Attend “Digital Engagement Benchmarks for 2026” to learn how new innovations and strategies are re-imagining the way we engage audiences and drive revenue, including:

• New ways to personalize digital experiences
• Live vs. on-demand audience trends
• Webinar and digital event metrics
• AI-generated content creation statistics

2026 can be a year of opportunity if you let the data lead you to success. Register now to learn more.

This webinar airs at 1 PM CT and will be available on-demand for six months after airing.

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Attend “5 Ways that AI Transforms Webinars” and learn how you can transform your webinars into powerful campaigns of actionable content, that drive pipeline far beyond a live event. 

You will learn how to:

• Ideate and generate more effective promotions
• Personalize webinars for target segments
• Repurpose webinars into campaigns of new content
• Globalize webinars for broader reach

Embrace the power of AI to simplify how you drive webinar pipeline in 2026.
Register now and learn how.

This webinar will air at 1 PM CT and will be available on-demand for six months after airing.

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Marketers who rely on experiences to connect with their audience, understand the power of webinars – whether it is for demand generation, thought leadership, or product launches. It is no secret that with the widespread adoption of event technology over the past several years, some norms and best practices have been persistent and new trends started to emerge. So, you might be asking yourself:

• What is the best day and time to run a webinar?
• What is the average attendance rate?
• How can you offer experiences that engage?
• What are other marketers doing and where are they finding success?

The has the answers! Notified, a leading provider of event technology, recently analyzed the data from a subset of customers’ webinars and virtual events conducted between June 2021 and June 2022. The report provides data-driven insights, top trends, best practices, and action items to help you craft a winning event and webinar strategy in 2023.

Here are our favorite key takeaways from the report related to webinars:

Build Anticipation Before Your Webinar

The average promotion time of webinars has increased to 44 days (compared to 39 days in 2019) meaning you have plenty of time and opportunity to engage with your attendees leading up to the event to ensure they attend your webinar live. Not only that, 32% of registrations is generated 7 days prior to the webinar live date.

So, what does this mean? Timing plays an important part in your communication strategy. There is so much time to engage with your attendees leading up to the live session. Offer your registrants opportunities for engagement ahead of the live webinar: ask questions, survey attendees, encourage chat participation, and promote relevant content. This also allows you to shape the webinar content based on your audience needs and provide meaningful dialogue during the live webinar. Pre-webinar engagement leads to higher attendance rate.

Increase Your Live Engagement

According to our , 65% of registrants attend the live webinar (compared to 39% in 2019). Viewers are embracing the nature of LIVE events in greater numbers and are getting more comfortable with attending virtually.

Let’s be real, your attendees will multi-task even when they join live!

Why not offer opportunities for them to do so during the webinar? Here are a few ideas:

• Sprinkle polls throughout the webinar to learn more about your audience
• Include relevant handouts to download
• Launch a survey and ask attendees to complete a survey live. Consider offering a prize to one lucky winner.

Design Targeted Content and Programming

When looking at , we saw that Wednesday and Thursday were the most popular days to host a webinar.

On top of that, we found that 41% of all webinars were held between 11:00 am – 1:00 pm. Why does this information matter?

Your attendee’s time is valuable – they won’t attend your webinar if they can’t make it fit into their busy schedule. While every audience is different, understanding the people that will be attending will allow you to design your content and programming based on their specific needs and interest.

When we design an event based on our attendees’ needs, it leads to higher engagement and a better experience with your audience. Strong events have a singular goal and provide unique content suited to the needs of your audience.

Engage Your Audience Long After the Live Event

So much has changed in the events industry over the last few years, a big one being the extended shelf life of your content. Your webinar lives on long after the live session concludes and can continue to be a powerful marketing tool to continue to refer to.

When your audience registers for your webinar but do not attend the live session, this means they are interested in the topic but may want to consume it in a different format. Find ways to repurpose your content by turning the webinar into a blog series, FAQ document, or a series of social media posts to keep people engaging with your content.

If you are a marketer and you are not hungry for data, this is the time to be!

Data should be used at every step of your event planning process. Leveraging data is critical in helping you design and deliver experiences that attendees crave.

The data collected in Notified’s can be used to turn a good webinar, into an awesome webinar.

Download the report to get access to ALL the webinar data along with similar data points and best practices for virtual events as well. Trust us, you don’t want to miss out on this content.

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The digital leap in the meetings and events industry has had tremendous impact on marketers. You guessed it—the expectations of attendees to online meetings have been raised significantly. So, as is the case with any other marketing channel, a poor experience will leave audiences feeling let down and frustrated with your brand. The bottom line is this: choosing the right approach, and webinar technology platform, is absolutely imperative in 2022.

