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The topic comes from questions buyers already ask you
A broad topic, such as an introduction to bioprocessing, fills the room with students and the merely curious. A specific problem draws people who need to solve it soon, for example how to move from a 2 litre bioreactor to a 200 litre one without losing performance, or what to prepare for a tech transfer to a CDMO.
You already have the best questions. They come from sales calls, the URS documents you receive, the applications lab and technical service. Annex 1 of the EU GMP guide, for instance, calls in point 2.3 for a contamination control strategy across the whole facility, and the European Commission lists it as fully applicable since 25 August 2024. That topic sits close to home for QA and production teams.
A customer or expert alongside your specialist
If only your product manager speaks, the webinar feels like a sales pitch. A customer explaining how they scaled their process, a GMP consultant or a process engineer from a CDMO adds credibility and shares the session with their own network. Your specialist handles the technical questions and someone from marketing moderates.
Agree in advance what can be shown. Customer data is often under a confidentiality agreement, and it is better to find out while building the slides than live on air. Rehearse with the platform, the audio and the questions you expect, and decide who answers which kind of question.
How many attendees make a webinar worthwhile?
Ignore the total. Look at how many people with a buyer profile register, how many ask questions and how many sales conversations follow in the weeks after. A small webinar with three plants that are choosing a supplier can be worth more than a packed one full of students.
A registration form that qualifies without scaring people off
The registration form is your first filter. Ask for company, job title, the scale they work at, such as lab, pilot or production, and the project stage. Add one open question about what they want answered. That tells sales who to call afterwards and tells you which questions to prepare.
Do not ask for more than you will use. Article 5(1)(c) of the GDPR says data must be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purpose, and Article 13 requires you to say who handles it and why. If you later want to email offers to registrants in Spain, Article 21 of Law 34/2002 requires their prior request or express permission, so make that a separate tick box.
Live or pre-recorded?
Live gives you the Q&A, which is the most useful part for spotting buyers. You can pre-record the riskier parts, such as an equipment demo, and run the presentation and questions live. What does not work is a canned video with nobody there to answer, because technical audiences notice straight away.
Want us to review the form and follow-up for your next webinar? Leave your details and we will tell you what we would change so it helps you sell.
Review my webinarA format that respects an engineer's diary
Technical people join for an answer and tend to leave when the sales pitch starts. A running order that works for bioprocess webinars keeps company slides to a minimum and leaves plenty of time for data and questions.
- A specific question in the title, the same one answered at the end.
- One slide at most to introduce the company.
- Real data and cases, always with the customer's permission.
- A demo of the equipment, live or recorded, if it helps explain the answer.
- A long Q&A, which is where you see who is actually buying.
- A time slot that suits Europe and, if needed, a second session for Asia or the Americas.
Which language should we run it in?
English if you want to reach buyers abroad, which is the norm in this sector. Spanish or Catalan if the audience is local, for example plants and labs in Spain. Avoid mixing languages in a single session. If needed, run two sessions with the same content and different speakers.
What to do during the webinar and right after
During the session, note who asks what. A question about lead times, validation or a specific scale says far more than attendance alone. A short poll on scale and project timeline also helps prioritise follow-up.
Afterwards, send the recording to everyone who registered, including no-shows. Sales calls first the people who asked specific questions or work at pilot or production scale, and the rest receive related content automatically. Students are not a problem, but do not count them as opportunities.
How do we stop it filling up with students?
Use a title about a plant or project problem, a description that says who it is for, a time slot during working hours and a job title field on the form. Students will still sign up, and that is fine because they are future customers, but the form lets you keep them out of sales follow-up.
The recording as months of content
An hour of webinar goes a long way. Cut the recording into clips that each answer one question, post them on LinkedIn and write an article with the questions and answers for your website. If you want Google to show the video, its guidance asks for it to be embedded on a page with a stable thumbnail and recommends a dedicated watch page for each video.
Decide what stays open and what sits behind a form. Clips and the summary stay open so they can be found on Google and in AI answers. The full recording gets a short form, because people who watch it to the end usually have real interest. After a few months, check which clips bring the most registrations to the next webinar.
