How to Set Up Webinars on Zoom

Along with the surge in the COVID-19 cases in Nepal, online meeting platforms grew more and more popular: for company meetings, for school classes, for workshops, for webinars, and much more. The creativity of its use has no bound -from graduation ceremonies to entrance examinations — much has been possible with the aid of online platforms.

In about the last 6 months, I have organized more than 70 online events — webinars, panel discussions, workshops, virtual hackathon, and even a virtual job fair. Starting from humble resources, Google Meet — a service that came packaged up with our organization GSuite, which turned out out to be an unreliable platform for organizing webinars, I’ve worked with MS Teams Meetings, MS Teams Streaming, Zoom Meetings, and Zoom Webinar to organize online events. At present, I, like many enterprises and individuals, have fallen in love with Zoom.

I’ve provided a few webinars and numerous training sessions on Zoom. However, no matter how much I tried, I could never give an A-Z rundown of how to set up a webinar on Zoom. So, I am finally sitting down today to show you how a webinar is set up using Zoom: start to finish.

I’ll discuss the organization of online events on Zoom using two types of licenses: Zoom Webinar and Zoom Meeting.

Zoom Webinar License has been specifically made for hosting webinars, so it is obviously going to be the better choice for organizing webinars. Zoom Webinars provide access for up to 100 panelists and up to 10,000 attendees. Depending on your webinar needs and budget, you can choose the webinar license fit for you. You get additional features that allow the host to select options for managing large audiences with registration, branding, polls, Q&A, chat, recording, live broadcast, and reporting irrespective of the size of the license you buy.

However, this license comes at a higher price. If you have limited resources and want to host sessions on Zoom Meeting, please skip Section 1 and move to Section 2.

Section 1: Zoom Webinar

Step 1: Log into your Zoom and verify that you have a Zoom Webinar License under your profile.

The account we’re working on has a webinar license that fits 500 people.

Step 2: Go the ‘Webinars’ tab and click on ‘Schedule a Webinar’

Click on Schedule Webinar

Step 3: Fill the Webinar Title, Time & Duration.

The description is Optional and Select the Time Zone that matches yours

Step 4 (Optional): I want only registered people to attend the webinar, therefore, I will click on the registration checkbox. Also, it would be wise to keep a passcode for your webinar.

Make Registration required

Step 5 (Optional): Tick the checkbox for ‘Enable Practice Session’. This will enable the host and panelists to join the webinar before making the webinar session live to normal attendees.

Enable Practice Session and Q&A

Step 6: Hit ‘Schedule’.

This webinar will be listed on your list of webinars

Congratulations, you’ve scheduled the webinar successfully.

Step 7: Share the registration link of the webinar.

Copy the Link or Click on Send Invitation

Now, people can register for your webinar.

The steps moving on provide you the opportunity to customize and add branding materials to your webinar. Please keep in mind that all of the steps mentioned below are optional.

Now, let’s get back to the groove.

Step 8: Branding: Title, Banner, Logo, Speaker, Theme, Post Attendee URL

On the bottom of your webinar information page, you’ll see the branding section where you can adjust the Title, Banner, Logo, Speaker, Theme, Post Attendee URL. Adding the aforementioned branding materials to your Zoom Registration page gives you the edge to set you apart from others. Let’s discuss each component individually.

Title, Banner, and Logo:

Set the title to the title of your webinar.

Set an informative and attractive banner image. The image requirements are:

• GIF, JPG/JPEG or 24-bit PNG
• The maximum dimensions: 1280px by 1280px

Use your/your company’s logo. The logo requirements are:

• JPG/JPEG or 24-bit PNG
• The maximum dimensions: 600px by 600px

Edit the title & upload the respective images

This is what you’ll see after the changes

Relevant changes on the registration page

Speaker:

Upload the photograph and bio of your speaker to give your audience more insights on the speaker of the session. You can add information for up to 3 speakers in your webinar. Attendees see the speakers’ information in the email invitation and on the registration page.