The pandemic had a profound effect on technology. As digital experiences become commonplace in both personal and business settings, tech took a giant leap to accommodate the growing expectations of online audiences.

The advances in  were no different—having been driven by demand (from both organizers and audiences) in line with increasing expectations and ever-accelerating developments in technology. For many marketers, the shift in experiences was profound, leading to new levels of engagement. For others, retaining the status quo represented a digital “step back.”

A New Era of Webinar Technology is Ushered In

. For many of us, this was not a choice, but a make-or-break decision taken out of our hands by extreme, once-in-a-lifetime circumstances.

With trade shows, user conferences, meetings, expos, and other marketing events off the table in-person, they shifted online. To mixed results, at least at the start. And so did the old warhorse of top of the funnel marketing: the webinar. With our face-to-face meetings and events often responsible for large proportions of the marketing budget (and also delivering huge amounts of ROI (i.e. leads) there was a need to drive the same benefits in order to stay relevant or even stay afloat, with but zero chance of being in the same room as one another. Enter webinars and . 

Some organizations had previously undertaken webinars and virtual events and as a result, were already aware of the options available to them, while for others this was a brave new world. And to a certain degree, the virtual event space become something of a new frontier, as tech and events companies alike (including ) looked to quickly develop their virtual offerings to empower their clients as much as possible.

Webinars in 2022—What to Look for to Level Up Your Experience

As a positive result, virtual event and webinar technology has indeed come a long way in the last two years, which is certainly no bad thing. This is actually a great opportunity for marketers looking for an advantage in their very competitive industries.

Plenty of organizations have now felt the benefits of virtual events first-hand and are looking at integrating a virtual or hybrid event approach as part of their overarching events and marketing strategies. With all this in mind, let’s look at some of the key features and functionality you should look to include as part of your webinar experience.

Video conferencing: If you’re thinking of rebooting 2019 level standards to your 2022 webinars, you’re likely a few years out of date. In this case, “old school” holds little charm for audiences with high expectations. There was a time – not that long ago – when corporate webinar attendees wouldn’t actually see their hosts… at all. A webinar’s visuals would focus exclusively on a series of PowerPoint slides, coupled with a (sorry, it’s true) mostly monotone voice-over narration by the host(s). In today’s world of video calls, this seems almost unthinkable, certainly archaic.

But thankfully tech has evolved. Having hosts (yes, multiple) showing their faces allows attendees to understand who they’re hearing from and connect on a more human level. With facial expressions and body language counting for so much in clear communication, having a video stream is a great way to bring some of this personality and engagement into your webinar and allow a deeper connection with your people and, by association, your brand. The face-to-face aspect, at least in some form, is here for the offering.

What’s more, today you can offer that option out to your attendees as well, providing video feeds and again building that level of trust both ways. There may be limits to the number of people you can technically see at once, but to be able to interact in a face-to-face capacity while you’re sat on either side of the globe is a definite win for webinars.

Your Brand: One of the key areas that webinar technology has recently developed is in allowing organizers to customize and apply branding to the webinars they run. As we all know, building brand awareness and advocacy is often one of the key objectives – and is certainly one of the key benefits – to running events. Webinars are no different. Many webinars are based on delivering thought-leadership to an audience, thus associating your brand with that kind of positive and differentiating experience.

Segments and transitions:  and actively listening throughout the duration of your webinar is vital in ensuring your message is really understood. This has always been a challenge. In 2022, it’s even more important. One way that you can help achieve this is by breaking your content down into more manageable chunks, or “bite size/snackable” segments. You can then switch up the delivery of each section, potentially using a different format of delivery (for example, from using slides to playing a video or to an open discussion) or changing presenters. Break it up, make it vibrant and interactive.

A good webinar platform will provide ways to effectively manage these sections and the transition from one to another. Being able to plan your segments in advance and then seamlessly transition from one to another allows the webinar to flow even in these moments of flux where otherwise you may be scrabbling to open additional programs or documents or having to ask other presenters to take over.

Breakouts: In addition to breaking your content down into manageable sections, consider breaking your audience down into smaller groups. Many webinar platforms now offer the option of virtual breakout rooms – separate “areas” where your attendees can be grouped for a separate discussion.

Whether this is based on a series of different messages that may be of varying degrees of interest depending on the attendee, or simply an opportunity to have an easier open discussion of the core webinar topic before coming back together again to share insights, break out rooms can provide a great change of pace and space to breathe and think.

Ramp Up Interactivity: Webinars that offer the best two-way interaction between presenter and attendee will ultimately offer a greater experience. 45-minute monologues can be an energy drain for your audience.

