How to Reach Your Marketing Goals with Webinars

Prioritizing Webinars for Book Launches

Webinars serve as a powerful marketing tool for authors who want to make a significant impact.

Offering a blend of personal connection and digital reach, webinars provide a platform to market yourself to new audiences, establish credibility, and create buzz around your book launch. 

Here’s how a webinar can add value to your book launch strategy: 

1. Increase exposure to new audiences. Successfully marketing your webinar will get your message in front of relevant audiences that may otherwise not know about you or your book.
2. Boost your sales. Providing an opportunity for people to personally connect with you during a webinar can build long-term relationships. This interaction is key to creating excitement and getting people to buy your book. 
3. Fuel email campaign efforts. The potential to grow your email list by adding webinar attendees will greatly benefit your book launch marketing efforts, allowing you to continue to share your messages with them in the long term.

Incorporating webinars as part of your book marketing techniques will allow you to focus on the content of your book, showcasing your expertise in real-time and adding a memorable learning experience for those interested in—or new to—the topic.

Let’s explore how to promote your book using webinars as part of your book launch strategy. 

Planning Your Book Launch Webinar

Planning the perfect webinar requires careful consideration of many factors. 

Timing

Hosting your webinar about a month before the official release date can significantly impact launch week success. This timeline gives you enough runway to build anticipation while ensuring your book is still fresh in attendees’ minds when it becomes available. 

If time and resources allow, hosting multiple webinars increases your chances of reaching more people from varying audiences, expanding the reach of your message. 

In addition to pre-launch webinars, authors can also host webinars on launch day to boost launch week sales, as well as a month or so post-launch to fuel momentum and keep the book’s message front and center for potential readers. 

If opting to host more than one webinar, focus on making content engaging with more in-depth topic-specific webinars to cater to different audience segments. Be sure to leave room for Q&A, which lets participants feel like they’re part of the conversation.  

Technology

Another critical planning component is researching the various tools available to host an online event like a webinar. While Zoom is a popular platform used by many, you may find it doesn’t offer the features you need to present your best self. 

Consider: 

• Will you need breakout rooms? 
• Does your presentation include interactive polls? 
• What chat features may you need for Q&As and other discussions? 
• Are there specific screen-sharing capabilities required for your presentation?
• Do you want automated email sequences sent to attendees? 

Whatever tools you choose should align with your technical abilities and comfort level so you can deliver your message effectively.  

Moderators

A webinar without a moderator/host or additional speakers feels like you are talking to yourself for an hour. Does that sound appealing? Probably not, for you or your audience.

Ask someone to lend a hand. A moderator can help keep the pace of the webinar moving, ask pertinent questions, run a poll, and make a sales pitch so you can focus on sharing your message. Having additional guests helps the webinar evolve into a discussion. Doing a Q&A format with multiple guests can be an exciting and informative hour. 

Bonus Offerings 

Depending on your goals, you will also want to consider bonus offerings to encourage attendees to follow through on your requests. For instance: 

• If your goal is to build your email list, offer exclusive bonus content in the form of a downloadable lead magnet for webinar participants only. 
• If your goal is to boost sales, create special pre-orders or bulk sales bundles to incentivize participants to purchase early and in larger quantities. 

Establishing desired outcomes for your webinar and providing exclusive access to additional content can significantly fuel your book marketing goals. 

Remember: A webinar requires careful planning, so allow yourself 4-6 weeks before the event to create meaningful content, set up your platform, market it widely, and do a trial run. The effort you put in beforehand will allow you to show up as your most authentic self on the day of the webinar. 

Creating Compelling Webinar Content 

Your book is one big content machine, and effectively utilizing the information within its pages is central to presenting a dynamic and engaging webinar. 

As you prepare your webinar, consider how to provide value and generate interest in your book. 

Start by identifying 2-3 key themes or chapters from your book. For example, if you are a business leadership author, you may have a unique framework that you can expand on that piques attendees’ curiosity. Bonus points if they can implement the framework immediately. 

Flush out a timeline for the way the webinar will flow. The structure of the webinar is just as important as the content you’ll share. A sample format might be: 

• 10 minutes for introductions and building rapport 
• 30-40 minutes to present the core content 
• 15-20 minutes for Q&A with the audience

Add in visual elements to engage the audience. Maintaining your audience’s attention span is key to a fun learning experience. Break up your content by adding visuals like: 

• Infographics with relevant statistics 
• Diagrams explaining complex topics 
• Case study highlights 
• Professional photos of your book 
• Short video clips, if appropriate 

Balance educational content with promotional content. A good rule of thumb here is to follow the 80/20 rule for content marketing: 80% of your content should focus on adding value, while 20% of your content should be book promotion. Your calls-to-action should be clear and direct but sprinkled into the presentation or saved for a slide at the end. 

Identify bonus materials to support your book. Everyone likes a freebie. When you offer supplementary content, you engage participants in a way that keeps you top of mind and encourages them to engage further with your book and message. Some ideas include: 

• A workbook that accompanies the book and/or webinar 
• Share checklists or templates used in the presentation 
• Design an interactive assessment tool 
• Write a bonus chapter that is exclusive to attendees 
• Pull together a resource guide to support your book’s contents

A memorable webinar is book marketing gold, and the more time you spend creating compelling content, the better your chances are of “sticking” with participants beyond the live event. 

