Click-through rates for webinar offers can fall between 15-20%, with high performers seeing rates as high as 30% and above. With rates like these, it’s no surprise that businesses want to learn how to sell with webinars.
Selling with webinars is a natural next step for those looking to further their content marketing, email marketing, and sales initiatives. By tapping into your existing audience, building content around your unique product or service, and connecting with your audience live, you can turn warm leads into loyal customers.
In this article, we’ll show you exactly how to sell with webinars like a pro, beginning long before you even have a webinar idea and taking you all the way through conversion, follow-up emails, and feedback. Let’s jump right in!
Skip ahead here:
- Outline your webinar
- Create your webinar content
- Market your webinar
- Deliver your webinar
- Make an irresistible offer
- Follow-up strategies
- Final thoughts
Outline your webinar
Driving revenue with webinars begins long before you turn on your camera or even have a script.
Define your goals
Understanding what you want to achieve with your webinar is the first step in selling.
This post is all about learning how to sell with webinars, so we’re focusing on making the sale. But, brands often deploy webinars in various stages of their sales funnel, from awareness and interest all the way to decision, action, and loyalty.
Goals a sales-focused presenter might have are:
- Driving direct sales (generating revenue)
- Increasing conversion rates
- Upselling or cross-selling
- Collecting warm, qualified leads
- Reducing the sales cycle length
Goals for those focused on the awareness, interest, and decision stages can include:
- Generating interest in a product or service
- Building trust and credibility
- Engaging and nurturing leads
- Showcasing benefits of your product or service
- Overcoming objections
- Encouraging free trials or demos
Once you know what your goals are, you can match them up with key metrics.
For example, if your goal is to drive direct sales, then you could track the number of sales, revenue generated, conversion rate, or the average transaction.
In contrast, if your goal was to simply build awareness, then you might track registrations, social media shares, and website traffic.
Understand your audience
Once you’ve identified your goals and they’re crystal clear, it’s time to shift your focus to your audience.
Without a strong understanding of who you’re speaking to, even the best goals will fall flat. Webinars aren’t meant to capture everyone—cast too wide a net and you’ll miss the mark entirely. Focus on the right segment, and you’ll find gold.
To do that, you need to identify and understand (research) their problems.
What pain points are driving your target customer to the market in search of a solution? Create a list, and move onto the next step.
Choose a topic
Armed with a list of highly specific pain points, you can narrow your webinar topic.
Your goal is to focus on just one single topic.
Just like trying to capture too many people can harm your webinar, so can focusing on too many things at once.
But don’t just take it from us, here’s what the eLearning Industry founder, Christopher Pappas, has to say, “…we’ve seen tremendous success by implementing a structured approach to our webinars, starting with clear goal setting and precise audience segmentation.”
He continues, “By defining specific objectives for each webinar and tailoring the content to meet the needs of different segments, we’ve significantly boosted both registration and attendance rates.”
As you discuss how your product or service solves the problem your audience faces, you’re effectively setting your offering up as the logical next step for viewers in their path to a solution.
But before you can begin to set yourself up for that kind of success, which really comes from the meat of your presentation, you have to begin with a skeleton.
Create an outline
At the risk of sounding like your highschool English teacher, outlines are important. They’re your roadmap from brainstorming to completion.
With a thorough outline, you can determine next steps in your planning and content creation process and begin marketing before you’ve actually created a script or webinar visuals.
Most webinars follow a similar structure:
- Introduction – Greet your audience and briefly share the agenda.
- The problem statement – Identify the problem you’re addressing, making sure to highlight why the problem needs to be solved.
- Main content – This is the core of your webinar, where you deliver the valuable, actionable insights your audience came for. Focus on educating your audience by providing real-world examples, case studies, and data to back up your points.
- Solution presentation – Introduce your product or service as a strong solution to the problem, positioning it as the logical next step.
- Call to action – Emphasize clear next steps for your attendees.
- Conclusion/Q&A – Summarize the main points of the webinar and take time to address relevant questions from the audience.
Create your webinar content
Using your rough outline, you can begin to bring your webinar to life. Crafting content that captivates your audience from the start, educates, and engages is the key to selling with webinars.
So, let’s look at how to do exactly that.
Stoke the FOMO flames with an engaging introduction
Just like with Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, webinar drop off rates are a concern for presenters. So, keep your audience engaged longer by stoking everyone’s “fear-of-missing-out” (FOMO).
You can stoke the FOMO flames by teasing what’s ahead. What incredible insights will your audience receive today? What industry-shaking figures do you have to share? How much time will your solution save viewers?
You might not have the words for these answers when you first begin your draft, but you will by the end. And if your webinar is truly packed with high-value content, viewers will want to stay for all of it. Alluding to that value will let viewers know that clicking away or tuning out puts them at risk of missing it all, fueling that fear of missing out.
Educational content
Sitting at the core of high-value content is education.
99.99% of audiences in the world aren’t attending webinars just to listen to a sales pitch. They’re tuned in to make their lives better, whether that means fixing a problem, freeing up time to focus on new things, or something else.
This means the answer to, “How to sell with webinars?,” is to teach. It’s the classic philosophy of giving more than you’re asking.