By providing options for Q&A, polls, surveys, feedback, downloadable related content libraries, and more, you’re offering a wealth of options to your attendees. And as with any marketing, if you can offer a choice, you’re more likely to get better results from a broader range of your audience as, for example, some will prefer to get directly involved then and there while others will prefer to download your content and get in touch at a time that suits them.

Conclusion

There are plenty of options when it comes to webinar technology. Your due diligence will serve you well as you look to take your webinars up a level in terms of engagement. So, spending some time understanding the options available and how they could meet your current webinar needs is a good place to start. But also try to plan ahead and think big; if your first webinar vastly exceeds your objectives, perhaps you’ll have a chance to go even bigger and better next time around. And if that’s the case, you could need additional features that may seem surplus to requirement today.  

Learn even more about elevating your webinars with Cvent’s eBook, .

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Audience expectations for webinars have changed. From the initial email invite, to producing the presentation, to the post-show follow-up, marketers must seek to create moments that set your webinars apart and drive deeper audience engagement.

Tips to Make Your Webinars Unforgettable

1. Shake Up Your Webinar Format

Is your webinar format of interest to your audience? Knowing your audience and what they need from a webinar is what’s going to get them to show up, lean in, and tell others that you are creating engaging content worth watching. Consider the following format options to shake things up:

2. Brand Your Area

It may seem simple but a surprising number of people neglect this step—make sure people know where they are and who’s talking to them.

For example, within presenters have the capability to set a theme and brand, create a lower thirds banner, as well as place logos within the presentation’s screen using the .

If your current does not have these special tools and features and you want to go the extra mile, set up an LED light of your color, put a branded mug in your background, wear a company shirt that displays the logo, or use a virtual background. Take a minute and think about your personal “set”, webinars have evolved to have more intimacy and authenticity. We’re all at home and are getting a behind-the-scenes look into each other’s lives. Make sure that you are a positive representation of your brand and the people who work with you.

3. Engage with Your Audience

Another seemingly simple tip, but always worth stating—interact with your audience. Don’t be afraid to jump into the chat, ask questions, or conduct polls. If done well, all these elements can add extra layers of engagement to your presentation.

In-person events have a clear separation between speakers and their audience that virtual events don’t. Chat, Q&A, and polls allow you to be in the moment with people who want to hear from you and create meaningful connections that they will remember for a long time. It’s important to make yourself available as a reliable, relatable resource and break down the walls that keep people from making real, trusting connections with the people behind the brands.

4. Give Away Valuable Content

By giving away great content you get to:

and put them on a thoughtful and relevant journey after your webinar; you be more likely to earn their business. Follow up after your webinars by thanking people for attending and offer them not only a recording of the session, but also helpful videos, eBooks, and resources to further their understanding of the topic.

5. Create Can’t-Miss, LIVE Moments

Though there are plenty of advantages with pre-recording, if your audience is willing to take time out of their day to come and listen, then they are worth showing up for. A consequence of people realizing that more and more webinars are pre-recorded, is that they lose the motivation to login on time or at all. At one point or another, or even at multiple points, we’ve all seen a webinar invite and thought “I’d love to learn more about that, but I’m not going to sit through another hour on Zoom… I’ll sign up and let them send me the recording.” Then of course, we never watch the recording.

There are ways to combat this. Create and promote can’t-miss moments, like a live Q&A with your CEO, a live critique of something submitted by an audience member, a giveaway, access to a free content for showing up, whatever it is, you might start to see an increase in your webinar attendance.

When optimizing your webinar, remember to give yourself time for trial, error, testing and to see what’s working. Nothing is a quick fix and maybe you won’t be buzzworthy overnight, but if you can commit to a new way of thinking, and implement these best practices, the tide will start to turn. Ready to take your webinars to the next level? Learn more with Cvent’s eBook, .

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Key Findings:

1.Typical webinars share these characteristics: a time range from 30 to 60 minutes, often feature pre-recorded content, one or two hosts (off camera) narrating PowerPoint slides, and offer little in the way of engagement.

2.Top marketers are taking advantage of new technology to re-create the webinar experience for attendees through higher production values, more personalized content, and elevated levels of interactivity.

3.To become best-in-class, marketers today must thoroughly audit their webinar programs, reconsider formats, and level up attendee engagement and networking. In our new eBook, marketers can take stock of their current webinar program, learn new strategies for building engagement, pipeline, and buy interests.

What is a Webinar?

Traditionally, a webinar has been an online event lasting 30-60 minutes held primarily to generate leads and educate or train attendees. They have long been used as an effective way to expand a brand’s reach, establish a company as a thought leader in the industry, and engage with prospects and customers through an accessible platform. In fact, .

