Build Your Funnels

Step by Step: Create a Webinar Funnel on Your WP Website (without expensive tools)

Author Image

Author
Stephanie K   135

Setting up a fully functioning webinar funnel can seem pretty complicated. There are so many moving parts and a live audience to witness any 'technical difficulties.' Not to mention the programs you need to run the actual webinar can be fairly pricey.

With Thrive Architect it is possible to build a live webinar funnel from within your WordPress website, using nothing but your YouTube account and an email service provider.

Check out the video for a step by step guide.

More...

Now Available in Thrive University

For a more detailed tutorial, including how to create live comment boxes and one click register links for your email list, check out the Thrive University course How to Create a Live Webinar Funnel.

What Does the Funnel Look Like?

This funnel will consist of four pages.

  1. A Registration Page
  2. A Thank You Page
  3. A Live Broadcast Page
  4. A Replay Page

Once a visitor registers for the webinar their details are sent to your email service provider automatically. They will then be redirected to a thank you page confirming their signup.

Before the webinar you a message to your mailing list, containing the link to the live Broadcast Page. From here you can live stream your webinar through a YouTube embed link. After the webinar you can send a follow up email with a link to the Replay Page.

Make sure you have a verified YouTube Account and you have enabled live streaming. Due to recent changes you may also need an AdSense account.

And for easy tutorials on how to connect to your Email Service Provider to your Thrive Themes account search our Knowledge Base for your provider.

Here I'll summarize the steps in the video tutorial for quick reference.

Update

This tutorial show's an older version of Thrive Architect (previously Thrive Content Builder). While the plugin interface has changed, all templates, functions and features mentioned are still available.  If you're having trouble finding anything, ask in the comments below.

​Step 1 - Capturing Leads

  1. Create a Registration Page and name it after your webinar (58 sec)
  2. Create the other three pages in your funnel, using the Registration Page as your parent page (1 min 20 sec)
  3. Load the Vibrant Webinar Registration template onto your Registration Page (for tips on creating a high converting Registration Page watch this video from Shane)
  4. Connect the registration button to your email service provider (4 min 15 sec)
  5. Redirect to the Thank You Page (5 min 27 sec)
  6. Load a Vibrant template onto your Thank You Page (6 min 24 sec)

​Step 2 - Creating a YouTube Live Event

  1. Create a live streaming event in your YouTube account (8 min 38 sec)
  2. Allow embedding in the advanced settings (if this is option is grayed out see this article) (9 min 14 sec)
  3. Copy the YouTube event URL (9 min 38 sec)

​Step 3 - The Broadcast Room

  1. Load the Vibrant Live Streaming Template on your Broadcast Page (9 min 54 sec)
  2. Paste the YouTube URL into the video element (10 min 8 sec)
  3. Hide player controls and select autoplay (10 mins 25 sec)
  4. Add a comments box below the video if desired (10min 52 sec)

​Step 4 - Replaying Your Webinar

  1. Load the Vibrant Webinar Replay template on your Replay Page (11 min 34 sec)
  2. Click on the video and replace the URL with the YouTube event URL (11 min 48 sec)

​Step 5 - Completing the Funnel

  1. Use your email service provider to send a link to your Broadcast Page before the webinar, and a link to the Replay Page after the webinar
  2. Start the webinar by clicking the Start Hangouts on Air button on your scheduled event (12 min 26 sec)
  3. Make sure to test all aspects of the funnel with a dummy webinar before the live event

And there you have it, everything you need to create a simple webinar funnel with Thrive Themes and YouTube.

If you have any questions or comments about this webinar funnel, or you’d like us to create a tutorial on any other funnel types, let us know in the comments below.

Author Image

by Stephanie K  September 30, 2016

135

Enjoyed this article ?

You might also like:

The Perfect Low Priced Online Course Sales Page

 Read article

What Is A Landing Page & Why You Need One

 Read article

How to Use a Free Online Course to Sell Your Premium Online Course

 Read article

Leave a Comment

  • Very timely. I’d been planning on a webinar next month and was unsure of which software to guy. I think I’ll give this a try. Thanks Stephanie, great tutorial.

    Reply

    • Hi Brett,

      Thanks for the comment. I did a lot of tester webinars for this article and YouTube have made their live streaming platform incredibly easy to use, so hopefully it’s the right solution for you 🙂

      Reply

    • Hi Bernadette,

      Glad you liked the video. The participants can make live comments during the webinar if you add a ‘comment box’ element to your Broadcast Room. If you skip to 10.52 in the video it has a quick note on how to do this. You can reply to the comments during the webinar also, using the same comment box.

      Hope this helps!

      Reply

  • This is excellent! I’ve been thinking about setting up an “evergreen” webinar to generate opt-ins/leads for my full-time job but they won’t reimburse for GoToWebinar and I didn’t want to have to spend my own money. This is a very simple and elegant solution. Thank you!

    Reply

    • Hi Michael,

      Thanks for the comment. Yeah GoToWebinar can get pretty pricey! It’s great that YouTube have made the live streaming available to everyone.

