Webinar Program Methodology

Webinar Program 01 Executive Summary
01 Objectives & Buy-In
Methodology: 02 Situation Analysis
02 Pre-Webinar Planning
03 Planning
a proven approach and premium tool-kit 03 Webinar Execution
04 Administration
04 Post Webinar Marketing
05 Measurement
Follow this simple, step-by-step, methodology 06 Budget Measurement
05 Program

to develop a webinar program that supports

your company’s goals & objectives.

© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

What is the purpose of this methodology?
 To help you develop a Webinar Program that:

» Is aligned with corporate values and vision

» Provides a valuable form of content for your marketing mix

» Supports the following:

 Corporate marketing strategy

 Product marketing plans

 Marketing communications plan


How to use this consulting methodology:
This methodology consists of give stages, each with a description, steps and action items.

Action items include using our premium tools & templates. Our intention with this

methodology is to help you:

1. Plan your webinar program by identifying goals, objectives and building a business case.

2. Manage your webinar program by providing you with time-saving tools & templates.

3. Measure the results of your program and foster an environment of continuous improvement.


What is Web Conferencing?
Web conferencing refers to a service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote
locations. These are sometimes referred to as webinars or, for interactive conferences, online
workshops.

In general the service is made possible by internet technologies, particularly on TCP/IP connections. The
service allows real-time point-to-point communications as well as multicast communications from one
sender to many receivers. It offers information of text-based messages, voice and video chat to be
shared simultaneously, across geographically dispersed locations. Applications for web conferencing
include meetings, training events, lectures, or short presentation from any computer.

- Wikipedia


Scope of the Webinar Plan
A webinar program should be considered part of a larger, integrated Marketing plan. This methodology will
help you develop a webinar plan that is aligned with corporate strategy, marketing communications and
product marketing. It should also be considered part of a larger content marketing initiative.

If you haven’t already discovered our other methodologies, be sure to review them before moving forward:

Product Marketing Plans Marketing Communications Plan Content Marketing Plan

Download Download Download


Outputs from this Methodology:
Key Deliverable: Webinar Plan Template

Stage 01 – Maturity Assessment, Risk Assessment, Strategy Workbook, Business Case

Stage 02 – Customer Profile, Vendor Evaluation, Database, Message Mapping, Calendar

Stage 03 – Promotions Plan, Execution Checklist, Webinar Evaluation

Stage 05 – Follow Up, Lead Nurturing, Content Marketing

Stage 06 – Dashboard, Budget and ROI Calculator


What is the Webinar Plan Template?
The purpose of the Webinar Plan Template is to help you develop a plan to fully exploit webinars as a sales,
marketing and support channel. Webinars are a very influential type of content, capable of meeting multiple
business objectives.

Organizations have embraced webinars to accomplish a
number of important business goals, including lead
generation, to establish or strengthen their perception as an
industry thought leader, and to train employees, customers or
partners.

Download the Webinar Plan Template to document the plan Download

you create as you go through this methodology.

01 Objectives & Buy-In 04 Post-Webinar Marketing
Objectives & Buy-In 02 Pre-Webinar Planning 05 Program Measurement
03 Webinar Execution

STAGE 01 – IDENTIFY OBJECTIVES
Before you start your webinar program, you will need to:

 Establish a Benchmark
 Review Marketing Objectives
 Evaluate the Competitive Landscape
 Outline your Webinar Program’s Purpose & Objectives
 Build a Business Case



STEP 1 – Establish a Benchmark
 Action Item – Use the Webinar Program Maturity Assessment to evaluate and to benchmark your
organization's webinar program maturity.

Areas of evaluation include:

 Buy-In  Promotions
 Strategy  Assets
 Competition  Measurement
 Resources Download



STEP 2 – Review Your Company’s Marketing Strategy
 Action Item – If you have not developed a Marketing Strategy, do that first before attempting to create a
webinar program. Use the Marketing Strategy Plan Methodology to do this.

Regardless of how your marketing strategy was developed, refer to it to get
the context for developing your webinar program:

 What products or initiatives will your webinar program support?
 What core values or strategic objectives should influence the
development of content for your webinars?
Download
 What core competencies can you exploit or showcase through the use of
webinars?


STEP 3 – Evaluate the Competitive Landscape
 Action Item – Use our Competitive Webinar Tracking Tool to keep track of your competitors webinar
efforts.

The goal of your evaluation is to understand the following:

• How your competitors are using webinars to influence the market
• What topics and subjects they are addressing
• How effective their efforts are
Download

Helpful Hint – Get content updates automatically by using "Google Reader" (subscribe to RSS feeds and set up "Alerts").


