Webinars have become a popular presentation tool for many businesses. They allow a company to educate customers and promote products or services to an online audience. However, some businesses don't use webinars to their full advantage. Here are some tips for using them webinar that may not be as commonly known to help companies build their reputation as experts and sell more value to customers.

Provide real value without selling directly

When people sign up for a webinar, they want to learn something useful without feeling like they're being sold to. You should focus your content on providing real value to your attendees through tips, strategies, case studies or data that they will find useful. You can do this without directly presenting your products or services. This will build credibility as an expert people want to learn from. Later in the webinar or follow-up, you can discuss how your offerings can help them apply what they've learned.

For example, if you're in web design, your webinar can offer tips on improving website usability without a sales pitch. Later you can explain how your web design services can implement those usability best practices. Participants will be much more receptive to your solutions after they have benefited from the useful content first.

Related: Why Webinars should be a key part of your business's online strategy

Ask compelling questions for discussion

One key thing you can do is pause during your webinar ask open-ended questions that encourage discussion and interaction in the chat box. Questions like “What challenges have you faced with this” or “How can these tips apply to your situation” get people engaged and thinking more deeply about the content. This makes the webinar feel more like a conversation than a one-sided presentation. Persuasive questions also help reinforce main ideas as people have to process them to answer them.

Share relevant cases and examples

Nothing sells better than real world examples. Search case studies from clients or public case studies about how other businesses successfully used the strategies or tools in your webinar topic. Discuss the challenges they faced, the steps they took, and the results they achieved. Participants can more easily imagine applying ideas to their own situations when supported by specific examples. Be sure to get permission to share any customer stories or only share what is publicly available.

Record and share the webinar later

Many people sign up for a webinar with the intention of watching it live, but real life gets in the way and they miss it. Others may discover the valuable topic after the live date passes. By recording your webinar, you give it longer legs and an opportunity to reach a wider audience. You can upload the recording to your website, share it on social networks or send the link in follow-up emails. It becomes an evergreen piece of content that promotes your expertise for months after.

Provide a valuable downloadable resource

Along with sharing the webinar recording, also provide attendees with a workbook, checklist, template, or other helpful resource that they can refer to later. This could be a summary of webinar discussion questions, shared key statistics, or a planning guide for implementing strategies. By giving them something immediately useful that they can apply, it leaves them with a positive experience of your webinar and brand.

Related: 12 steps to creating the perfect webinar

Look for interactions during the live session

To keep people engaged when they attend your live webinar, frequently ask poll questions or write answers in the chat. Questions like “Type A if you've faced this challenge or B if not” or “Rate your confidence on a scale of 1 to 5” make people active participants instead of passive listeners. You can even have everyone introduce themselves in the chat to build connections. Interaction makes the webinar experience more engaging and impactful.

Follow up consistently after the event

Just because the session is over doesn't mean your contact with the participants has to end. In the following days, you can send at least 3 follow-up emails thanking people for participating, summarizing key issues and offering additional support or resources. You may also want to send out a survey to gather feedback on your webinar experience. Follow-up is important here!

Promote your upcoming webinars in advance

Don't just post a webinar registration link the day it's happening. Promote your upcoming webinars in advance, either on your website, blog, email or on your social networks. Using email allows you to inform your clients about your upcoming session. This is important because you need to give attendees time on their calendars and generate early interest and commitment through teasing about the topic and the speaker. You can even do an early bird discount for those who sign up a few weeks in advance to encourage this. This advance promotion will spread the word and lead to higher registration numbers.

Related: 7 Practical Steps to Hosting Webinars That Drive Sales

Consider a webinar series

Instead of one-off webinars, you can also schedule a series of webinars around a specific topic or set of related topics. This could work a lot – it could be a monthly webinar series like “website optimization tips” or a multi-part series like “social media marketing mastery”. A series approach will allow you to delve deeper into the content over time and build a community around the topic. It will also give participants your a schedule to look forward to.

While getting started with webinars requires some upfront planning and preparation, putting these strategies into action can begin to generate positive results for your bottom line over time. good luck!