Recently, I worked with a Board of Experts member on a big webinar promotion.
He’d spent tons of time preparing the webinar content. But when I finally reviewed it, just two days before going live, I had major concerns.
There simply wasn’t enough time for an overhaul.
So, I relied on the 80-20 rule – focusing on a few key areas that would have an outsized impact on conversions.
With this approach, we were able to dramatically improve the webinar in a short period.
And that’s what I’m going to teach you in this article—the 5 areas you need to focus on if you want to keep more of your attendees on the webinar and generate more sales. These are killer strategies for conversion rate optimization for webinars, so strap in and take notes!
Now, I’m not claiming any guarantees. There are, of course, many factors that go into webinar sales strategy and presentation. This is all about education and sharing what has worked for our business and students.
With that said, let’s get the ball rolling with a quick lesson on getting more people to attend your webinar.
After all, what’s the point of worrying about your conversion rate if no one shows up during your webinar, right?
Do This to Increase Your Webinar Attendance Rates
If you’re struggling to get people to show up for your webinars, it’s likely because you’re not communicating effectively with registrants. Most marketers make the mistake of not following up enough after someone signs up.
Listen, you can’t just expect registrants to automatically remember your webinar date. They’re busy and have a million things competing for their attention. That’s why you need to be proactive about reminding them and making sure your event stays top of mind.
Here’s what I do.
I send regular email reminders about the value my registrants will get and what I’ll teach in the webinar.
No matter what niche you’re in, email is an important touchpoint. So, make sure you have a process for that in your webinar funnel.
Now, that’s not the secret sauce, though. If you really want to increase your webinar attendance rate, use different ways to remind people, not just email.
Texts, social media messages, forced calendar invites, voicemails – whatever works to reach them through their favorite platforms. Meet registrants where they’re at. This is crucial to getting those reminders seen!
And here’s a bonus pro tip: Keep registrants engaged after signup with polls, pre-webinar content, and making them feel involved. An excited registrant is way more likely to attend live!
Now that you know how to get more people to watch your webinar, let’s look at the first thing you should focus on to convert better.
1. Craft An Offer So Good It's Irresistible
You’re not going to have a successful webinar if you don’t have a great offer. Period.
At the end of the day, your offer is king. It is easy to sell a great offer but incredibly hard to sell a bad one.
You want your offer to be irresistible; I mean downright so sexy that any targeted buyer reviewing it can’t sleep that night after seeing it.
The offer needs to:
- Solve a MAJOR & painful problem in their life or achieve a big & important goal…
- Make them feel CERTAIN that they’ll get that result and that it’s entirely possible.
- Prove to them that they can get where they want with you MUCH faster – time is money!
In case you missed it, here’s my ultimate guide to creating irresistible offers. Go check that out for a deep dive.
Another resource to check out is Perry Belcher. He has been a force in the digital marketing world for a while and has developed a fantastic framework for creating great offers called the Golden Offer.
I got a chance to pick Perry’s brain about his offer framework, and he so generously explained it in great detail in my podcast. You can watch the full interview below.
Perry Belcher’s The Golden Offer
Perry’s “Golden Offer” framework breaks down the 4 elements that the most powerful, highest-converting offers all tend to have.
The Gold
This is the end desire or result your customer REALLY wants. It’s usually an emotional state, not the product itself.
If you’re selling a course on weight loss, the “gold” is not just information about losing weight. It’s the emotional state of feeling confident, attractive, and healthy.
Define the gold by getting ultra clear on the emotional state and desires your offer fulfills.
The Map
The map shows the path to the gold. It’s your system, steps, or strategy to get there.
You need more than just information – you need a helpful organization and sequencing of the information.
For example, if your offer is a weight loss course, don’t just provide a bunch of tips and advice on losing weight.
Instead, design a structured system that walks customers step-by-step through the process to reach their goal.
Maybe it’s an 8-week course that guides them through:
Week 1: Getting Started – Logging Food, Planning Meals
Week 2: Incorporating Exercise & Movement
Week 3: Mindset & Motivation Strategies
Week 4: Intermittent Fasting Techniques
Week 5: Clean Eating Guidelines
Week 6: Supplements & Superfoods
Week 7: Staying on Track at Social Events
Week 8: Making it a Lifestyle
This clear structure gives customers a path to follow versus just scattershot information.
The Shovel
The shovel represents tools or automation that helps extract the gold FASTER.
For example, software, templates, or done-for-you services. Look for ways to enable speed and convenience. The shovel is usually a great upsell.