Click on ‘Add a speaker’

Enter the details and save

Relevant changes on the registration page

Theme:

You can customize the text, background, and button colors of your webinar registration page to your brand color or any color of your choice.

Click on ‘Change Theme’

You can choose the preset choice of themes or customize it entirely.

Choose a pre-existing theme or click on ‘Custom’ for a custom theme

For a custom theme, change the color hex codes for each component.

Choose the color HEX as per your preference

Relevant changes on the registration page

Post Attendee URL:

After the Zoom Meeting or Webinar is over, you’ll likely be directed to a page that looks like this:

Zoom Post Attendee Page

You can customize this link and redirect your attendees to your website, a service landing page, or a feedback form page after your webinar finishes. You can use this section as per you see fit. Since I’ve found that the number of event feedbacks I receive increases when the feedback survey is available via post attendee URL, I place the feedback survey link in its place.

Replace the link with a link of your choice

Step 9: Customize the Registration

In default Zoom registration page, only the name and email address of the registrants is recorded. You can customize the questions and set custom questions on your registration page. You should set questions that help you know your audience better and questions that help you give the best content to the audience. Also, you can customize other things to shape the registration of your webinar as per your convenience like automatic/manual approval, email notification to host on registration, etc.

Click on ‘Edit’

Choose the options as you see fit

Add pre-made questions, make them compulsory or optional

Click on ‘New Question’ to add custom questions

Select the type of question and create questions

Click on ‘Save All’

Relevant changes on the registration page

Step 10: Confirmation, Reminder, and Follow-up Emails

Zoom webinars help automate your emails to the registrants, attendees, and non-attendees among your registrants. You can send the pre-made email template or customize the emails.

Email Settings Section

Email Contact

You can change the name and response email address of the emails you send for the webinar. The name and email address can be different for each webinar, change in the email contact of one webinar doesn’t affect the other.

Confirmation Email to Registrants

You can edit the content of the confirmation email sent to the registrants upon registration.

Add the email body and signature

Reminder Email to Registrants

Selects the dates you want to send your reminder emails on and schedule them.

Check the reminder dates and save

Follow-up Email to Attendees

You can schedule your follow-up email to the attendees for up to 7 days after the webinar date. You can send feedback form, webinar resources, registration link to the next webinar, etc. in the follow-up email.

Select the day, fill the email content and save

Follow-up Email to Non-Attendees

You can schedule your follow-up email to the non-attendees for up to 7 days after the webinar date. You can send webinar resources, registration link to the next webinar, etc. in the follow-up email.

Select the day, fill the email content and save

Step 11: Polls and Survey

Webinars are more interactive when you incorporate polls and surveys in your webinar as long as they match your webinar topic.

First, let’s set up a poll that can be pre-made and made live by the host during the webinar.

Click on ‘Add’

You can then add multiple polls with single or multiple questions that can be made link during different times of the webinar.

Set a number of questions in the poll

Add another poll if needed

We have two polls that can be made live at different times during the webinar

Now, let’s set up a survey for getting feedback on the webinar.

I have told you previously that you can use a third-party survey or Google Forms for collecting feedback using the post attendee URL. However, there’s an easier way for collecting feedback on Zoom: setting up a Zoom Survey. The attendees automatically get directed to the survey page after the webinar is over which makes it easier to get responses.

You can add short text, single choice, and rating scale questions to the survey.

Click on ‘+ Create new survey’

Add questions

Survey Page

Step 12: Send Panelist Invitation to Organizers, Speakers, and Panelists

The final step of our webinar setup is to send an invitation to our speakers, panelists, and organizers.