      Reply

    • Yes, Henning, you do. But OBS is quite straightforward to use once you get the hang of it. Wirecast is better, but not free.

      Reply

    • Hi Henning,

      You don’t actually need any additional software if you’re using YouTube live streaming. It integrates with Google Hangouts on Air, which is a free web based recording program. Once the webinar has finished YouTube will add it to your videos on your account.

      Reply

  • Great information! Question: To make an evergreen webinar, would I simply only send the “Replay Room” link to new subscribers, or is there a way to have a pre-recorded webinar appear “live” again? Thank you!!!

    Reply

    • Hi Joanne,

      Once you start getting into evergreen webinars it gets a bit tricky to hide the fact it’s a prerecorded video. You can make the webinar seem live by hiding the play buttons and putting it on autoplay, but if the viewer clicks anywhere within the video window it will pause.

      You could use a signup segue link to only allow visitors access to the Broadcast Page at a scheduled time, and use the comments box to reply to questions during the webinar to make it seem live, but again, it’s quite easy for the visitor to stumble on the fact that it’s not really live.

      It’s often just easier to let new visitor know there are no webinars scheduled in the near future but you do have a replay available. Hope this helps!

      Reply

    • Hi Tripp,

      Thanks for bringing this up, I should have mentioned it in the video. Google Hangouts (which is what YouTube records the webinars through) allows you to share your screen during the recording, so you still have the ability to do screencasts. YouTube also allows you to integrate with more advanced screencast and broadcast software if you did want something a little more complex.

      Reply

    • Hi Anders,

      Thanks for your question. You can add a Facebook Comment Box below the video which allows viewer to ask questions and comment during the webinar (I go through this briefly at about 10.52 in the video). You can also add a Disqus Comment Box but this takes a bit more setting up (and a Disqus account). For more details on the comment box features Shane has a post about it here: https://thrivethemes.com/tcb-comments-element/

      As for other interactive features you can add buttons and any other elements available in the Thrive Content Builder. At this stage we don’t have a poll feature, but it’s definitely something I will suggest to the team!

      Reply

  • ok i’ll say it..that was Brilliant! I’ve never actually thought about using ThriveTheme for webinars but now i will.

    Reply

  • Thank you Stephanie, this was great and very helpful! Can you recommend a chat add-on or plugin for live chatting during the webinar – one that’s works well with Thrive? Thank you!

    Reply

    • Hi Valeria,

      Thanks for the comment. While it’s not a dedicated live chat feature our Facebook Comment Box does allow visitors to leave real time comments and questions. You can also moderate and reply to these questions during the webinar. I briefly go over how to set this up at 10.52 in the video.

      Another inbuilt comment element is the Disqus Comment Box but this takes a bit more setting up (and a Disqus account). For more details on the comment box features Shane has a post about it here: https://thrivethemes.com/tcb-comments-element

      Hope this helps!

      Reply

  • Brilliant. We have been looking at options for Webinars and the cost has been causing us to pause. This will be a brilliant option to start with. Thanks Heaps.

    One question I have is how do we see the comments during the webinar? I would love to see a short webinar run using this option and seeing what is possible. Great work, well timed for me.

    Reply

    • Hi Andrew,

      Glad to hear you got some value from it. This video from Shane explains the comment box functionality in a bit more depth: https://thrivethemes.com/tcb-comments-element

      Basically the Facebook comment box allows your viewers to write comments in real time. You can moderate and reply to the comments during the webinar. It uses basic information from their Facebook profile but doesn’t post on their actual Facebook pages (unless they select that option). You can also use Disqus as an alternative. Shane’s video covers each comment box type. Hope that answers your question!

      Reply

  • Thanks for the detailed post AND video Stephanie, this is a brilliant way of using Youtube live stream! Looking forward to test this out for teaching live French classes.

    Reply

    • Thanks for the comment Abigail, it’s always interesting to see how the tutorials get put to use. Live French classes is definitely a perfect scenario for this type of funnel. I hope it goes well!

      Reply

  • That’s a great tutorial, very clear, extremely practical, and a real money saver. Plus, it allows us to stay in the Thrive Themes environment – which shows the power of Thrive as the Swiss army knife of business websites and conversion optimization. That’s a home run!

    Reply

  • Oh boy. That’s a great, great tip on webinar hosting. It’s incredible how a lot of things in this day and age are within our reach. We just need to assemble the pieces together in a coherent manner.

    Reply

    • Hi Thomas,

      Yes I agree. It’s pretty amazing that YouTube (and other companies) give us access to this kind of stuff completely for free. And not many people know it’s available!

      Reply

  • HOLY CRAP, Shane, I love you and your staff. This is soooo awesome. Now I just need to go do it. You guys always send the best information. Yay!!! Ok. climbing down from my initial excitement. This is wonderful and so nice for shoe-string budgets. My Thrive Theme membership is the best thing I’ve done. You always rock it. Thanks so much. 🙂

    Reply

    • Hi Dorothy,

      Thanks so much for the kind words! It’s really nice to get this kind of feedback on these kinds of tutorials. We aim to be as helpful as possible so it’s good to know we’re providing some value 🙂

      Reply

    • Hi Francisco,

      You can have more multiple presenters from different computers. Once you click the Start Google Hangouts button within YouTube you’ll be taken to the Google Hangouts window. Before starting your broadcast you can invite another presenter by clicking the person icon with the + symbol next to them. This can be found on the top menu in Google Hangouts.

