Ultimate Webinar Stats for 2020

Rather than scrambling to keep up with the latest trends and fads in marketing, base your webinar strategy on the latest webinar stats.

Pulled from a year's worth of data, we've crunched our numbers and put together WorkCast's most interesting webinar stats for 2020. Enjoy! 

1.  The Rise of Simulive Webinars 

'We need you to deliver more results using fewer resources.' - Senior managers at every company. 

The only way to do more with less is to work smarter, which is why it's no surprise that more people are using Simulive webinars. Last year, WorkCast saw an 87% increase in simulive webinar attendance. Simulive webinars allow your webinar team to: 

• Re-run a webinar with a live Q&A or introduction 
• Stretch the lifespan of your webinar content
• Keep attendee engagement high 
• Maximize your lead generation efforts from each webinar

Despite the growth in simulive webinars, they are still widely underused by marketing teams. As more people become aware of the benefits of simulive webinars we anticipate this trend continuing. 

2. Watching Webinars on the Weekend 

94% of webinars are made available on-demand after the event runs live. On-demand webinars allow anybody who missed the live event to watch the webinar on their own time when it fits their schedule.

Recently, we've seen over 18% of our on-demand views take place on a Saturday or Sunday - despite there being little to no promotion of the content over the weekend. Given peoples' busy work schedules, this weekend webinar attendance stat makes sense. Try promoting your on-demand webinars on a Friday to keep them top of mind for your audience over the weekend and measure your results. 

3. Last Minute Registrations 

We all have that friend - the one you have to chase and follow-up with five times before finally confirming they'll attend your wedding, dinner party or upcoming movie night. While it might drive you crazy in your personal life, it's best to plan your webinar promotion around this type of persona. 

More than 35% of registrations come through the week of our webinars. To capitalize on this trend and increase the number of registrations your webinars receive you should:

• Increase the frequency of promotion in the week leading up to your event across all channels
• Send a webinar invitation out the morning of your event - we've seen a 20% increase in registrations by reminding people to register in the hours leading up to our events at WorkCast
• Build more touch points into your workflows for less engaged audiences (don't forget to test your subject lines)

Learn how to create an email workflow to promote your upcoming webinar today.  

4. Mobile-friendly Webinars 

In 2019, the average US adult spent 2 hours and 55 minutes using their smartphone every day. That's over 1,000 hours spent staring into our little screens each year. 

Given that behavior, it's no surprise that 25% of people watch webinars from their mobile device. This makes it increasingly important to choose a webinar provider that provides a mobile-friendly experience and does not require plugins or downloads. 

5. 60-Minute Webinars 

We're not convinced that long-form video content will make a huge comeback in 2020, but that's largely because of the restrictions placed on the social media channels we use to distribute content.

Where long-form content is still thriving despite the 8-second video trends, is with webinars. That's because webinars aren't beholden to the limitations of social media platforms. Over 55% of the webinars hosted on the WorkCast platform are 60-minutes in length.

These 60-minute webinars typically include 40-45 minutes of content, followed by a live Q&A period with the presenters. This format allows you to go in-depth into a topic and provide significant value to your audience, while also keeping engagement high and preventing viewer drop-off early into the webinar. 

When it comes to developing a webinar strategy for 2020, don't get caught up in the latest content craze. Focus on providing a seamless user experience for your desktop and mobile audience, and creating high-quality evergreen content that can be promoted throughout the year as a simulive webinar. This will maximize your results, lighten the load on your content team, and help build your brand authority.