It should come as little surprise that, in the last few months, webinar CE has become a favored method for financial advisors taking their continuing education. As a result, many of our insurance and asset management clients have proactively transitioned their classroom CE events to a webinar delivery.

To offer a bit of perspective, between the months of March and June of this year, Quest CE has seen a 976% increase in webinar CE events being scheduled, with the average event seeing upwards of 30 attendees. And this trend showing no sign of slowing down.

Whether you’re one of the many companies already capitalizing on webinar CE, or are simply looking for more information on how to get started, this article is your all-access pass to helping you get the most out of this newly sought-after delivery format.

1.) Find A Good Webinar Delivery Tool

Although there are many advantages to using a webinar delivery method, planning and implementing a successful event will come easier with the right delivery tool. This means finding a vendor that has an easy-to-use platform that not only meets your needs, but also complies with some of the state continuing education requirements that go hand-in-hand with this format. For instance, having the ability to launch polling questions throughout your webinar presentation is necessary, so the platform you use must have this feature, among others, available. We, personally, recommend platforms like GoToWebinar or Webex.

2.) Figure Out Logistics

Before you start planning out your next webinar, make sure you take logistics into consideration. You don’t want to have a low turnout simply because your webinar fell on a bad date or time. When setting up your webinar, you’ll want to consider the following:

  • Schedule your webinar in the middle of the week. Studies show that people tend to be more receptive to attend webinars that fall on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
  • Consider your time zone. Just because you have the option to connect with people across the nation, doesn’t mean they are willing to start off their day attending your webinar. If necessary, be sure to select a time that falls mid-day for the majority of your attendees.
  • Pick an attractive time slot. Generally, people tend register for webinars between 10am and 2pm. However, you might want to stay clear of noon-time. You don’t want to mess with people’s lunch hour.
  • Strategically send out your invites. Research shows that the majority of webinar registrations occur on Tuesday morning, making it the perfect time to send out your invite.

3.) Consider Having Webinar Assistance

Presenting a webinar on your own is definitely doable, but having additional hands onboard can help the presentation to run more smoothly. A trusted associate can hang back and take care of launching polling questions and monitoring questions coming in via chat, so you can spend more time focusing on your delivery. If you’re in need of a trusted partner for hosting your webinars, Quest CE is here to help! We can tune into your webinar and work with you virtually to launch polls, monitor incoming chats or field any technical issues.

4.) Be Clear With Expectations

The last thing you want to come out of your webinar is advisors not qualifying for the continuing education credit they came to receive. That’s why is very important for you to be clear with attendees at the start of the presentation about how they will earn their credit. Start by disclosing the fact that attendees must be present for the entire webinar presentation and that they also must respond to the three polling questions.

5.) Do A Trial Run

Even the top tech-experts and presenters can run into issues when working with new technology. Do yourself a favor and do a trial run, or two, before diving into the world of webinar. Not only will you get a feel for how the platform works, but you’ll be able to catch any hiccups and fix them before the presentation goes live.

6.) Prepare Your Content/Handouts

Webinars that offer CE credit will require certain handouts, forms and affidavits to be available for attendees. It’s important to review these documents prior to the start of the webinar so that you can relay important information to attendees about what’s expected from them. We recommend loading these handouts into platform ahead of time so you’re not dealing with it the day of the event.

7.) Don’t Forget Reminders

Signing up to attend a webinar is one thing – actually attending it is another. Set yourself up for a good turnout by following-up with advisors, post-registration, to remind them of the upcoming webinar. Some webinar platforms, such as GoToWebinar, can automate this task for you.

8.) Measure And Report

Once the presentation is over, be sure to leverage your attendee information in your sales and marketing strategy. With Quest CE, you’ll have unlimited access to attendee data and reports, allowing you to strategically follow-up with attendees about specific firm products, based off the content discussed.