Is it your first time creating a webinar, and are you looking for tips to make it profitable? Or are you a more or less experienced webinar creator, trying to improve your monetization strategy and amp up the sales? Whatever the case, we’ve got some helpful tips for you.

Webinar Monetization Options

There are plenty of ways you can monetize your webinar:

1. Registration fee

This is perhaps the most obvious way to make money off your online event. However, while it makes sense to charge for educational webinars, it’s unacceptable for product reviews and other pure advertising, albeit useful, content.

2. Sales of products and services

Webinars are a perfect tool for introducing, explaining, and popularizing your products and services. People are more likely to make a purchase after an entertaining and profound webinar, so make sure to include the buy button in the video or at least a link in the description.

3. Affiliate marketing

On the one hand, you can advertise other people’s products and services during your webinar and make commission off the sales. There are some caveats though: what you advertise should be relevant to your content, and it’s best to avoid dealing with shady companies and individuals.

On the other hand, you can pay others to advertise your product or service on their platforms. This can potentially result in an influx of new clients, interested in making a purchase.

4. Pay-per-view recordings

Not everyone will find time to attend your webinar. Do not take it as a personal affront, but rather try to capitalize on automated webinars that allow you to charge per view. Edit the recording of your recent successful webinar, upload it on a webinar platform or a video service like Vimeo, and enjoy a steady flow of income with no extra effort.

5. Upsells monetization

“If you loved this webinar, I suggest you take a look at one-on-one trainings I offer. They are more expensive, but it’s worth it, since I’ll be able to provide personalized help and even more value for you, guys,” this is just one of numerous upselling options to use during a webinar.

Another example would be you making an educational webinar and charging extra for tests and essay reviews.

How to Set Up Webinar Monetization?

There are three main options to set up webinar monetization:

Payment via registration form

Many webinar platforms have embedded features for charging attendees, such as integration with various payment processing services. For example, AnyMeeting and WebinarJam all make it possible for you to add PayPal as a paying option for your participants.

Payment via website

If you have your own ecommerce website with a shopping cart system, it only makes sense to process all the payments there. What is more, many webinar platforms such as webinar software platform MyOwnConference, allow you to integrate your webinar into your website.

Read also: How to Use Webinars in eCommerce.

Payment via third-party sales systems

You can sell your webinars via third party ticketing platforms such as Eventzilla, Eventbrite, EventMobi and many others. However, although convenient, these websites charge extra fees, which can be quite exorbitant for beginner webinar creators.

Tips to Make Webinar Monetization Effective

Let’s say you’ve decided upon the monetization options and got the payment processing up and running. However, how do you ensure that people actually make purchases? Here are some tips on making your webinar monetization work:

First give for free

This is especially relevant for webinars that charge for attendance. There is so much free and valuable content on the internet that many people would consider your offer a blatant money grab, especially if you are yet to make a name for yourself. That’s why you need to prove your value via free content first.

Focus on value

Ask yourself: what is special about your webinar? Is it you, having an interesting and inspiring personality? Has your product some unique features that no competitor can tout? Is it your experience and insights into a particular industry that go beyond generic job descriptions?

Once you understand what your value is, you should focus on conveying it to the audience. This will make monetization justifiable and, as a result, effective.

Offer discounts

Discounts allow you to build goodwill with your audience. In addition, they appeal to the feelings of urgency and scarcity, which are so important for successful monetization. When people know there is a set number of discounts active only during the holidays, they are more likely to strike a deal.

Encourage sharing

You can give random giveaways to people who talk about your webinar, product or service on social media. You may also offer free recordings for referrals, and reduced prices for group registrations. Even though you lose money in the short term, you acquire paying clients in the long term.

Complimentary perks

Be careful when monetizing your event: you do not want to look like a sleazy salesperson. Even if your webinar is paid, you should continue giving stuff for free, such as e-books, blog articles, webinar recordings, etc. This will make you and your brand look generous and people-oriented.

Conclusion

Sooner or later, the time comes when you as a content creator want to be paid for your work. There is nothing wrong about it, after all, webinar creation requires much effort on your part. Here are the important takeaways to help you in the process:

• Choose a fitting monetization option. For example, you should not charge for webinars that advertise products or services.
• Consider alternative monetization options such as pay-per-view recordings, affiliate marketing and upsells.
• Take into account the cost of your payment tools as well as their convenience for you and your customers. Ask your chosen webinar platform if they have an in-built feature for charging attendees.
• Focus on the unique value you have to offer in the sea of free content. Make it clear why people should pay for your webinars, products or services.
• Provide free content, discounts and complimentary perks to attract more potential customers.
• Encourage your clients to share their feedback on social media and convert even more prospects.

As you can see, the right monetization strategy, equipment, and marketing can help you make considerable profits from your webinars.