Promoting Your Webinar 

You can’t create community without involving community. 

Webinars invite people to join in a shared conversation around your book and message; however, they don’t know about the webinar until you tell them. There are a few ways to ensure people show up to the event. 

Email Marketing 

Tapping into your existing permission-based email list is a priority when promoting your book launch webinar. 

Begin your outreach 4-6 weeks before the live event date and create a series of 2-3 emails that build anticipation. 

1. Initial Announcement: State your value proposition. What specific problems will attendees learn to solve?
2. Reminder Email: Not only is this a reminder to register for the event, but it’s another opportunity to spotlight the insights you’ll be sharing. 
3. Day-Of Email: The world is a busy place. An email sent the morning of the webinar increases attendee numbers and is a final call for registrations. 

Make sure your call-to-action is clear and that the registration page is hassle-free. The easier it is to take action, the more likely someone is to sign up for your webinar. 

You could send pre-written email copy to marketing partners like your publisher so they can amplify your efforts through their vast database of book lovers.   

Social Media 

Online spaces are noisy, so strategically planning out how you’ll promote your webinar on social media is a necessary step. 

Plan several touchpoints starting a few weeks before the webinar, varying content to fit each platform and playing into its strengths. For instance: 

1. You may create short teaser videos for Instagram. 
2. On LinkedIn, you may create a professional event post. 
3. Create a quick, 60-second thought leadership video on YouTube.

A branded book hashtag can help drive awareness in advance of your book launch and webinar to widen your reach. Using a consistent hashtag throughout the book marketing process will help you interact with webinar participants and field their questions during the event. It also allows the webinar to remain part of larger, ongoing conversations once the event is done. 

Implementing a coordinated promotional strategy across multiple platforms not only boosts registration numbers but also demonstrates the value of your book and ensures momentum that can last well beyond the webinar itself. 

Leverage Your Webinar to Reach Your Goals 

Wrapping up a webinar might feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. 

But! There are still many opportunities to promote your book to those who have signed up to be a part of the message. 

What you do after your webinar is just as important as what you do before. 

When registrants sign up for your webinar, they have opted into your email list, which is your strongest ally when it comes to content marketing.  

Continue building relationships with your attendees by nurturing them with a series of 4-5 email follow-ups post-webinar: 

1. 24 hours after the webinar: Send a thank you email to everyone who signed up that includes a link to the webinar replay. Any additional resources you promised them in the webinar should also be included in this email. To build community in other online spaces, add your social media links or online groups to encourage connection there, too. 
2. Three days after the webinar: Address any outstanding questions that didn’t get answered during the live event. Keep it to 2-3 questions and answer them succinctly with value-packed information from your book.  
3. A week after the webinar: If you have a case study or success story featured in your book you can share with attendees, this can add credibility to your message and to you as an expert on the topic. 
4. Ten days after the webinar: Get personal. Share more about your author journey and reasons for writing the book. People enjoy getting to know authors, and you never know when or with whom your story will resonate. 
5. Two weeks after the webinar: Remind them about any bonus opportunities you have related to the book. This is an additional opportunity to remind them about launch week and any happenings you have planned.  

Don’t forget: Every email you send to webinar registrants should include a call-to-action so they can continue to be active participants in your book launch. Maybe you’ll ask them to: 

• Purchase the book in bulk 
• Download a sample chapter 
• Share the book on social media 
• Sign up for a virtual launch party 
• Join an exclusive LinkedIn group 

Emails are only one part of the post-webinar equation. 

Your webinar is a powerhouse of content you can use long-term to help you achieve your marketing goals. Some ideas to repurpose this value-rich content include: 

• Create a lead magnet that can be used to obtain new leads (a.k.a. get new contacts signed up for your email list). 
• Create short clips from the webinar recording based on talking points and then share them on social media. 
• Take short quotes from the webinar and use them to create graphics for social media, linking to the full webinar recording. 
• Ask others to share your webinar with their networks to increase your message’s reach exponentially. 

Sharing your webinar in an ongoing way, post-event, will increase your visibility and establish you as a thought leader and authority in your field. 

The Bottom Line

Webinars are a fun, value-packed tool in how to promote your book. A successful webinar requires careful planning, engaging content, and strategic follow-through, but there are big payoffs that extend beyond book sales. Building meaningful connections provides long-term support beyond book sales, which is an invaluable part of your ongoing marketing journey. 

Take Action 

If you need help developing a strategic marketing plan for your next webinar, working with a partner like Weaving Influence can help. Get in touch with us today to get started! 

Kelly Edmiston

Kelly expertly supports authors through their book launches through strategic account management, with a specialization in mobilizing their networks and building impactful launch teams. She coaches authors throughout her launch management on how to best influence bestseller opportunities and secure Amazon reviews, ultimately increasing visibility, media coverage, and opportunities for growth and success.