesting a demo. Furthermore, incorporate interactive features like polls, surveys, and Q&A sections that appear at predetermined times throughout the webinar. Personalized calls-to-action generate significantly higher conversions than generic ones-studies show personalized CTAs can increase conversion rates by up to 202%. Rather than using vague phrases like “Learn more,” create specific CTAs such as “Register now” or “Watch replay” that clearly communicate the next step. Furthermore, tailor your CTAs based on viewing patterns and previous interactions. Strategically place polls throughout your on-demand webinar-at the beginning to break the ice, midway to check comprehension, and at the end to gather feedback. These interactions not only keep viewers engaged but also provide valuable data for segmenting your follow-up marketing.

Responsiveness

Do you chat with attendees when you can? Do chat questions go unanswered if nobody is live during the webinar? Having the ability to chat is critical. However, traditional on-demand webinar software doesn’t offer chat capabilities. This means attendees will never receive a live response in the webinar - even when members of your team are available to respond. This can hurt conversion rates, detract from the experience of your brand, and defeat the purpose of attending a webinar (people want to ask questions). Later, when your team is able, they can log in and respond to unanswered questions directly inside the platform.

Webinar triple threat play

Start first by creating a webinar outline and agenda that has THREE distinct segments. 1) A 20 or so minute conversation with a thought leader or subject matter expert focused around the webinar's topic. 2) A ten minute product demo that ties what the thought leader spoke about with the use case of the product. Make sure at the end of this segment you ask the audience, using a poll in the webinar, if they would like to get a full demo of the product they just saw. I usually see about 5% to 20% of the attendees asking for a demo. 3) A customer speaks for about ten minutes and shares their perspective on how they are using the product and the benefits value it's creating for them and their business. Make sure you have a DYNAMIC host. Their job is to host the entire webinar and to facilitate each segment. Getting the audience fired up, engaged, and keeping the webinar on track and managing the overall webinar experience.

Selecting the Right Platform and Configuring Availability

Selecting the right platform for hosting your on-demand webinar is crucial for success. Most importantly, configure your webinar’s availability settings. You can choose between just-in-time scheduling (immediate access after registration) or recurring schedules with multiple daily viewing options.

Read also: Comprehensive Webinar Guide

Webinar Availability

Besides being available on-demand, what other options do people have to join your webinar? What if they can't join your webinar at that moment? While this might sound counterintuitive - on-demand means at any time! - there are other options to consider when setting the availability of your webinar.

Just-in-Time Sessions

At eWebinar, we have a feature called a just-in-time session, which means that when people land on your registration page, it is always “just in time” for them to join your webinar. If you choose this option, when prospects register for an on-demand session, their webinar will not begin until they click a link to join it, even if they wait 20 minutes to do so. Alternatively, you can choose for your just-in-time sessions to happen as frequently as every 5 or 10 minutes. If you choose this option, when someone lands on your registration page, a session will always be starting within 5 or 10 minutes of their arrival.

Recurring Schedules

When setting a recurring schedule, the key is to make your webinar available frequently and at convenient times of day. We recommend offering at least 3 or 4 sessions every day, excluding weekends, if you like. Most critically, set your webinar start times to appear in the local time zones of attendees rather than in a fixed time zone, presumably your own. That way, if you offer sessions at 10am, 2pm, and 7pm, they will appear at those times whether the registrant lives in San Francisco or Hong Kong.

Webinar Replays

Webinar replays, when enabled, are the ultimate ‘on-demand’ option. Registrants get a link to watch the replay whenever they want, day or night, and they have total control over the video. They can play, pause, or skip ahead. Remember, it is all about giving people options.

Popular Platforms

WebinarPress.com: A fantastic on-demand webinar platform for anyone looking to create professional, replayable webinars easily.
Zoom: While known for virtual meetings, Zoom is also a powerful on-demand webinar platform.
GoToWebinar: A trusted name in the webinar world.
Demio: Built with simplicity and effectiveness in mind, making it a favorite among marketers and educators.
WebinarJam: Packed with features designed to maximize your webinar’s impact.

Promotion and Marketing Strategies

Even the most valuable on-demand webinar won’t generate leads if nobody watches it.

Short Teaser Videos

Short teaser videos dramatically increase webinar registration and engagement. Research indicates videos under one minute receive 50% more engagement, making them ideal for promotion.

Multi-Channel Promotion

Promote your on-demand webinar across multiple channels for maximum reach. Effectively harness social media by posting your webinar across all relevant platforms.

Twitter: Pin promotional tweets to your profile to increase visibility.
Instagram: Capture attention using Stories or Reels with engaging videos related to your webinar.

Additionally, write blog posts about the subject matter of your webinar on your own blog or as a guest on someone else’s.

Landing Pages

Your landing page is arguably the most critical part of your webinar marketing strategy. This enables visitors to watch videos without navigating away from your site. Set up a registration page that compels people to register for your webinar.

Email Marketing

Include a recap, replay link, and additional resources for attendees.

Integrating with Your Tech Stack

Unlocking the full potential of your on-demand webinars requires smart integration with your existing tech stack.

CRM Integration

Integrating your on-demand webinar platform with your CRM creates a seamless data flow that eliminates manual entry and keeps customer information current. This integration automatically sends registration data from your webinar platform to your CRM database and vice versa.

Marketing Automation

Marketing automation further amplifies your webinar’s reach by putting your events on autopilot. With proper integration, you can generate leads continuously-while cooking dinner, walking the dog, or attending meetings.

Lead Generation and Sales

To generate leads and sales, integrate your on-demand webinar platform with your CRM and marketing automation tools. This allows you to track viewer behavior, automatically notify sales teams about hot leads, and create personalized follow-up campaigns.

Analyzing Performance and Repurposing Content

Comprehensive analytics transform webinar data into actionable insights.

Comprehensive Analytics

Quality platforms track metrics including registration numbers, attendance rates, engagement scores, and content interaction. Primarily, viewer behavior tracking helps identify serious prospects. By monitoring which sections viewers watched, which polls they answered, and their overall engagement, you can automatically notify sales teams about hot leads ready for follow-up.

Repurposing Content

Remember, your webinar content holds tremendous value beyond its original format. This repurposing strategy can increase audience reach by up to 75%. Extend the life of your webinar content by repurposing it into other formats can significantly increase your ROI. Creating bite-sized videos from your webinar content for social media can engage users who prefer shorter content formats.

Pricing Your On-Demand Webinar

When pricing your on-demand webinar, consider factors such as your experience and expertise, the value of your content, your target audience, and industry standards. Start with a competitive price point based on research of similar webinars in your niche. Remember that pricing also reflects your positioning and perceived value.

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