Grabbing audience attention can be simple, but keeping that initial attention engaged over the hours’ duration of your webcast can seem like quite a challenge. However, continued engagement is an essential part of any webcast. So, if you are concerned about attention dwindling throughout your webcast, here are 4 unique ways to keep your audience engaged.
Get the right platform
Having the right webcast platform can make or break your webcast. Choosing the wrong one runs the risk of delays, faults, technical difficulties, and that buffering wheel of death!
Opt for a webcast platform that has various functionalities such as live casting, recording, live chat, breakout rooms, analytics, and much more.
Pick the perfect topic
Ask yourself, who is your target audience? This doesn’t just mean what your target demographic is, we are talking about what they enjoy, how their buyer behaviour can be influenced, and what makes them tick.
What is already out there in this field that your audience can currently access? How have they reacted to this content? This will allow you to come up with a new angle that sets you apart from the competition and cements your brand as a thought leader.
Once you truly understand your audience, you will be able to come up with an engaging topic for your webcast that will draw in the right people. Not only this, but your audience will be dedicated to learning about what you have to say, keeping them engaged throughout the entire webcast.
Encourage audience participation
Some people are tempted to make webcasts more of a lecture – where one speaker simply offloads their expert knowledge to the audience. However, this can be a little bit – well – boring! Instead, encourage your audience to participate throughout the webcast to keep them engaged.
Of course, you don’t want your speaker to be constantly interrupted, so set aside specific times during the webcast where audience members can discuss amongst themselves, ask the speaker questions, or split off into breakout rooms.
This even works with pre-recorded webcasts – just make sure you have an expert available to answer questions throughout the webcast on the day by live chat.
Include a persuasive call to action
In order to do this, you must first consider what it is that you want to achieve from the webcast. Are you hoping to educate your audience, boost sales, demonstrate your products, or cement yourself as an authority in your field?
Once you have determined this, you can now turn your attention to creating a persuasive call to action – a demand for your audience to perform an action once the webcast has finished. For example, if you are hoping to boost sales, your call to action might be to “try our products today”.
And finally, how might you analyse how successful the webcast has been? Including a secondary call to action such as filling out a survey or signing up to your mailing list can be a great way to collect data that can show you how effective your webcast and call to action has been.
And there you have it – 4 unique ways to keep your audience engaged for the foundations of a successful webcast.
