Webinars are becoming more popular than ever. Why? These webinar statistics will explain.
Today’s customers are smart, so marketing and sales techniques have evolved to keep up. People don’t want to be sold to. They’re looking for valuable information and solutions, so webinars are a great way to position a brand or service as just that.
But, how effective are webinars? What is their typical attendance rate? How much do webinars cost?
If you are curious to learn how webinars are used in marketing and other webinar statistics, you’re in the right place. Read on for the top research-backed webinar statistics.
Top Webinar Statistics in 2024
- 95% of marketers see webinars as important for their marketing efforts
- 57% of marketers host up to 50 webinars a year
- 73% of B2B marketers and sales leaders say that webinars are the best way to generate quality leads
- 60% of webinars are created for the entire customer lifecycle, from unaware prospect to loyal customer
- Marketing webinars typically have an average attendee score of 44%
- 54% of B2B professionals engage with a webinar on a weekly basis
- A webinar landing page conversion rate can be as high as 51%
- 17% of attendees sign up the day of the webinar
How are webinars used in marketing?
Firstly, what is a webinar? Webinars are simply online events that an organization or company hosts. They are broadcasted live to a select group of individuals and are often recorded so that more people may view the presentation at a later date. Webinars can also be referred to as webcasts, online events, or online seminars.
Most webinars have a host who provides audio and visual presentations like a PowerPoint or video. This is often broadcasted through a web conference software that allows interactions with the host or other attendees. People can ask questions, take polls, type in a chat box, and more.
Webinars are a powerful marketing tactic. Because webinars are generally positioned as educational events, a brand can position themselves and partners as solutions or seamlessly sneak in product placements. Plus, webinars require signups and invitations so this curated audience delivers contact information upfront for a brand to leverage later.
Are webinars still effective in 2024?
In order to determine this, one must answer: How do you measure the effectiveness of a webinar? Here are some statistics that help prove the success of today’s webinar market.
1. 95% say that webinars are a key part of their marketing efforts
(On24)
Nearly all marketers surveyed admitted that webinars are crucial to their marketing strategies and results. Almost three-fourths (74%) say that they can tie this marketing activity directly to revenue. Meanwhile, 38% consider webinars to be “critical” to digital communications.
2. 64% of B2B marketers hosted a webinar in the last 12 months
(Content Marketing Institute)
In the world of content marketing, most B2B professionals created short articles or posts (90%). However, a notable 64% created webinar content or hosted a virtual event. It proves that more brands are shifting their content marketing efforts online, considering only 17% used print magazines and 19% hosted in-person events.
3. Over half consider the quality of leads from webinars to be “above average”
(On24)
On a five-point scale, over half of the marketers within a survey said webinar leads rank a 4 or 5. Of respondents, 95% use webinars to generate leads and 76% say that webinars do in fact empower them to attract more leads overall.
4. 73% of B2B marketers and sales leaders say that webinars are the best way to generate quality leads
(GoToWebinar)
57% of the surveyed marketers said that they would create more webinars in the following year.
5. 57% of marketers host up to 50 marketing webinars a year
(On24)
86% of the survey respondents reported running up to 150 marketing webinars a year. Over half (57%) say they run up to 50 webinars a year.
Number of webinars/year | Percentage |
150 webinars | 86% |
50 webinars | 57% |
6. 52% of brands share webinar leads with their sales teams
(On24)
Over half of webinar users share webinar leads directly with their sales team. Further proving their quality, 55% say that sales teams prioritize leads gathered from webinars. However, webinars aren’t only used for selling. 86% use webinars to host training programs designed to collect feedback data from participants.
7. 62% of webinar attendees request a demo from sales
(BrightTALK )
Now that we know webinars are great for gathering leads, are they effective at converting them? YES. A whopping 89% of webinar attendees continue on to the brand’s website for additional content. Meanwhile, 62% feel prepared to request pricing, 86% download additional resources/attachments, and 83% share the content with colleagues.
Action taken by attendees | Percentage |
Continue to a brand’s website | 89% |
Download additional resources | 86% |
Share content | 83% |
Feel prepared to request pricing | 62% |
8. 92% of professionals think a webinar is the best way to engage a large remote audience
(GoToWebinar)
GoToWebinar analyzed over 250,000 webinars and the statistics prove that webinars are effective. Of marketers in their survey, 95% say that webinars improve their marketing performance. Another 95% say that it improves training and learning retention.