In the past, webinars were a flat and passive experience for attendees. Online PowerPoint presentations with little or no engagement. At worst, they played out like a digital version of those teacher scenes from Peanuts cartoons: “wah wah woh wah wah.” 

Typically, webinars shared these characteristics:

Often, there was little branding, low interactivity, and production value was practically nonexistent. Now, webinars can range from a single speaker to a panel, product demo to open forum. There are several ways to create content, and because of the emergence of more ways than ever to engage with attendees. After all, engagement is key.

Planning a Webinar

What is the purpose of your webinar? The answer to this question guides everything else – the content needed, technology used, how you interact, and follow up with, with attendees. An important thing to remember is that all events have two purposes. The first is about what you want the attendee to get out of the experience. The second, what you want to get out of the experience. Webinars are multifaceted – webinars boost your profits and engage attendees.

Webinars work because they’re accessible. They don’t take an enormous time commitment, are often free, and getting to the venue is as simple as clicking a link. That’s why webinars are a wonderful lead generation tool. The webinar content defines their level of intent and can start their buyer’s journey or acts as an additional data point in their profile. 

Elements of a successful webinar:

Content: The story you want to tell and the message you want to share. Include enticing language, messaging hooks, and key takeaways for your attendees.

Production: How you visually bring your message to life using text, overlays, images, speaker dynamism, and lower thirds. A passionate presenter can only get you so far; by producing a visually appealing webinar, attendees will stay interested and for longer.

Interactivity and Technology: Use technology to your advantage, including Q&A, chat, and polling features, to increase attendee interactivity and overall webinar-engagement results.

Marketing Your Webinar

depends on marketing. There are a few must-have elements of webinar marketing. First, an event website where attendees can quickly, and easily, register. Second, an email marketing campaign. Third, additional promotion like social media and paid ads.

Your event website can be as simple as a webinar landing page or as complicated as your creativity and technology allow. But the key to any webinar website is registration and key event information.

Email is a quick and easy way to spread the word about your event. Pull contact lists from your database based on your defined audience. Then, start promoting! In a traditional webinar campaign, you’ll send multiple emails. As you go, you can track open rates, click-through rates, and track registrations. Email is easy to change, so watch the data and if it looks like something isn’t working – change it!

Social media continues to be the cheapest form of promotion with the potential to have the widest reach. Create posts to promote your webinars. Social media is a place where you can get creative and have fun. Another way to promote is to enlist brand ambassadors or tap others in the industry to share your webinar. Just remember, the more eyes see a post, the higher chance it will lead to registrations.

Virtual Event Software Has Transformed Traditional Webinars

With the basics of content and promotion behind us, now it’s time to get into the nuts and bolts of your webinar. Once you know the content you plan to create, . Whether you have virtual event software or not, it’s always good to take a moment and assess your needs.

There are various webinar formats to choose from. While you’ve chosen your content format, you still need to answer a few basic technical questions. Will the webinar be live? Will it be pre-recorded?

You may already have an event marketing and management platform and that platform may even handle virtual events. If so, that’s great! But even if you have a tool that works, take a moment to determine if it does everything you need it to do. Virtual event technology has exploded in the last year and everyday capabilities are improving. As you plan more webinars and more events, keep track of what did and didn’t work tech-wise.

Take advantage of new tech:

Closing the Loop After the Webinar

It’s over! But is it? Of course not. Never underestimate the value of a post-event survey!

First, you’ll need to follow-up with attendees with that survey to evaluate success. Second, you’ll need to leverage your content. The great thing about a webinar is that content can live long after the broadcast date, gathering more and more visits over time.

The best time to send a survey is within a day of the webinar while the content is still fresh. Keep the survey short – no longer than 2-5 minutes to fill out – and note the survey length in the email. Your survey is key to uncovering what worked and what didn’t during your webinar.

Webinars are a great source of content, so leverage that content. Depending on the topic and format, think about turning your webinar into an eBook, blog post, or infographic. The more assets you can create from one great piece of content the better. 

Taking Stock of Your Current Webinar Program

Webinars are often lower effort than live, virtual, or hybrid events, but the benefits they provide long-term can be just as impressive. From establishing your organization as a thought leader to gathering leads, webinars play a big role in your total meeting and events program.

With a great team that combines the expertise of planning and marketing, your webinars can “level up” and set you apart from your competitors, feed your pipeline, better measure buying interest, and create engagement like you’ve never seen before. As you build your webinars, do it thoughtfully and strategically, create quality content, and track your success.

To see how you can get started taking your webinars to the next level, check out our new eBook,

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