How webinars will change in 2022. Making way for new interactive formats

What are webinars for?

Not everything has changed: webinars are still an effective addition to your marketing strategy and are used to offer training opportunities or to allow you to share relevant knowledge and information. You can also use this format to run product demonstrations, workshops, or customer meetings to gather feedback. Webinars are an excellent alternative to hybrid or virtual events when the needs are not complex enough to justify them.

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How webinars will change in 2022

How do you picture a webinar? The classic format involves one or more speakers talking for an hour on average, interacting with each other (and very little with the audience), usually with a Q&A session at the end lasting five to ten minutes. This format, which has worked for a long time, is now perceived as too close to the idea of broadcasting. Audiences in 2022 will not want to be passive, but will expect to interact and contribute to the conversation in real time. Especially if webinars are used as part of a branding campaign, it is essential to offer a more dynamic and interactive experience, mixing different types of media content and allowing a level of interaction as close as possible to that of an in-person event.

Branding and content customisation

Webinars in 2022 will be heavily branded and customised, designed to adapt to the needs of users thanks to new digital platforms that allow for the creation of detailed user profiles through accreditation systems. Features that have been added to webinar platforms include, for instance, the possibility of integrating polls, peer networking, real-time Q&A and multimedia content display into the user experience seamlessly. It is also possible to pre-record part of the content and integrate it with the content that is produced live.

Quello che devi sapere prima di organizzare un webinar

What you need to know before you host a webinar

As with any event – because webinars are events in their own right – it is essential to define your goals. What is the purpose of the webinar? Who is your target audience? Are you organising a focus group of premium users to get feedback on your service? Are you offering special training to your team? Do you want to engage in a debate with experts in your industry? Based on this you will need to choose which features are essential for you and turn to a platform that can provide everything you need. For instance, if you have an international audience, you may need a platform that provides a separate channel for translators, which can be selected at will by users who require it.

Visual branding

Never confuse a webinar with a mere online meeting: your event’s aesthetics need to reflect your brand values. Visual branding is therefore paramount. Your platform of choice might help you with this by allowing you to insert visual elements that remind the user of your brand identity, but the organisation of the event should also change accordingly. A webinar should be prepared almost like a TV programme, with a well-organised schedule, and make space for all the elements that are important to your brand. Of course, your speakers will also need a well-lit and possibly branded background and outstanding audio quality.

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