32+ Ways to promote your next webinar

Brands of all sizes are getting into webinars

Webinars are big business these days. Not only are they the perfect bridge between digital (read: impersonal) interactions and face-to-face meetings, they can be used in a variety of ways such as online training and product demonstrations.

While they take a little more effort than other online marketing tactics, studies have shown that they are well worth it, bringing in more highly qualified leads than other activities.

To maximize the benefits you get from webinars, you need to attract as much people as possible during the promotional stages.

Here’s a pretty big list of all the ways we could think of to promote your webinar.

First up: Email

1. Email List This is your best bet. “The best way to promote a webinar is a very targeted specific email invitation,” says Shelby Britton, author of the Content Marketer’s Guide to Webinars.

2. Email Signature Add your webinar topic, a call-to-action and landing page link to your email signature to inform all the people you communicate with regularly.

Webinar Promotion via Email Signature (Source: wisestamp.com)

Next, your website

3. Homepage. Include an image or video above-the-fold of your website to grab attention immediately.

4. Blog Post. Write a blog post specifically dedicated to your webinar topic including what areas it will cover, qualifications of speakers, the ideal audience and what they can expect to gain.

5. Website Sidebar. Visitors to your website are exposed to this no matter what page they visit.

6. Website Footer. For those websites that choose not to have sidebars. Some people also tend to ignore sidebar ads, so it’s worth repeating…or using a different offer and CTA to attract a different set of potential attendees.

7. Blog CTA. A call to action at the end of relevant posts is a great way to get attention if you have an active blog.

8. Pop Up Window. One thing visitors definitely cannot ignore when they visit your site. You can use WordPress Pop Up, which allows you to tweak the details of when it appears.

WordPress Pop-Up (Source: wordpress.org)

9. Slide up Box. This comes up from the bottom of the screen when visitors scroll to the end of your page. Check out the Dreamgrow WordPress plugin.

10. HelloBar. This free tool from CrazyEgg appears at the top of the screen on every page and scrolls with the page. HB allows you to customize message and CTA button.

11. Freebie Downloads. If you have free offers, set the ‘thank you’ page to include some information about your webinar.

And of course, social media

12. Facebook You can post on your own profile, Facebook Page, within groups or set up an Event. Users of ClickWebinar can promote their webinars to social media connections instantly with their social sharing feature.

13. Twitter. Tweets may be limited to 140 characters but you have far more options these days – include images, videos or Lead Generation Cards.

Twitter Lead Generation Cards (Source: teachtofishdigital.com)

14. LinkedIn. If your target is businesses or professionals, LinkedIn is your pot of gold. Post on your profile, your business page and within related groups. You can also consider sending messages and In-Mails.

15. Google+. If your target is into technology or social media, it’s possible to find them here. As with LinkedIn, post on your profile, your company’s page and within related communities.

16. YouTube. Make a short video under 2 minutes promoting your webinar, upload it to YouTube then use it almost anywhere else on this list.

17. Reddit. Search for subreddits about your topics and share your webinar. Ensure you follow the rules, if any.

And as for the rest of the web

18. Guest Post. Guest post on other relevant blogs about your webinar topic and announce the upcoming webinar in your conclusion.

19. Guest Appearance. Get interviewed by other blogs, podcasts or channels. These often allow you to plug upcoming projects and products.

20. Event and Webinar Listing Sites. There are many sites that allow you to list your upcoming event, usually for free. Here’s a good list to get you started.

Don’t forget your people

21. Speakers. Experts tend to have their own audience, give them material to share and they’ll usually do it happily.

(Source: hubspot.com)

22. Colleagues. If you have employees or other colleagues, ask them to share with their own networks.

23. Clients. Your clients may be interested in the webinar too, and they may use it as a way to get their friends to use your services/products too.

24. Suppliers. Once again, they have their own networks that may have some interest in what you do and the topic of the webinar.

25. Partners. If you know other businesses that sell different products but have the same target audience, let them tell their audience about your webinar in exchange for you sharing them with your audience.

26. Fans. Don’t just tell your social media fans about the webinar, ask them to share, retweet or forward it to others.

27. Sales Team. Your sales team has direct contact with clients and prospects. The webinar is a great tool for them to help drive prospects to purchase.

28. Bloggers. Reach out to bloggers in your niche and tell them about your webinar. It’s great free material for their audience so most will be happy to share.

29. Friends. Friends and family want to support your endeavors (we hope), they’ll be happy to share with others they think might be interested.

Where to buy ads for more exposure

30. Social Media Ads. If you have an ad budget for your webinar, Twitter and Facebook will give you the most bang for your buck. Make sure to optimize for the results you want, i.e. website conversions.

Facebook Promoted Post (Source: farideh.ca)

31. Google Ads. Can be a time and money suck if you don’t know what you’re doing, but can net good results if your do.

32. Affiliates. If you plan to sell products during your webinar, you can use affiliates to promote it and give them a percentage of profits for everyone they refer who buys.

The takeaway

Of course, it’s not essential to use all these methods, but we hope this list gave you a bunch of ideas you never thought of before, which will go a long way in making your next webinar one of your highest subscribed yet.

If you manage to think of anymore we may have missed, add them in the comments below!