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Webinars

Webinars and live streams are a fantastic way to connect with your audience, showcase your Actor's capabilities, and gather feedback from users. Though the term webinar might sound outdated these days, the concept of a live video tutorial is alive and well in the world of marketing and promotion.

Whether you're introducing a new feature, answering questions, or walking through a common use case, a live event can create more personal engagement, boost user trust, and open the door for valuable two-way communication.

But how do you get started? Here's a friendly guide on where to host, how to prepare, and what to do before, during, and after your webinar.

Why host a live stream?​

Here are a few reasons why live streams are ideal for promoting your Actor:

  • Demo. You can show your Actor in action and highlight its most powerful features. You can tell a story about how you built it. You can also show how your Actor interacts with other tools and platforms and what its best uses are. A live demo lets users see immediately how your tool solves their problems.
  • Building trust and rapport. Interacting directly with your users builds trust and rapport. Even showing up and showing your face/voice, it's a chance to let your users meet you and get a feel for the team behind the Actor.
  • Live Q&A. Users often have questions that can be hard to fully address in documentation, README, or tutorials. A live session allows for Q&A, so you can explain complex features and demonstrate how to overcome common issues.
  • Tutorial or training. If you don't have time for complex graphics, this is an easy replacement for a video tutorial until you do. Remember that some platforms (YouTube) give the option of publishing the webinar after it's over. You can reuse it later in other content as well as a guide. Also, if you’ve noticed users struggling with particular features, a webinar is a great way to teach them directly.

Webinars help build a community around your Actor and turn one-time users into loyal advocates.

Where to host your webinar or live stream​

It all goes back to where you have or would like to have your audience and whether you want to have the webinar available on the web later.

  1. Social media:
    1. YouTube: ideal for reaching a broad audience. It’s free and easy to set up. You can also make recordings available for future viewing.
    2. TikTok: same, ideal for reaching a broad audience, free and easy to set up. However, live video will disappear once the broadcast has ended. TikTok does allow you to save your livestreams. You won't be able to republish them to the platform (we assume your live stream will be longer than 10 minutes). But you can later re-upload it elsewhere.
    3. Twitch: Known for gaming, Twitch has become a space for tech demos, coding live streams, and webinars. If your target audience enjoys an interactive and casual format, Twitch might be a good fit.
    4. LinkedIn: If your audience is more professional, LinkedIn Live could be a good fit to present your Actor there. Once a stream is complete, it will remain on the feed of your LinkedIn Page or profile as a video that was ‘previously recorded live’.
    5. Facebook: Not recommended.
  2. General platforms:
    1. Zoom or Google Meet: More personal, these are great for smaller webinars where you might want closer interaction. They also give you control over who attends.

Pick a platform where your users are most likely to hang out. If your audience is primarily tech-savvy, YouTube or Twitch could work. If your Actor serves businesses, LinkedIn might be the best spot.

Webinar/live stream prep​

Promote your webinar and get your users​

Send an email blast if you have an email list of users or potential users, send a friendly invite. Include details about what you’ll cover and how they can benefit from attending.

  • Social media promotion on Twitter (X), LinkedIn, or other platforms. Highlight what people will learn and any special features you’ll be demonstrating. Do it a few times - 2 weeks before the webinar, 1 week before, a day before, and the day of. Don't forget to announce on Apify’s Discord. These are places where your potential audience is likely hanging out. Let them know you’re hosting an event and what they can expect.
  • Use every piece of real estate on Apify Store and Actor pages. Add a banner or notification to your Actor’s page (top of the README): This can be a great way to notify people who are already looking at your Actor. A simple “join us for a live demo on DATE” message works well. Add something like that to your Store bio and its README. Mention it at the top description of your Actor's input schema.
Use UTM tags

When creating a link to share to the webinar, you can add different UTM tags for different places where you will insert the link. That way you can later learn which space brought the most webinar sign-ups.

  • Collaborate with other developers. If you can team up with someone in the Apify community, you’ll double your reach. Cross-promotion can bring in users from both sides.