To ensure that your teaching sticks, we recommend using highly engaging visuals like slide decks, supplemental videos, graphics, and interactive elements.
Interactive elements
Focusing on interactive elements a little more, these include things like quizzes, surveys, and Q&A sessions.
“Interactive webinar content boosts engagement and retention,” says Chase Chappell, founder of Chappell Digital Marketing. “I’ve found that including polls, Q&A and quizzes leads to higher engagement and fewer drop-offs. In one webinar, an impromptu poll sparked discussion and 97% stayed for the whole webinar. “
And if you’re strategic, interactive elements can play more than one role.
For example, in our very own Tcommerce webinar, we asked, “How confident are you that you know what it takes—and what tools you need—to take your sales to the next level?” Webinar attendees could then rank themselves on a confidence scale.
So, what did asking that question do for us?
First, it allowed us to activate our audience in the first 5 minutes. We were asking them to physically engage with their devices right away, preventing them from logging on and tuning out.
Second, it gave our incredibly prepared presenters the chance to understand their audience even more. (There’s always room for improvement and more information.)
And third, in addressing the results, the speakers were able to organically address the agenda for the day and reference the value the webinar would deliver.
If respondents indicated they lack confidence, it’d be a great time for our presenters to stress the skills and insight the webinar would deliver. If their audience was highly confident, then they could pivot in real time to discuss how this new information would work seamlessly with existing workflows to make a deeper impact.
If you’re not using an interactive webinar platform (something Thinkific offers), then you can also encourage engagement by asking attendees to message in the chat, a feature most conferencing platforms offer.
Market your webinar
All sales funnels begin with marketing funnels, which means selling with webinars begins with marketing.
Your success depends on how well you attract and prepare your audience before they ever log into to view your webinar. From creating content that resonates to sending strategic emails and driving buzz on social media, your marketing efforts will set the stage for a high-impact presentation.
Let’s begin with top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) marketing efforts and work our way down.
Social media marketing
Social media marketing often falls into the TOFU category because campaigns typically focus on impressions and engagement. These are metrics that help you understand brand awareness.
By creating promotional posts, leveraging stories, and hosting live sessions, you can generate buzz and build awareness about sales initiatives like upcoming webinars.
Social media marketing is also an important space for collaborations and partnerships. One impactful way you can help build awareness for your webinar is by partnering with other businesses that share the same or similar audience as you.
Host a live Q&A together, collab post, or ask for them to reshare your content.
Content marketing
While webinars themselves are a form of content marketing, we’re referring to marketing like landing pages and blog posts here.
Blog posts are generally considered TOFU content while landing pages and registration pages are more middle of the funnel. This means content marketing can really be located anywhere from the top to the bottom, making it all the more important.
What’s important here is that you have a robust strategy in place. Chances are, your content strategy spans far more than a single webinar.
A webinar designed to sell will, by nature, be located closer to the action stage of the funnel. This means, there are several touch points before your event where you can influence the buyer’s progression along the buyer’s journey.
Things like blog posts and even guest blogging can help to build awareness, drive web traffic, and funnel people toward your BOFU content marketing efforts.
As they move through the funnel, your audience will land on things like landing pages and registration pages. And just like blog posts, these should be optimized for search and drive viewers to act.
Email marketing
Your email list consists of people who are already familiar with your offerings and your content, making them warm leads.
These leads will be more interested in what you have to say, because if they haven’t purchased already, then they’re likely somewhere in the interest or decisions stages of the buying journey.
Attending your webinar helps them get one step closer to making a purchasing decision (whether it’s to purchase from you or a competitor).
So, leverage your email marketing list and send out webinar invitations. Then, encourage signups and attendance with a series of reminder emails.
But remember, just like all content marketing, you should still aim to deliver value. So Instead of screaming, “Sign up for my webinar!!!, try offering microlessons, helpful tips, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive resources, and more.
Then, invite your readers to learn more by attending your webinar on the same topic.
Deliver your webinar
Now that you’ve successfully marketed your webinar and you’re raking in the sign ups, hosting the webinar is the next step.
What’s in your tech stack?
“Tech stack” is fancy language for a toolbox. So what’s in yours?
Having a well-equipped tech stack will ensure your audience receives a quality experience, and that you accomplish the goals you’ve set for yourself. At a minimum, you’ll need the following:
- Reliable internet connection
- Webcam or external camera (Logitech, smartphone, DSLR camera)
- Platform for sharing (Zoom, Demio, YouTube Live, Twitch)
- Presentation software (Canva, Powerpoint, Google Slides)
- Video hosting platform (YouTube, Vimeo, Thinkific)
- Email marketing software (Mailchimp, ConvertKit, MailerLite)
- Registration tool (Google Forms, Eventbrite, Typeform)
If you want to produce a high-quality experience and sell more with webinars, then consider the following in addition to what’s featured above:
- Engagement tools
- Social media management tools (Sprout Social, Hootsuite, Buffer)
- CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho CRM)
- Automated follow-up tools (Drip, Active Campaign, MailChimp)
- Lighting Equipment (Ring light, softbox lighting)
- Professional recording and editing software (Camtasia, ScreenFlow)
- Captioning tools (Otter.ai, Rev, Zoom’s live transcription)
How are your presentation skills?