STEP 4 – Conduct a Risk Assessment
 Action Item – Use our Webinar Risk Assessment Template to document webinar risks, assess their
impact and probability, and develop risk mitigation plans.

For most organizations, the risks associated with a webinar program
are reputational in nature, resulting from failing to execute well.

This assessment, therefore, is not so much to make a go/no-go
decision on a webinar program as it is to simply identify and mitigate
Download
in advance any risks of a poorly executed webinar program.



STEP 5 – Outline Your Webinar Program Objectives
 Action Item - Use the Webinar Program Strategy Workbook to outline, summarize and communicate
your webinar program strategy plan and objectives.

Use the workbook to document your program’s purpose from the following
key perspectives:

 Marketing Opportunities
 Sales Opportunities
 Customer Service Opportunities Download
 Other

Helpful Hint – Use the Objectives Scorecard tab to document high level objectives, programs, KPIs and target timeframes.


STEP 6 – Build a Business Case and Get Approval
 Action Item - Use the Webinar Program Business Case to help you build a business case for an
investment in a webinar program.

Your first instinct may be to justify a webinar program based on cost
savings, which are real enough.

Most organizations, however, find that the value of a webinar
program is the increased engagement it provides with key
audiences, such as customers. Download


Pre-Webinar Planning 02 Pre-Webinar Planning 05 Program Measurement

STAGE 02 – PRE-WEBINAR PLANNING
Before you start your webinar program, you will need to research and plan in each of these areas:

 Audience
 Content
 Talent
 Delivery
 Promotions



STEP 1 – Understand the Audience
 Action Item - Use the Customer Profile Template to help you identify and understand the target
audiences for each webinar.

In addition to using this template, answer the following questions:

 Who they are?

 What do they need to know?

 Where do they tend to get their information?

 What do you want them to do with the information you provide? Download



STEP 2 – Hire a Program Manager
 Action Item - Use the Webinar Program Manager Job Description to outline roles & responsibilities.

You many not initially need a full-time person to manage your webinar
program. What many organizations discover is that when they
execute their webinar program well, demand is created, leading to the
need to produce more content at a faster rate.

To do this without sacrificing quality, you will need to bring a Program
Manager into the picture, and this is best done early in the program. Download



STEP 3 – Select Web Conferencing Technology
 Action Item - Use the Web Conferencing Vendor Evaluation Tool to help you evaluate and select the
right web conferencing technology solution for your business.

Areas of the evaluation include:

 Requirements

 Features
Download
 Support

Helpful Hint – Webinar Consulting Services RFP Template to help you design a RFP for Webinar Consulting Services.


STEP 4 – Build a Roster of Speakers
 Action Item - Use the Webinar Speakers Database to keep track of information on webinar resources
and speakers.

The ideal webinar speaker is a subject matter expert and is known to your
audience.

A few important Items to keep track of include:

 Contact Information
Download
 Expertise
 Cost


STEP 5 – Prioritize Your Messaging
 Action Item - Use the Message Mapping Tool to help you prioritize the messages you wish to convey in
your webinars.

Use what you learned in Step 1 of this Stage to develop core messages
for your webinars. Use this template to prioritize those messages for:

 Effectiveness

 Credibility
Download
 Resonance



STEP 6 – Identify Webinar Topics
 Action Item - Use the Webinar Topic Mapping Template to identify webinar topics that address the
informational needs of your target audience.

Refer to the Customer Profiles you created during Step 1 of this Stage.

Make sure the webinar topics that you identify address things your
audience wants to know.

For more information about buyer personas and buying stages, refer to Download
our Content Marketing Plan Methodology.



STEP 7 – Select Speakers for Upcoming Webinars
 Action Item - Use the Webinar Presenter Evaluation Tool to help you select the right speaker for the
webinar.

The right speaker for your webinar is someone with subject matter
expertise who is an engaging presenter.

Use this template to evaluate presenters based on the following criteria:

 Experience  Professionalism
Download
 Skill Set  Personality & Fit



STEP 8 – Plan Your Webinar Promotions
 Action Item - Use the Webinar Promotions Calendar 2013 to visualize your promotions plan.

Webinars lend themselves to promotion through a number of channels. Here
is a list of proven, effective ways to promote your webinars, and your
promotion plan should include a blend of several of these:

 Online  Sales Team
 Email  Advertising
 Direct Mail  Partners
Download
 Social Media  Webinars

Helpful Hint – Use the Webinar Project Management Tool to keep you webinar program on track.

Webinar Execution 02 Pre-Webinar Planning 05 Program Measurement

STAGE 03 – WEBINAR EXECUTION
This Stage will cover the things you must address to successfully execute your webinar program:

 Logistics
 Management
 Lessons Learned



STEP 1 – Handle the Logistics
 Action Item - Use the Webinar Plan Template to document the logistics of hosting a webinar.

