How to Sell Like a Pro With Webinars: 10 Tips to Drive Conversion

You've been pouring your resources into various channels, from social media to content marketing - and now you need to justify that marketing budget to senior leadership. But what if the results aren’t as significant as you hoped? And how do you convince top brass to boost your budget for the coming year?

There’s one powerful marketing tool you’ve yet to try: webinars that educate and engage your target audience. But hosting a successful webinar isn’t as simple as it seems. You can't just send out invitations and expect people to show up.

We spoke with Ryan Turner, founder of Ecommerce Intelligence, and Scott Lieberman, founder of Touchdown Money, for their expert tips on creating successful webinars — whether you're a webinar newbie or just looking to improve your existing strategy.

10 Expert tips on how to sell with webinars

Webinars can help you generate leads, but only if you know how to make them work. For Ryan Turner, founder of Ecommerce Intelligence, the initial goal is to get registrations. He says, "It's about how many people want to attend the event and give their email to register. After that, it's the conversion rate to actual sales of a product or service."

But to boost that conversion rate, you need to educate and engage your audience. Here are 11 expert tips to help you do just that:

1. Choose the right webinar platform
2. Don’t skip customer research
3. Segment your audience
4. Personalize your webinar content
5. Create compelling webinar presentations
6. Become a great teacher
7. Use partnerships to enhance your brand
8. Host a Q&A session
9. Complement your webinar with downloadables
10. Time your CTA carefully

1. Choose the right webinar platform

The first step to hosting a successful webinar is choosing the right platform. You'll need a platform that can:

• Accommodate high traffic volume without crashing or causing technical difficulties
• Personalize your webinar room, landing pages, and email campaigns with your company's branding
• Give you dedicated support and an easy learning curve

Zoom, Livestorm, and Google Meet are popular webinar platforms with their own feature sets. For example, Livestorm is an all-in-one platform that makes it easy to host live webinars from start to finish, including setup, webinar marketing, and post-event analysis.

Since Livestorm is a browser-based platform, attendees don't need to worry about downloading any software to join your webinars. Plus, it integrates with 1000+ apps, including CRMs like Salesforce and Marketo, which help you nurture leads through the webinar funnel.

2. Don’t skip customer research

"You want to be certain you're speaking to the right people interested in your product or service. One of the best ways to run customer research is by surveying or interviewing existing customers to find commonalities and pain points or needs that aren't being met," says Ryan.

So, to speak to the right people, use data collection tools like Typeform to create customized online surveys for your customers. Asking open-ended questions encourages respondents to share detailed insights. Similarly, asking questions on a Likert scale (which typically range from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree") can help you measure audience sentiments.

Scott Lieberman, the founder of Touchdown Money, says, "One mistake I've made that others can learn from is failing to ask customers if they were willing to pay for the solution. This can be a simple question in a survey that asks, "If you believe our solution can fix your problem, do you think it's worth spending money on?"

Pro tip: You can use Livestorm’s Typeform integration to embed forms on your landing page, or simply gather data from your webinar registration page.

3. Segment your audience

You can segment your audience in a few ways, depending on your niche. “If you're selling a product or B2B service, segment them by the industry or job title. If you're selling something educational like an online course or training, it's a good idea to segment based on people's skill levels, like beginners or experts," says Ryan.

You can start segmenting your audience from your webinar landing page or event registration page. So, if you're using webinar software like Livestorm, you can quickly set up a registration form and create custom attributes to collect. You can also use Livestorm’s integrated CRM tools like HubSpot or Salesforce to segment your audience.

But you need to bring these data points together to create actionable insights. Try a workflow automation tool like Zapier, which creates a 'Zap' to trigger a sequence of actions. For example, you can create a Zap that updates a contact in HubSpot when they register for a webinar and adds a tag to their profile indicating that they are interested in that topic. This way, you don't need to update and segment your database manually.