Continuing the weight loss course example, a great shovel would be done-for-you meal plans and grocery lists.
This makes it faster and easier for customers to implement their new healthy eating habits.
You could create shovel products like:
- Done-for-you meal plans with recipes and grocery lists for each week
- A meal planning app that generates customized daily meal plans
- Ready-to-make smoothies delivered to their door
- A virtual assistant that answers diet questions and helps with meal prep
Tools and services that make it more convenient to reach the end emotional desire (feeling healthy and confident) will extract the gold faster for customers.
The shovel digs the path to their goals with less friction and effort on their part.
The Guide
This is the high-touch coaching or consulting element.
For the weight loss course example, the guide could be personal nutrition and fitness coaching. This gives customers expert 1-on-1 support.
You could offer coaching packages like:
- Monthly check-in calls with a certified nutrition coach
- Weekly virtual training sessions with a personal trainer
- A private Facebook community for accountability and questions
- In-person cooking classes with a chef to learn healthy recipes
The guide is the high-touch component that accelerates progress. Customers get personalized advice and coaching.
This helps them stay on track, troubleshoot problems, and, most importantly – believe they can achieve their weight loss goals through your support.
Having an expert guide provides tremendous value. And it helps customers extract the “gold” of health, confidence, and lifestyle transformation faster.
Most offers fail because they miss one or more of these four elements.
Think about offers you’ve seen. How many had a clear emotional endpoint, a path to get there, speed tools, AND coaching?
Use this model to create offers so good that people throw money at you. Because when you nail these 4 elements, your offer will be irresistible!
2. Back Up Your Claims With Social Proof
Here’s the thing. Most webinar attendees join with skepticism on high alert.
Though they’ve obviously raised their hand and said, “I’m curious, intrigued, and ready to hear you out,” you still have to assume that they have doubts. They have their guards up!
They’re asking questions like:
- Can “I” really do this?
- Is this possible? (Does your stuff actually work?)
- Is this person for real? (Can you deliver on what you promised?)
During the first 5-10 minutes, you need to answer those questions. Otherwise, they’re going to get bored and leave.
The solution?
Flood your webinar with social proof. You need to show your attendees resounding proof that you ARE real and that they CAN get results.
Client testimonials, case studies, reviews, and endorsements–that kind of stuff. Social proof builds belief in your claims.
You want to stack your proof. It’s important you show a ton of your own success.
But, even more importantly – try to stack 6-8 stories of your students or those you’ve taught and their results. Do this early in your webinar content.
Attendees will connect with certain stories, thinking: “Hey, that person is a lot like me. If they achieved those results, then I likely can too!”
This belief that they can replicate exciting outcomes helps warm up cold audiences incredibly fast.
Remember, I’m not an attorney, and there are definitely laws around how you can use testimonials and case studies, and you need to get your stuff reviewed!
Also, make sure your case studies and student stories are relatable.
- A stay-at-home parent…
- Someone just out of College…
- An international person with English as a second language…
- A full-time professional with only a few hours a week…
- Someone with no prior knowledge of…
Remember, the main thing we are going for is convincing the viewer that they, too, have a chance at this. They need to be able to see themselves in one of these 6-8 stories you start your webinar with.
At a subconscious level, it really captures a person’s interest. They’re more likely to commit to the whole webinar. Most importantly, they’re open to your message.
On the other hand, if you over-glorify yourself and make yourself sound very smart, talented, or skilled, you risk your attendees thinking, “Oh, they have skills or something I don’t, so I can never have these results.”
Hence, don’t oversell yourself!
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NOTE: Whenever you’re using your own success stories or customer success stories, you’re in a world that is heavily regulated. You need to consult an attorney on the appropriate and compliant way to use these stories. Whatever I am offering is never legal advice.
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3. Present a Big, New & Exciting Opportunity
Here’s a BIG mistake I see a lot of marketers make—they fail to create EXCITEMENT in their webinars.
They think it’s just some presentation with a bunch of slides, and people will be impressed by that.
Here’s the deal: you need to get your viewers excited!
They need to believe in their deepest of souls that there truly is a BIG new opportunity. Something they didn’t know about. Something they’re getting “the scoop” on.
If it’s the same old, same old, that’s BORING.
Or, if you don’t take a minute to PROVE to them why it’s such a big opportunity, they risk not believing you.
Whatever opportunity you’re presenting, you have to prove that it isn’t just speculation but a REAL CHANCE for those in the know to capitalize on changes ahead of the pack.