      I found this video tutorial which walks you through the process, this should make it a bit clearer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kljOI45m6Z8

      I hope this helps!

      Reply

  • I tell my friends, ThriveThemes is where it’s at!

    A friend let her buddy design her site for free, but it was a huge headache and he made mistakes, like that it’s not mobile responsive. I told her at the start she should go with you guys — you cost more than free, but you’re well worth it and keep giving value!
    Thanks!

    Reply

  • Thanks for the information on webinars Stephanie but I’m ery disappointed that none of the questions in the comments have been answered.

    Reply

  • This is so useful. I learned a couple of things:
    – Setting the parent for the thank you pages (makes organization easier)
    – Livestreaming from YouTube (never used it before, makes it much easier)
    – Having a webinar replay page (great idea – videos auto-saved for future opt-ins)

    Only thing that wouldn’t work for me is that my ISP is Sharpspring, and you don’t yet have an integration for them. When will we get Thrive – Sharpspring integration?

    Reply

    • Hi Yusuf,

      Thanks for the summary, I’m glad you got some use out of it! Sharpspring is definitely on our list but we are still working on creating an account with them. Thanks for being patient with us so far and hopefully it wont be too much longer.

      Reply

  • Thank you Stephhanie 🙂 , very nice and simple!
    Can I change between screencast and live video? I would like to use my interactive textbook so it would be indispensable to show the screen views too.
    Thank you 😉

    Reply

    • Hi Chili baa,

      Thanks for the comment. You can change between screencast and live video within Google Hangouts. You can also choose to show certain windows rather than the whole screen which is pretty handy.

      If you did want some more advanced screencast capabilities YouTube Live also integrates with a number of other screencast and broadcasting systems, but many of them aren’t free. You can find the full list here: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2907883

      Reply

  • Awesome. However the hangouts and youtube live events i’ve attended were a horrible experience with delays and so…Never ever have a watched it till the end. Nevertheless a great addition from Thrive

    Reply

    • Hi Gio,

      Sorry to hear that you’ve had that experience. The test webinars I did for this article seemed to run quite smoothly but I guess if they’re streaming from somewhere where the internet isn’t the best there may be interruptions. Some of the things to consider with a free solution I guess.

      Reply

    • Hi Peeter,

      Unfortunately none of our plugins have in built payment integration at this stage. You can use external plugins such as WooCommerce or Stripe, and then only send the webinar link to those who have paid, but the system wont not be full proof, and registrants could share the link with friends. At this stage we don’t have a complete solution for paid webinars.

      Reply

  • Hey guys awesome tutorial! I’m also wondering how to have comments auto-update since Facebook comments require the presenter to keep refreshing the screen to see the comments close to real time. Chatroll works but is expensive beyond 100 viewers. Looking for a free option.

    Reply

  • Welcome aboard Steph great first video. The bar has been raised….love this content. Something I can go out and apply immediately and get more value from my Thrive products. Win/Win/Win!!!

    Reply

    • Hi Michael,

      Thank you for the welcome. I’m glad to be part of such an amazing team 🙂

      I’m happy to hear you found it useful!

      Reply

    • Thanks Ricky. Sometimes it a bit hard to keep the full Australian accent in check, so hopefully you could understand it all!

      Reply

  • How do you guys read minds so well? Just last week, I was looking for some cheap webinar services to use. Now, I’m thrilled I don’t necessarily have to since I’ve got TLP at my disposal! Thanks so much for this post and for always staying ahead of the curve with your amazing content and products!

    A couple questions regarding the email list. When it comes to emailing subscribers about the webinar, is this process automated via an autoresponder or do you send it manually? Also, what do you recommend to avoid having to create multiple mailing lists, for each new webinar event, especially if it’s an automated mailing funnel?

    Reply

    • Hi Eric,

      Thanks for the kind words, I’m glad it came at a good time for you.

      As for the email list side of things it really does depend on which email service you use. I’d recommend setting up an autoresponder with three simple reminder emails before the event (with the Broadcast Page link). Probably one day before the event, one hour before the event and then 5 minutes before the event. An then of course one or two emails after the event with the Replay Page link. You can even make a template for these emails and just swap the links out each time (for multiple webinars).

      To keep the lists to a minimum I’d recommend just making one other list (or a group within the existing list) for past webinar registrants and just move them manually or automatically into that segment once the webinar replay email has been sent.

      Reply

  • Hi Stephanie! Great video, thank you! Come to think of it, I think Thrive Themes should build a webinar solution to do automated webinars… Half of the infrastructure or more is probably already in place.

    Reply

    • Hi Martin,

      Yes that’s very true, especially now with all the functionality of Thrive Ultimatum and it’s evergreen countdown timer. I’ll bring this up with Shane and see if it’s a possibility. Thanks for the suggestion 🙂

      Reply