Running online seminars can be a key part of your customer relationship management process, but in order to be of true benefit to your company, your seminars need to be well thought out and well managed.
Organisation is the key. For a seminar to run smoothly, you should make a detailed plan of who you want to attend the seminar and what you want to achieve. Here are some tips on running a successful seminar:
1. Who and Why?
First decide why you want to run this seminar. Is it to train staff, promote products to customers or to present your latest financial results to your investors? Once you know why you're running the seminar, decide exactly who you want to attend. This will help you to promote the seminar.
2. Content
Plan the content of your seminar, including whether you are going to use audio as well as visual presentation, whether your attendees can interact with you - putting in a Q&A session, or setting up a chat area - and how you will run your presentation.
3. Promotion
If you have a dedicated audience in mind, staff members for example, then promote your seminar via e-shots, your intranet and other internal communications used by your business. For an external audience, advertise your seminar on your website, including the facility to register and receive seminar materials online. Use e-shots to existing customers and try links from other relevant websites to attract new customers.
4. Pre-Seminar Activities
These can range from a simple set of documentation, to requiring participants to prepare a document before the seminar. Other pre-seminar preparation includes directed reading, questionnaires or surveys and quizzes.
5. Run Your Seminar
Make sure that you are well prepared for your seminar, that you have collected any pre-seminar paperwork that you asked for and that your presentation is completed. Introduce yourself to your participants, and identify the sections of the seminar as you work through them. Remember to make clear which areas of the seminar are interactive - where participants can post or ask questions directly to you or other members of the presentation team. Keep to schedule; even online seminar participants get annoyed by a presentation that overruns.
6. Post-Seminar Activities
Prepare proceedings of the seminar, which you can eMail to participants, or make available on your website after the seminar. Include a full list of delegates and presenters, alongside a copy of the slide presentation and transcribed questions and answers. You could also ask particpants to complete a feedback questionnaire, set related projects for them to complete and report back on within a set timeframe, conduct online interviews or set up a discussion group so that participants can continue to question and share knowledge on the seminar subject.
Just like online exhibitions, online seminars have many advantages, but if they are poorly planned and executed, participants will not return to other seminars and your reputation could be damaged. On the other hand, careful planning, targeting, preparation and follow-up will make your seminar useful to its audience, encourage them to return, and enhance your image.