An Overview
‘The best way to predict the future is to create it.‘ – Peter Drucker
It sounds similar to upcoming webinars, right? Attracting quality leads through webinars also comes with loads of interesting statistical data. All in all, WEBINARS ARE A BIG THING when marketing your products or services.
Course providers are one of the cults that follow this impactful marketing tool. You’ll rarely see an individual digital course creator selling their courses without hosting a webinar. So, why are webinars the most in-demand channel?
First and foremost, they’re better at connecting with the audience and capturing their interest in response. Not to forget, they’re the best, most cost-effective lead-gen tools, especially for online course creators.
So, why not delve in-depth to squeeze it to its fullest potential? As a course creator reading this post with your query revolving around inserting calendars for upcoming webinar events, I’m assuming that you already have a WordPress website set up. If yes, scroll down for more useful insights, and thank me later!
So, we’ll be discussing the exact, easiest steps to insert a calendar (specifically, the Google Calendar) into your WordPress site, why you should bother about doing this as soon as possible, and some steal-worthy tips, tricks, and best practices to help you create a powerful webinar marketing strategy.
Why Use an Events Calendar for WordPress?
Let’s not go into the concept’s ‘how-to’ at the beginning! First, you should learn why to use or insert any of the events calendar to your WordPress site. What good would it fetch you to practice this strategy?
As a course creator, your webinars are the gateway to attracting new students. An events calendar plugin on WordPress can help you:
- Organize your webinars visually
- Increase the visibility of upcoming events
- Simplify the booking process for attendees
- Improve your site’s user experience
Your lead generation will thank you for syncing Google Calendar to show upcoming webinars. It will also display the message regarding your organized attitude towards your audience.
Now, let’s explore how to set up an events calendar for your WordPress site and integrate it with Google Calendar for easy management.
Choosing the Right WordPress Events Calendar Plugin
There are numerous events calendar plugins available for WordPress, but not all are created equal. An ICP (ideal customer profile) concerning a plugin should tick all the following boxes:
✅Easy integration with Google Calendar
✅Customizable display options
✅Responsive design for mobile devices
✅Booking and registration capabilities
✅User-friendly interface
✅Availability of add-ons for enhanced functionality
✅Responsive customer support team
✅Visibility of frequent updates
And, there isn’t an ideal, customer-friendly plugin than Simple Calendar that ticks all these boxes. After all, its USP lies in the name itself! The plugin is designed for a great user experience, with ongoing improvements and new features added regularly!
All its stakeholders sweat a lot to continuously improve its features each day and keep adding new ones for your convenience. It’s perfect for course providers looking to showcase their upcoming webinars effectively.
Display Upcoming Webinars with Glitch-Free Google Calendar Integration
Step 1: Install & Activate the Plugin
To get started, install and activate Simple Calendar on your WordPress site.
- Go to your WordPress dashboard
- Navigate to Plugins > Add New
- Search for Simple Calendar
- Click Install Now and then Activate
You can download the plugin ZIP file here (named google-calendar-events.#.zip) if you prefer installing it manually. Check Simple Calendar system requirements here.
Step 2: Create New Calendar
Go to Calendars in your WordPress admin dashboard. Click the Add New tab. Then, give your calendar a title, like you would for any WordPress post. Scroll down to find the settings panel at the bottom of the edit page.
Select Event Source from the dropdown:
- Google Calendar: Pulls events from a public Google Calendar you own or follow.
- Grouped Calendar: Combines multiple calendars (regardless of their source).
Step 3: Set Up Google Calendar (if chosen as the source)
Make sure you have a Google API Key saved in the Simple Calendar settings. (Click here for instructions on obtaining and keeping the API key.)
After selecting Google Calendar as the event source:
- Go to the Google Calendar tab in the settings panel.
- Enter the Google Calendar ID in the provided field. (Click here for instructions on obtaining the Calendar ID.)
(Optional) Use the Search Query field to filter events by specific keywords. Additional event sources may appear if you have add-ons installed.
Check out this blog to explore more about Simple Calendar’s in-built OAuth helper API that reduces lengthy steps of authentication to just steps ultimately.
Step 4: Customize Calendar Appearance
Select a calendar type after setting the event source. The Default Calendar is included, but add-ons may provide more types. (Click here to learn about configuring the Default Calendar.)
You can modify the event details shown in the calendar. By default, events use WordPress post editor content with special tags. A default template is created when you add a calendar. (Refer to this guide to customize the template.)
Step 5: Explore Display Options
Click Save or Update to save your calendar. Your calendar will appear on its page (e.g., www.yoursite.com/calendar/your-calendar/).
Use one of these options to show it elsewhere:
- Shortcode: Add the calendar to a post or page.
- Attach to a post or page (recommended).