9. 54% of B2B professionals engage with a webinar on a weekly basis
(Search Engine Journal)
Based on a survey, over half of B2B professionals attend or engage with a webinar on a weekly or even daily basis. Why so frequently? Well, 84% said they want to stay up to date on their industries. If they can’t sign up for a webinar, they reference video content regularly.
General webinar statistics
10. 60% of webinars are created for the entire customer lifecycle
(GoToWebinar)
24% of all webinars are produced for marketing and demand generation. And of those, 60% are created for the customer lifecycle, from unaware prospect to loyal customer.
11. The global webinar market was expected to reach $800M USD by 2023
(Research Nester)
Just 7 years ago (2015), the global webinar and webcast market was valued at $547M USD. The forecasted CAGR is 7.6% for the 2016-2023 period, skyrocketing the industry to just shy of $1B by next year.
12. 77% of the webinar market’s revenue comes from North America
(Research Nester)
North America brought in over three-fourths of the revenue in the global webinar market. This dominance is predicted to stay strong while Europe and Middle-East/Africa are expected to remain the second-largest share contributors.
13. 81% of professionals prefer webinars over other content for professional engagement and improvement
(BrightTALK)
Did you know 86% of professionals dedicate at least 2 hours per week to industry-specific training? Even 22% dedicate more than 5 hours! People are seeking learning and growth opportunities and it turns out that 81% of them prefer doing so via webinars. 67% prefer taking online courses and just 39% prefer reading eBooks.
14. Viewers watched 3x more webinars in 2020 than in 2019
(On24)
People are watching more webinars each year—3x more. The monthly usage of webinars has risen 167% year over year, proving that more and more businesses are using webinars to engage with their audiences while more people are seeking education.
Webinar registration rate
15. A webinar landing page conversion rate can be as high as 51%
(Neil Patel)
A quality webinar landing page is essential for attracting registrations. In fact, over half of the visitors who discover a webinar’s landing page will convert immediately. Of these, about 36% will actually attend the webinar event.
16. 59% of webinar registrations occur less than a week before the event
(GoToWebinar)
According to GoToWebinar, almost 6 out of 10 webinar registrations are made the week leading up to the event. Many webinar attendees show up at the last minute. In fact, 17% register the day of! However, registrations increase by 12% when the webinar is promoted at least 4 weeks in advance.
17. Most people sign up for webinars between 8-10 a.m.
(GoToWebinar)
13% of webinar registrations happen at 10am, 12% at 9am, and 11% at 8am. This is a significant spike over other time slots. After 7pm and before 6am, registrations average just 1%, so schedule webinar promotions in the morning.
Time of registrations | Percentage of registrants |
10am | 13% |
9am | 12% |
8am | 11% |
7pm-6am | 1% |
18. Webinar promotional emails perform best on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
(On24)
Simultaneously, mid-week promotional emails also tend to attract more webinar registrations than emails sent on other days. The highest day of conversions is Wednesday, delivering a 22% conversion rate. The worst is Sundays providing only 5% conversion.
Webinar attendance rate
Are you wondering what’s a good webinar show-up rate? Let’s dive into webinar attendance rate statistics.
19. 44% of webinars have fewer than 25 attendees
(GoToWebinar)
Don’t be discouraged if you get a low webinar attendance. The vast majority get less than 50 people! Marketing webinars attract an average of 56 people, training sessions get 39, and corporate communications yield an average of 40 attendees. Large webinars are great to expand the reach of a brand or service, but more intimate webinars can yield better interactions and Q&As.
20. Marketing webinars have an average attendance of 44%
(GoToWebinar)
For marketing webinars, attendance rates average 44%. Corporate communications webinars attract a 65% attendance rate and training webinars get 53%. Many webinars are curated for specialized audiences, so it is normal for these online events to have lower conversion rates.
21. Mid-week webinars produce the highest conversion and attendee rates
(GoToWebinar)
According to GoToWebinar’s case study results, 52% of all webinars take place on Wednesdays or Thursdays and the most common time they occur is 10am PST.
22. 60-minute events attract the most registrants
(GoToWebinar)
60-minute webinars are the most popular webinar length, compared to 30-minute, 45-minute, or longer webinars.