They’ll hang on to your every word as you let them in on secrets most people haven’t heard yet.
The most obvious example is a new business opportunity. What if there is this new social media platform that most don’t know about, but it’s got excellent opportunities?
You have a chance to help someone be first to market, but also, the size of the opportunity is so big – it would be silly to ignore it.
So, how do you prove these big, exciting opportunities?
- Show data, scientific facts, charts, and numbers
- Proof of recent growth
- Public releases or media coverage not seen tet by most
- Showcase results being achieved
- Show economic or industry data that is moving in a direction
If you can get attendees to have a major “a-ha moment” around the big market opportunity, you will open their hearts and minds even more. Win this, and the rest gets much easier.
4. Have 3 “Aha!” Breakthrough Moments
Nobody wants to sit through the same rehashed concepts they could read on a blog.
That’s why during your webinar, you want your attendees to experience at least 3 big A-HA moments where they think, “Wow, I hadn’t thought of that.”
These A-ha moments are crucial because they shake up preconceived notions and ingrained thinking patterns. When delivered effectively, these breakthroughs actually rewire how your audience thinks about a given challenge or opportunity.
Let’s look at this example:
Wanna lose weight? Eat less.
Booooring. Good luck getting me to pay with that advice. Now, let’s try this.
Wanna lose weight? Eat any food you want that is the size of your palm or less.
The other person thinks, “Wait, what? How? Why? This is interesting.”
You’ve created an intriguing concept and something new for them. Now, you have to back it up and prove it.
This is going to get you very close to getting the sale. Do this 3 times in your webinar for maximum impact.
There are TWO ways to create A-HA moments…
- Pick the 3 biggest objections your prospects have and help them have a breakthrough in each of them.
- Pick 3 unique “wow, never revealed before” things about your industry and reveal them…
I usually find #1 is easier – the objections one can help create 3 amazing secrets that help close the deal.
So find those obstacles holding your audience back and craft 3 A-has that remove them for good!
5. Remove Risk With A Bold Guarantee
The #1 factor stopping prospects from purchasing is FEAR.
You can banish this fear with risk removal.
Risk removal is a powerful way to make your offer irresistible because it addresses your customer’s #1 objection: Fear of wasting time and/or money.
People hesitate to buy not really because of the money but because of their fear of losing.
When you go the extra mile with risk removal, you flip the risk. The risk is now NOT doing it. So you can see, we just go back to our first strategy (irresistible offer) – you make it SILLY to say no.
If you indeed remove all of the risks, that’s when people will feel really stupid for not signing up for your offer.
Most marketers offer a simple money-back guarantee. Money-back guarantees are great, but everyone does them. They are almost EXPECTED at this point.
And, also, you have people thinking, “Sure, money-back guarantees protect my money, but what about the TIME I invested? I lose the time still, don’t I?”
To make your offer irresistible, try to incorporate a guarantee that goes above and beyond the money-back guarantee.
- Could you offer a DOUBLE money-back guarantee if they use your product and don’t get the results that they want?
- Could you offer extra services or help if they don’t get the results they want?
- Could you cover some of their additional expenses if they don’t get the results they want?
Ever seen the commercials for supplements that say, “If this doesn’t work, we’ll give you a refund, you can keep the bottle, AND we’ll buy you a supplement of your choice.”
Again, this is just one more layer to remove risk and show confidence in your product!
Of course, make sure that any guarantees you offer are legally compliant.
Consider guarantees like:
- 150% money back if not satisfied
- Refund based on unused time remaining
- Reimbursing expenses beyond the fee if metrics aren’t hit
- Bonuses if certain KPIs aren’t achieved
The specifics depend on your offer. Get creative and stacked with guarantees to erase any perceived risk stopping your audience from taking you up on your offer.
Start Increasing Your Webinar Conversion Rate
There you have it – the 5 key areas you need to nail down to see your webinar conversion rate skyrocket!
I know it can seem daunting to overhaul your webinar strategy. But small, focused tweaks make a huge impact over time.
Don’t try to implement everything at once. Pick 1 or 2 areas to start optimizing first. Then, build positive momentum from there.
Try applying a few of these techniques to your next webinar. Track results closely so you can double down on what works.
Soon, you’ll be amazed at how much your conversion rate improves by focusing on just a few high-impact best practices.
Webinars are such a powerful sales tool when optimized effectively. I can’t wait for you to start experiencing the results yourself.
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