- Widget: Add it to a sidebar or footer.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Even with a user-friendly plugin, you might encounter some hiccups. Here are solutions to common problems:
- Calendar not displaying: Check your shortcode or widget settings to ensure you’ve selected the correct calendar.
- Events not syncing: Verify your Google Calendar connection and check for any authentication errors.
- Incorrect time zones: Double-check your WordPress and Google Calendar time zone settings to ensure consistency.
If you still need help, our customer-friendly support team is always ready to assist. Reach out anytime!
Some Tips & Tricks for an Impactful Calendar Optimization
- Use colour-coding or featured event options to draw attention to your most important sessions.
- Ensure each event includes a clear call-to-action for registration.
- Create attention-worthy yet meaningful event descriptions that entice visitors to sign up.
- Share your calendar link on social media and email newsletters to drive traffic.
- Use post-webinar surveys to improve future sessions and your calendar’s effectiveness.
Steal Our Eye-Opening Webinar Best Practices
Ideal Time Slot
The time slot between 8:00 am to 10:00 am is ideal for hosting or attending webinars. Or, you could say that it’s always best to find time in which your participants are more focused and alert.
It’s early enough to avoid conflicts with mid-day meetings and tasks but not too early to disrupt morning routines. Additionally, for global audiences, this time often works well across different time zones.
Conversion-Worthy Webinars
It’s been noticed that webinars with valuable marketing materials convert approximately 60 times better than webinars without any marketing material.
Moreover, offering such materials helps establish trust and credibility, positioning the host as an authority in their field. Attendees are more likely to take the desired action, even if it’s signing up for a service, purchasing a product, or subscribing to future content.
Impactful Positioning Among Competitors
No matter what course you’re offering, you’re likely entering a competitive market with others providing similar content. As an expert in your field, conducting competitor analysis should be straightforward.
Identify key competitors, their pricing, and what they offer. Use this information to position your course. For more insights, check out Blue Ocean Strategy by Renée Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim.
Create an Attractive Sales Page
The goal of your webinar is to drive warm leads to your sales page and encourage them to buy your course. This final step in the funnel should give a strong nudge toward conversion. An effective sales page creates FOMO and highlights what students will gain by purchasing now.
Use a proven copywriting formula for your sales page. You can add more bonuses and testimonials for higher-priced courses.
Where to Host and Sell Your Online Courses?
Let’s now jump right into the top platforms that you can use to host and sell your online courses! Yet, it’s always best to have your platform to host and sell courses, preferably WordPress.
WordPress
WordPress is the leading platform to host and sell online courses because it’s flexible, user-friendly, and has many plugins for added features. You can create custom course pages, manage content, and handle payments easily.
Using our simplest yet feature-friendly Simple Calendar plugin, you can display your upcoming webinar schedule on your site. Connect it with Google Calendar, and it will automatically show your events. This keeps your audience informed and improves attendance. Simple setup, no coding needed!
LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds lets you build a complete learning website with a course catalogue, teacher bios, headshots, and course details. Admins can approve unlimited courses, while teachers can submit theirs for review.
For mobile, LearnWorlds offers a branded app at an extra cost.
Why we like it: It provides tools to upload videos, add text, images, logos, interactive buttons, and even SoundCloud or YouTube content.
Thinkific
Thinkific simplifies course creation with pre-built templates and drag-and-drop editing. You can add live lessons, quizzes, certificates, and drip schedules to keep students engaged. It also offers a one-month free trial, allowing you to create unlimited courses and test which ones attract the most interest.
Udemy
Udemy is one of the top online learning platforms, with 65,000+ instructors and 40 million students. To sell courses, you must apply as a “Premium Instructor.” Listing is free, but Udemy takes a share of the revenue.
Here, you can submit courses for review to get feedback on content and improvements. Plus, Udemy’s marketing programs help boost course visibility.
Freshlearn
FreshLearn is an all-in-one platform to create, market, and sell digital products directly from your website. You can build landing pages, sell courses, live workshops, and digital downloads. It also offers assessments, certificates, and testimonials to boost engagement and trust.
Skillshare
Skillshare focuses on creative skills like writing, photography, and design. Creating courses is free, but earning requires joining their Premium Catalog. Courses must include projects, discussions, and 20+ minutes of video.
Teachable
Teachable helps you create courses and websites easily. It offers free templates and sales pages and supports files from DropBox, OneDrive, and Google Drive. You can sell courses via one-time payments, payment plans, or subscriptions.
Podia
Podia helps you create an online store to sell courses, eBooks, and memberships. Use a single site to manage everything. It also offers membership plans to share extra content, engage users, and promote new courses or offers.
Final Takeaway
With an events calendar for WordPress, you’re presenting your upcoming webinars in a well-structured, attractive way, which makes it a lot easier for potential learners to see and access your content.
So why wait? So start using it today, and see your bookings go sky-high!