4. Personalize your webinar content

"If your audience segments are drastically different, then you should run separate webinars for each group. Otherwise, you risk the webinar being irrelevant or not targeted enough to any individual group," says Ryan. He suggests it’s a webinar best practice to create tailored presentations for each segment.

You can also personalize your webinar content on the fly. So if you're using Livestorm to host live events, you can use the live poll feature to gather real-time feedback from your audience. For example, if you’re hosting a webinar on your email marketing tool, ask your audience if they struggle with creating effective email sequences or want to learn about A/B testing. Use the poll results to guide your presentation. This will help you drive engagement by delivering the most valuable content to your audience.

Pro tip: Use Livestorm's analytics dashboard to review post-webinar data like poll responses and audience engagement metrics. You can use these insights to tailor future webinar content.

5. Create compelling webinar presentations

You can also incorporate storytelling elements into your PowerPoint presentation. Use design tools like Visme to create infographics, presentations, charts, and maps.

Here’s how you can capture your audience’s attention:

• Start with a strong hook or attention-grabbing opening. Think of stats, a thought-provoking question, or a personal story that resonates with your audience.
• Use visual aids. Include graphs and charts, images, or short videos that illustrate your points.
• Focus on clear transitions between sections. Break up your presentation into manageable chunks so your audience can follow along.
• Keep your slides simple. Don't overcrowd them with too much text or visuals.
• Use color combinations that are pleasing to the eye. Too many bright colors or clashing color combinations can distract attendees from your message.

Pro tip: You can use Livestorm's Visme integration to share your webinar presentations directly from your event room.

6. Become a great teacher

Webinars are educational by nature. Your webinar attendees want to connect with your ideas, learn something new, and see the value in your brand, not just listen to a dry monologue. For that, you need to be a great teacher — or hire one as your speaker.

Here's how you can become a great teacher and host successful webinars:

• Learn from other successful webinar hosts. Attend other webinars and take short courses on public speaking to boost your host skills.
• Start with a learning objective. What do you want your audience to take away from the presentation? Is there a relevant customer problem you can build a narrative around solving?
• Incorporate storytelling. Use anecdotes, case studies, and examples to help illustrate your points. Use testimonials and case studies to help illustrate the points you're making, and make sure to focus on the customer's journey.
• Break down complex topics into simple concepts. Avoid using technical jargon.
• Practice your delivery. Talk slowly and clearly, so everyone can follow along.
• Be engaged with your audience. Ask questions, and encourage attendees to ask theirs too.

Say you're presenting a webinar on lead generation. Rather than listing marketing tactics in isolation, talk about how you identified the customer's problem and what challenges they faced before they found your solution.

Pro tip: Set Livestorm to automatically record a webinar or a short practice session with a colleague. Analyze areas of improvement before your next webinar.

7. Use partnerships that enhance your brand

When you partner with complementary brands, you reach a wider audience, build credibility, and establish your brand as a thought leader. Look for businesses that share similar values and target a similar audience to yours.

Partnerships can also help you tap into new marketing channels and expand your reach. For example, your brand partner may have a larger social media following or email list, which can help you reach new potential customers.

With your partner, you can co-host webinars, cross-promote each other's content, or offer joint discounts or promotions. For example, customers purchasing a package could receive a discount on their first year of using your software. Or customers purchasing your product can get 10% off on your partner's product.

8. Host a Q&A session

Your webinar doesn't have to end with a pushy sales pitch. Instead, a Q&A session allows attendees to ask questions, get more information about your product, and learn how it meets their needs. Assign a facilitator or moderator to monitor questions, and make the most of your platform’s built-in Q&A tool.

For example, Livetsorm's Q&A tab makes it easy for attendees to submit questions and for webinar hosts to respond in real time. Plus, the question upvoting feature allows attendees to show their support for other attendees’ questions, which helps you prioritize answers based on interest. This way, you can tailor your messaging to better resonate with your target audience, leading to better lead generation and conversions.