Recognize that the logistical considerations presented here may not be
the same for all webinars you host.

A few items to consider include:

 Monitor Registrations
 Session Start Times Download
 Polls & Surveys



STEP 2 – Organize the Execution
 Action Item - Use the Webinar Execution Checklist to help you manage your webinar session.

A webinar is not unlike a performance where the presenter is the actor and
your Webinar Program Manager is the director.

Use this checklist to clearly define the roles and responsibilities to ensure
your performance goes off smoothly.

Download



STEP 3 – Document Lessons Learned
 Action Item - Use the Webinar Evaluation Template to help you track and analyze the feedback that you
get from attendees and speakers.

This template covers the following sections:

 Overall Assessment  Lessons Learned
 Scope Management  Opportunities for Improvement
 Quality of Deliverables  Future Considerations
 Key Accomplishments  Best Practices
Download


Post-Webinar Marketing 02 Pre-Webinar Planning 05 Program Measurement

STAGE 04 – POST-WEBINAR MARKETING
Post-webinar marketing helps you get the full ROI from your webinar program. Before you host your first
webinar, you should define your post-webinar marketing plan to ensure that these critical activities are
occurring:

 Follow Up
 Lead Nurturing
 Leveraging the Content



STEP 1 – Follow Up
 Action Item - Use the Webinar Plan Template to document a follow-up plan with timelines or standards
and measures for every webinar you produce.

When it comes to follow-up, you need to consider:

 Timeliness
 Frequency
 Methods

Download
Best practices for webinar follow-up suggest some form of communication,
typically email, within two hours of webinar conclusion.


STEP 2 – Lead Nurturing
 Action Item - Use the Lead Nurturing Toolkit to help you identify and document how you will nurture
leads generated through your webinar program.

Your webinar program should not dictate your lead nurturing strategy,
but fit within it. Webinars have the ability to create many new leads, so
having a lead nurturing program is essential to getting the full ROI on
your webinar program.

The use of marketing automation can greatly simplify your lead Visit Site
nurturing efforts, an increase their effectiveness.



STEP 3 – Leveraging the Content
 Action Item - Use the Content Marketing Plan and ensure that your webinar plan includes some
provision for recording and using this content.

Webinars usually enjoy more recorded than live views, so make them
available in some sort of webinar archive.

In addition, leverage your webinar content through other channels as well,
such as:

Download
 Blog Posts  How-To Guides
 Newsletters  Infographics

Program Measurement 02 Pre-Webinar Planning 05 Program Measurement

STAGE 05 – PROGRAM MEASUREMENT
Measuring the effectiveness of your webinar program is imperative to determine your ROI as well as making
improvements to keep your program growing. During this Stage, we’ll discuss:

 Key Performance Indicators
 Budget
 ROI



STEP 1 – Key Performance Indicators
 Action Item - Use the Webinar Metrics Dashboard to identify and track a set of metrics or Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will help you understand how effective your webinar program is.

Choose metrics that have meaning for your company, not just the marketing
function.

Here are a few examples of metrics that you can consider for use:

 Registration Numbers  Sales
Download
 Live Attendees  Social Mentions
 New Leads & Return Viewers  Cost Per Lead


STEP 2 – Budget
 Action Item - Use the Webinar Budget Template to create a budget for your webinar program.
Develop a total budget for your webinar program, and track costs at the individual webinar level.

Make sure you consider each of the following expense categories:

 Webinar Delivery - This is the cost of your platform.

 Promotion - Any costs associated with marketing your webinars:
ads, direct mail or the use of any channel for which you must pay.

 Talent - These fees include honorariums for speakers, equipment,
connectivity, travel or living (if any) associated with securing and Download
using presenters for your webinars.



STEP 3 – Calculate Return on Investment
 Action Item - Use the Webinar ROI Calculator to determine the ROI, in quantitative and qualitative
terms, from individual webinars.

A few examples of potential costs include:

 Quantitative – Technology, Equipment, Promotions, Sales, etc.

 Qualitative – Brand Awareness, Thought Leadership, Customer
Relationships, Leads.

Download


Conclusion
 At the end of any business process, it’s always a good idea to review it and identify areas for improvement.

 Demand Metric has the tools and expertise to help you build an effective webinar program.

» Create or audit your webinar plans

» Assist with using any of the tools referenced in this methodology

» Provide hands-on marketing assistance to accelerate achieving your marketing department’s goals.

To learn more, simply contact Demand Metric: info@demandmetric.com


Webinar Program Methodology

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