One of the features that set apart the Zoom Webinars from Zoom Meetings is the ability for hosts to segregate the active participants (panelists, speakers, etc.) and the passive participants: the audience. They are differentiated as Panelists and Attendees by Zoom. The panelists can talk, turn on their videos, and present while the attendees can chat, post questions on the Q&A section, and talk (only if they’re allowed). While the host can promote the attendees to panelists if required, doing so one by one is unreliable. That is why it is wise to send out panelist invitations to the relevant stakeholders. Another benefit of doing so is having an opportunity to discuss and practice using the webinar link before making the webinar live to normal attendees. Now let’s see how we do it.

Click on ‘Edit’

Add the panelists and save, invitations are sent automatically

BONUS!!

You can check your registration status in the invitations tab at the bottom.

You can view the name and email address of the registrants

If you wish to see the entire data of registration responses, go to the Reports>>Webinar>>Registration Report, enter the date and generate the CSV report.

Select the webinar and download the report

That’s it, this is all you need to know for setting up a webinar using Zoom Webinar. Hope you follow through all these steps the next time you set a Zoom Webinar.

Section 2: Zoom Meeting

Step 1: Log into your Zoom and verify that you have a Zoom Meeting License under your profile.

Confirm that your account has a Zoom meeting license

Step 2: Go the ‘Meetings’ tab and click on ‘Schedule a Meeting’

Click on ‘Schedule a Meeting’

Step 3: Fill the Title, Time & Duration.

Check the Time Zone if it matches your timezone

Step 4 (Optional): I want only registered people to attend the session, therefore, I will click on the registration checkbox. Also, it would be wise to keep a passcode for your meeting and turn on the waiting room.

Check ‘Registration’, ‘Passcode’ and ‘Waiting Room’, then Save

Step 5: Share the registration link of the meeting.

Click on ‘Copy invitation’

Meeting Registration Page

The steps moving on provide you the opportunity to customize and add branding materials to your meeting mode webinar but please keep in mind that all of the steps mentioned below are optional.

Now, let’s get back to the groove.

Step 6: Branding: Banner and Logo

On the bottom of your webinar information page, you’ll see the branding section where you can adjust the Banner and Logo. Adding the aforementioned branding materials to your Zoom Registration page gives you the edge to set you apart from others. Let’s discuss each component individually.

Banner and Logo:

Set an informative and attractive banner image. The image requirements are:

• GIF, JPG/JPEG or 24-bit PNG
• The suggested dimensions: 640px by 200px
• The maximum dimensions: 1280px by 400px

Use your/your company’s logo. The logo requirements are:

• JPG/JPEG or 24-bit PNG
• The suggested dimensions: 200px by 200px
• The maximum dimensions: 400px by 400px

Upload Banner and Logo that meet the requirements

Registration Page with adjustments

Step 7: Customize the Registration

In default Zoom registration page, only the name and email address of the registrants is recorded. You can customize the questions and set custom questions on your registration page. You should set questions that help you know your audience better and questions that help you give the best content to the audience. Also, you can customize other things to shape the registration of your webinar as per your convenience like automatic/manual approval, email notification to host on registration, etc.

Choose the options as you see fit

Select the fields you need

Click on ‘Save All’

(Note: Refer to Step 9 of Section 1 for more elaborate directions on customizing the registration questions)

Step 8: Polls

Webinar sessions are more interactive when you incorporate polls in your webinar as long as they match your webinar topic. So let’s set up a poll that can be pre-made and made live by the host during the session.

Click on ‘Add’

You can then add multiple polls with single or multiple questions that can be made live during different times of the webinar.

Write a question and save or add another question

All the polls made can be viewed, edited, and deleted

(Note: Refer to Step 11 of Section 1 for more elaborate directions on setting up the poll.)

BONUS!!

You can check your registration status in the Registration tab at the bottom.

Click on ‘View’ for viewing the name and email address of attendees

If you wish to see the entire data of registration responses, go to the Reports>>Meeting>>Registration Report, enter the date, search, and generate the CSV report.

Click on ‘Generate’

That’s it, this is all you need to know for setting up a webinar using Zoom Meeting. Hope you follow through all these steps the next time you set a session using Zoom Meetings.