9. Complement your webinar with an e-book

"If you let people know at the beginning that you're giving away a great piece of downloadable content at the end, then more people will remain on the call to get the link. This is usually where most of the selling and conversions happen," says Ryan.

An e-book can also serve as a valuable lead magnet, enticing potential customers to give you their contact details in exchange for your content. This can help you build your email list and expand your audience. You can also offer downloadable checklists, cheat sheets, templates, whitepapers, or anything else that will delight your audience and empower them to make a purchasing decision.

Pro tip: Use Livestorm's Handouts plugin to share downloadable resources within your webinar directly. So attendees can access your content without leaving the webinar window.

10. Time your CTA carefully

The call-to-action (CTA) is a crucial part of any webinar. “If it’s a lower-priced product, then simply taking people to an online payment form or checkout is best. But, if it's something expensive like a higher-end course, training program, or service, then the CTA would be to an application form to book a 1:1 call — the sale would be made on the call,” adds Ryan.

Don't ask for too much too soon and turn off your audience, but don't delay too long and miss the opportunity to convert them into leads. Find the sweet spot that works best for your audience and sales funnel.

This means testing different timing strategies, such as placing the CTA at the beginning, middle, or end of your webinar and analyzing which resonates best. A good rule of thumb is to present your CTA towards the end when you’ve had time to build engagement and demonstrate the value of your services or products. This gives them enough time to absorb your content and builds trust before making a decision.

Pro tip: With Livestorm, you can directly send clickable CTAs to your event room and customize the button text and link to fit your needs.

Attract, Engage, Convert

Webinars are a lead magnet that can generate high-quality leads, build relationships, and drive long-term growth. Here's a quick recap on how to host effective sales webinars:

• Choose a platform that suits your needs
• Understand your audience to deliver relevant and engaging content
• Slice and dice your audience to personalize your messaging
• Wow them with stunning visuals and storytelling
• Host a Q&A session to keep them engaged
• Give them something to take home (or download)
• Time your CTA to ask for the sale at the right moment

You also need to track post-webinar metrics like engagement and conversions to measure the success of your webinar. If you choose an all-in-one webinar platform like Livestorm, you can create custom registration pages before your webinar, engage your audience with live chat and polls during your presentation, and track post-webinar metrics.

Plus, Livestorm integrates with 1000+ apps, so you can easily sync registrations, leads, and more to your CRM or event management platform. This way, you can create webinars that generate quality leads and boost your ROI.

Frequently asked questions about how to sell webinars

Are webinars profitable?

Webinars are profitable when combined with a strong sales funnel and a well-executed marketing campaign. Leverage targeted marketing, like email marketing and social media advertising, to drive traffic to your webinar and ensure a registration rate. You also need a clear strategy to convert interested attendees into paying customers, like offering a special promotion or discount at the end of the webinar.

How do I get more audience members for my webinar?

You can get a bigger audience for your webinar through targeted marketing, like email marketing and social media advertising. You should also use promotional content across different channels and build hype for your webinar before it launches. Finally, create a registration page that explains the value of attending your webinar and offers incentives to register.

What are the benefits of webinars?

The benefits of webinars include:

• Increased brand awareness by connecting with more potential customers
• Opportunity to showcase your expertise and build trust in the market
• Easy scalability for a global audience at low cost
• Generate quality leads by capturing email addresses from attendees
• Gather valuable customer feedback and real-time insights
• Increase sales by converting interested attendees into paying customers
• Generate repeat business through remarketing campaigns

How do I promote my webinar?

You can promote your webinar through:

• Email, social media, online ads, and partnerships
• Collaborating with influencers or industry experts
• Building a registration page that explains the value of attending your webinar and offers incentives to register
• Writing blog posts related to the webinar topic and link to the registration page
• Generating interest with short teaser videos
• Follow-up emails to remind registrants about the event and drive higher attendance rates.