The COVID-19 pandemic led to a tremendous rise in digital events as we adjusted to a more socially distanced lifestyle. A key concept in marketing is to go where the user is, and brands used this cultural shift as a motivation to get into the webinar space.

A webinar is a marketing channel where you can engage with potential customers and clients. These virtual events are trending with many bakery owners, who use it as a way to share information on a particular subject but also market their businesses. Think of it as a larger, more engaged version of what many bakers are doing on TikTok or Instagram.

Typically, webinars contain an introductory section, a main section devoted to the topic, and a post-presentation Q&A section. If you’re putting together your own webinar presentation, you should prepare a brief introduction about yourself and your expertise on a particular topic. You should make sure your main section is focused and aligns with the subject of the presentation, so that you don’t lose the attention or interest of those watching. Be ready to answer questions afterwards – you may want to even prepare some anticipatory questions of your own to answer in case initial engagement is low.

For several examples of well-run webinars, look no further than The Bake Fest taking place May 21-22. This international event that celebrates all bakers – home bakers, pastry chefs and bakery owners, recipe developers and baking influencers – was created last year as a place for all to learn, build networking opportunities and exchange tips so everyone can grow together.

Speakers that will share their expertise in a wide variety of baking categories include Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin of Pies Are Awesome, Courtney Rich of Cakes by Courtney, Liz Marek of Sugar Geek Show and Jenny Keller of Jenny Cookies Bake Shop. Melissa Ben-Ishay and Denise Woodard are the keynote speakers of this year’s Bake Fest.

Melissa Ben-Ishay is a mother, baker and founder of Baked by Melissa, a New York City-based dessert brand famous for its bite-size cupcakes in a wide variety of ever-changing flavors. She grew her company from the ground up and today the company ships nationwide, operates thirteen stores and has sold over 200 million cupcakes.

Denise Woodard is the founder and chief executive officer of Partake Foods, a natural food company that was inspired by her daughter’s experience with food allergies. Launched in 2017, Partake’s allergy-friendly cookies and baking mixes can now be found in more than 8,000 retailers including Target, Trader Joe’s, Kroger and Whole Foods Market.

Virtual attendees will have access to these talented bakers and business minds, not only learning a wealth of information about their topics of discussion but also witnessing firsthand how to run webinars of their own.