Plan the content​

Think carefully about what you’ll cover. Focus on what’s most relevant for your audience:

  • Decide on your content. What will you cover? A demo? A deep dive into Actor configurations? Create a flow and timeline to keep yourself organized.
  • Prepare visuals. Slides, product demos, and examples are helpful to explain complex ideas clearly.
  • Feature highlights. Demonstrate the key features of your Actor. Walk users through common use cases and be ready to show live examples.
  • Input schema. If your Actor has a complex input schema, spend time explaining how to use it effectively. Highlight tips that will save users time and frustration. You can incorporate your knowledge from the issues tab.
  • Q&A session. Leave time for questions at the end. Make sure to keep this flexible, as it’s often where users will engage the most.

Don't forget to add an intro with an agenda and an outro with your contact details.

Consider timezones

When thinking of when to run the webinar, focus on the timezone of the majority of your users.

Prepare technically​

Test your setup before going live. Here’s what to focus on:

  • Stable internet connection. This one’s obvious but essential. Test your stream quality ahead of time.
  • Test the Actor live. If you're demoing your Actor, ensure it works smoothly. Avoid running scripts that take too long or have potential bugs during the live session.
  • Audio quality. People are far more likely to tolerate a blurry video than bad audio. Use a good-quality microphone to ensure you’re heard clearly.
  • Screen sharing. If you’re doing a live demo, make sure you know how to seamlessly switch between windows and share your screen effectively.
  • Backup plan. Have a backup plan in case something goes wrong. This could be as simple as a recorded version of your presentation to share if things go south during the live session.
  • Make it interactive. Consider using polls or a live Q&A session to keep the audience engaged. Maybe have a support person assisting with that side of things while you're speaking.

Best practices during the live stream​

When the time comes, here’s how to make the most of your webinar or live stream:

  • Start with an introduction. Begin with a brief introduction of yourself, the Actor you’re showcasing, and what attendees can expect to learn. This sets expectations and gives context. It's also best if you have a slide that shows the agenda.
  • Try to stay on time. Stick to the agenda. Users appreciate when events run on schedule.
  • Show a live demo. Walk through a live demo of your Actor. Show it solving a problem from start to finish.
  • Explain as you go. Be mindful that some people might be unfamiliar with technical terms or processes. Try to explain things simply and offer helpful tips as you demonstrate but don't go off on a tangent.
  • Invite questions and engage your audience. Encourage users to ask questions throughout the session. This creates a more conversational tone and helps you address their concerns in real time. You can also ask a simple question or poll to get the chat going. Try to direct the Q&A into one place so you don't have to switch tabs. Throughout the presentation, pause for questions and make sure you're addressing any confusion in real time.
  • Wrap up with a clear call to action. Whether it’s to try your Actor, leave a review, or sign up for a future live, finish with a clear CTA. Let them know the next step to take.

This works for when it's a simple tutorial walkthrough and if you have a code-along session, the practices work for it as well.s

After the live session​

Once your live session wraps up, there are still sides of it you can benefit from:

  • Make it public and share the recording. Not everyone who wanted to attend will have been able to make it. Send a recording to all attendees whose emails you have and make it publicly available on your channels (emails, README, social media, etc.). Upload the recorded session to YouTube and your Actor’s documentation. If it's on YouTube, you can also ask Apify's video team to add it to their Community playlist. Make it easy for people to revisit the content or share it with others.
  • Follow up with attendees, thank them, and ask for feedback. Send a follow-up email thanking people for attending. Include a link to the recording, additional resources, and ways to get in touch if they have more questions. Share any special offers or discount codes if relevant. If you don’t have the attendees' emails, include a link in your newsletter and publish it on your channels. Ask for feedback on what they liked and what could be improved. This can guide your next webinar or help fine-tune your Actor.
  • Answer lingering questions. If any questions didn’t get answered live, take the time to address them in the follow-up email.
  • Create a blog post or article. Summarize the key points of your webinar in a written format. This can boost your SEO and help users find answers in the future.
  • Review your performance. Analyze the data from your webinar, if available. How many people attended? Which platform brought the most sign-ups? How many questions did you receive? Were there any technical difficulties? This helps refine your approach for future events.
  • Share snippets from the webinar or interesting takeaways on social media. Encourage people to watch the recording and let them know when you’ll be hosting another event.