Unfortunately, confidence in front of the camera isn’t something you can buy.
Fortunately, practice makes progress. So, get out there and practice.
We recommend running through your webinar with colleagues, or at least friends and family.
As you practice, focus on these things:
- Maintaining eye contact with the camera
- Speaking clearly and at a steady pace
- Acting natural, in both your gestures and body language
- Authentically engaging your audience
- Injecting energy and enthusiasm into your presentation
- Testing your technology, both new and existing features
- Preparing for unexpected glitches and internet delays
The key to preparing for your webinar is to practice without overdoing it. You don’t want to practice so much that when you’re finally in front of the live audience, it feels stale and rehearsed.
Prepare for spontaneity (Q&As)
Q&As are a staple of most webinars and, in many cases, a key selling point.
If your webinar features a special guest or is tied to a personality-driven brand (like many influencer-built businesses), then Q&As offer your audience the chance to ask personal and unique questions only you can answer.
Your audience is placing trust in your knowledge and valuing your insight. This makes Q&A sessions not only a powerful tool for promoting your webinar but also an effective way to reinforce what you’ve taught during the session.
Take Randy Speckman for example. He offered 1-on-1 time as a way to drive webinar engagement. “Offering a free website audit to the first 5 respondents generated 3 new clients worth over $50K in the first month.” Not only was his audience incredibly invested in this high-value offer, it actually drove revenue.
That example truly speaks to the power of leveraging access to you, the mastermind, the powerhouse, the person behind the brand.
When it comes to selling with webinars, you can’t prepare for every question you could possibly receive in a Q&A. But, you can prepare for the expected ones.
We recommend going into your webinar with an understanding of what questions you might see, and which questions will help you reiterate the selling points of your session. With that said, you still need to balance selling with a sense of authenticity while delivering value.
So don’t cherry-pick the best questions for selling your product, but keep your goals in mind as you sort through the growing list of questions in real time.
Make an irresistible offer
As you bring your webinar to an end, you’re left with the most impactful segments (recall from section one, “ Outline your webinar”): solution presentation, call to action, and the conclusion. In these final segments, you should do three things:
- Craft your offer: Craft an offer that adds value. You can add value by offering discounts, bonuses, limited access to premium features, additional resources, and more. The goal is to make your product or service truly irresistible and create a sense of urgency.
- Clearly and strategically present your CTA: What you want your audience to do next should be crystal clear. Don’t mince your words, dance around the subject or mumble. Get right to the point.
Here’s a great example from Stephanie Trovato, one of our writers:
“Thinkific’s new Coaching & Webinars feature is just the tool you need. This fantastic addition allows you to host everything from interactive webinars to personalized coaching sessions right within Thinkific, giving you the power to connect with your audience in real-time. Whether you’re looking to monetize these events or use them as a lead generation tool, Coaching & Webinars provides you with the flexibility to engage your audience in new and exciting ways.”
- Address potential rejections: Anticipate common concerns and tackle them head-on. After diving deep into your webinar topic during the research and creation stages and researching your target audience, you should be able to accurately predict common objections. By acknowledging these, you can reinforce confidence in your offer and make it easier for your leads to say “yes” instead of “no” or “maybe later?”
Follow-up strategies
You’ve spent weeks, months, or even years building awareness, driving traffic, and generating leads. If your webinar didn’t convert, what you do immediately after can still make the difference.
That’s why your follow-up strategies are the final, crucial steps in learning how to sell with webinars. Here are the two most common strategies
- Follow-up emails: You can build follow-up emails into your webinar email campaign so that they automatically after someone has attended your webinar. In these emails, you want to begin by thanking viewers for their attendance, follow up on any promises you made (like sending additional resources), and include a summary of the webinar (including a reminder of your offer).
Please note that this strategy aims to drive more conversion from your existing pool of leads. That’s in contrast to the next strategy.
- Feedback and improvement: You’ll automatically have access to any metrics your hosting platform provides (viewership, engagements, total watch time, etc.), but asking your attendees for feedback can take improvement one step further. Analyzing metrics in conjunction with personalized feedback will allow you to build on what worked, and eliminate or improve what didn’t.
Unlike follow-up emails, improvements based on feedback really benefit your future audience members, not necessarily your existing ones. So while both strategies can help you sell with webinars, the return time for each strategy differs.
Final thoughts
Learning how to sell with webinars can be a game changer for your business. By carefully planning, understanding your audience, and developing comprehensive strategies to engage your audience, you can maximize the impact of your sales and marketing initiatives.
Remember, success doesn’t begin with a script, it begins with you, your goals, your audience, and one key topic. Similarly, success doesn’t end when the webinar does. Conversions can occur long after your webinar ends, and building relationships with your audience can transcend transactions, lasting years.
Ready to add webinars and other live events to your sales funnels? Host 1-on-1 coaching sessions, workshops, webinars, and more right here on Thinkific. Start your free 14-day trial and begin selling with webinars today.