23. Webinars under 200 attendees have the highest audience conversion rate
(On24)
The larger the webinar audience, the lower the attendance conversion rate. Webinars with 100-199 attendees average a 50% conversion rate. This number drops drastically as the audience builds: 200-299 attendees (19%), 300-499 attendees (15%), 500-599 attendees (10%), 1,000+ attendees (6%).
24. The webinar’s content topic has the greatest impact on overall registrations
(BrightTALK)
What factors have the most impact on attracting attendees? People reportedly care more about the content topic, then in descending order; the presenter/speaker lineup, user experience, credibility of the hosting company, post-event supplemental content, networking with others, and swag/giveaways.
Webinar marketing statistics (best practices)
25. Webinars are the preferred type of content for 91% of B2B professionals
(Search Engine Journal)
The vast majority of business-to-business professionals think webinars are the top learning format. Of course, webinars are only one piece to the B2B content puzzle. These professionals also engage with industry articles (60%), whitepapers (48%), and blogs (42%).
26. 70% of B2B professionals are seeking tips, tricks, and best practices
(Search Engine Journal)
Webinars are often educational and for good reason considering almost two-thirds of attendees came for advice and best practices. Other webinar content that people desire is industry trends and predictions (62%), how-to’s/explanations (61%), expert interviews (60%), case studies (59%), or data insights and original research (55%).
27. 67% of webinar attendees want a live Q&A with the speaker(s)
(BrightTALK)
It’s important that webinar hosts save time for a Q&A given that about two-thirds of attendees want it. What other webinar features are important? Well, 40% of professionals think polls are key, 35% believe in small group networking, and 24% tout chat rooms.
28. When a webinar host is passionate, 32% of attendees are more engaged
(BloggingX)
Almost one-third of attendees feel more inclined to engage in a webinar when the host is passionate about the topic being discussed. The most engaging tools to use during a webinar are hosting a Q&A (81%), sharing resources (69%), taking surveys (36%), sharing social media (25%), taking polls (22%), and offering group chats (10%).
29. Webinars with integrated video content are rated 7.8 out of 10
(BloggingX)
Webinars must include video as it is the most effective media to engage with an audience. 56% of webinar hosts say they use both live and on-demand video while 44% use “live” features. Only 29% actually broadcast video live.
30. 59% of attendees tune into live webinars
(BloggingX)
There are different types of webinars including live, on-demand, and always-on. Almost 60% of webinar attendees watch live webinars while only 5% watch both live and on-demand. 36% of attendees watch always-on webinars.
31. The average viewing time for all types of webinars is 57 minutes
(GoToWebinar)
Webinar attendees have a longer attention span than one might think. Professionals believe that webinars are among the most engaging types of content, so it makes sense why attendees are happy to stick around for almost an hour. The average marketing webinar is 52 minutes, corporate communications is 55 minutes, and training webinars run on average 61 minutes.
Webinar costs
32. Hosting a webinar costs a minimum of $100 but can reach $3000+
(WebinarCare)
Webinars normally require a specific software to run successfully, involving some cost. This software helps coordinate registrations and provides the platform where the webinar is run online. In addition to the small initial software investment, costs can accumulate when one adds in content research, guest speakers, and more factors.
33. 50% of webinars simply use a webcam to record video
(On24)
Some brands are worried that webinars require expensive video equipment, but that’s not the case. Half of all webinars just use a built-in webcam. 7% of webinar videos were recorded on a phone and 2% used a hand-held video recorder.
34. 8 in 10 marketers say that webinars lower their cost-per-lead
(On24)
It turns out that webinars are cost-effective too. 80% claimed that webinars lowered their overall cost-per-lead. Why? This content type is at the top of the funnel reaching a larger audience. 75% say that webinars’ top-of-funnel approach helps extend their brand and 69% say it scales their marketing efforts.
Over to you!
There you have it. With these webinar statistics, you now have a better foundation to host your own online events and make them as successful as possible.
In the end, just consider your audience and schedule your webinars to fit their lifestyles. If you focus on delivering content that is beneficial, educational, and engaging, your webinars are bound to please and deliver high-quality leads long-term.
Want to learn more about online marketing?
Read more:
How to Build an Evergreen Sales Funnel
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