Must-Track Metrics for Webinar Success webinar

In the dynamic landscape of 2024, businesses all across the globe are gearing up to achieve a variety of newly minted goals.

And, regardless of what your particular goals are — or even the exact industry you’re in, there’s a high probability that webinars are going to play a fairly significant role in achieving these aspirations. 

We can confidently say that because the stats are once again reminding us just how effective virtual events can be. According to StartupBonsai, 73% of B2B marketers see webinars as a great source for producing high-quality leads. That must be why 57% of marketers are running up to 50 webinars every year!

But how exactly can you tell if your webinars are successfully contributing to your larger marketing strategy? Today, we’re diving into the world of metrics and KPI tracking. 

What Qualifies as a “Webinar”?

Let’s first start at the very beginning by classifying what a webinar is — and what it isn’t. 

A webinar is a virtual event hosted online, which allows participants to enjoy an educational, collaborative training experience with real-time interaction between the presenter and the audience from the comfort of their own space. 

Technically, not all webinars need to be conducted live — many companies will pre-record their webinar and allow the audience to view it on-demand, and others will incorporate equal parts live and pre-recorded content. And these on-demand webinars are a great marketing asset for evergreen content that can be used as a lead-generation tool for years to come!

The Benefits of Hosting a Webinar Speak for Itself

There’s a good chance you already know just how fruitful a webinar can be to your overall marketing strategy — after all, that’s why you’re here to determine those goals, right? 

But let us reiterate a few of our favorite benefits for hosting a webinar you might not yet be aware of, including: 

• Position your organization as a thought leader or expert in your industry. 
• Foster engagement and activity within your customer base and keep your brand top-of-mind.
• Host a networking opportunity that adds value to your customers’ individual lives.
• Save your organization lots of time, money, and resources by hosting a virtual event in place of a physical one.
• Generate lots of buzz, leads, and sales prospects to fill up your funnel!

Let’s Talk about the Importance of Establishing Goals for Your Webinar

Like every part of your business, it’s wildly important to establish both tangible and intangible goals for all of your marketing efforts — including these webinars. Whether you’re planning on hosting a single webinar or an entire series, goal setting should be a top priority even before you start selecting speakers or discussing virtual meeting software options. 

Depending on what your overarching goal is, the webinar details will be shaped with those metrics in mind. These goals aren’t just essential for understanding whether or not your webinar was a success — they are also very important for shaping future iterations and learning from every webinar you host. 

Now, there are lots of different angles you can look at to set these goals. Here are a few to get the creative juices flowing. 

Lead Generation

Probably the most common webinar goal for most organizations is lead generation. As more and more webinar registrations and RSVPs roll in, consider what you want to do with these precious leads in future marketing campaigns.

How are you going to store them? In what ways can you nurture these cold and warm leads in the future? Who’s going to be responsible for following up with your attendees after the webinar? And how will you differentiate those who registered from those who show up the day of the event and participate? Work with your team to get clear on your plans to optimize these leads before they grow cold. 

Once those leads have been converted into sales, you can attribute that amount of revenue to this webinar, too! 

→ AddEvent Pro Tip: Check out this article to uncover actionable steps to up your webinar signups.

Brand Awareness

Does anyone else get a little overwhelmed when they hear the term “brand awareness” these days? Simply speaking, brand awareness refers to the extent to which your customers are familiar with the distinctive qualities or images associated with your particular brand of goods or services. 

Take, for example, the Nike logo — any time you see that swoosh, you automatically think of the brand as a whole (and probably picture some sneakers, too). 

Leveraging a webinar to increase your business’s brand awareness online is important, and hosting marketing events such as webinars is an important part of expanding it. Don’t forget that hosting webinars is not only great for brand awareness, but builds credibility for your brand.

It is important to note that this type of goal is a little less measurable than others. Try to get creative and attach a tangible objective that indicates successful brand awareness — such as increased social media followers and engagement, website traffic, etc.

Live Attendance

Maybe you’re looking for some live face time with your webinar attendees — and so your goal is going to be around how many registrations convert into attendees. You can also try to better understand attendee engagement with the use of polls, surveys, and live Q&A opportunities. 

Be sure to keep an eye on attendee drop-out rates throughout the webinar, to identify areas of your event where the attendee feels less engaged and leaves before the end. You can use this information to improve future webinars and set a metric around increasing attendance retention through the end of the event.

Satisfaction Ratings & Social Proof

Another valuable goal to consider from your webinars is the culmination of feedback from your attendees. Whether you’re collecting anonymous post-event surveys, requesting testimonials, or just asking attendees at the end of the event to rate their experience on a scale of one through 10, you really can’t put a price tag on knowledge and insight gained for the next one! 

Covering the Cost

At the very least, you’re going to want your webinar to cover its costs every time — whether that be through eventual sales conversions or tickets sold. While the cost for a virtual event is going to be significantly less than an in-person event, you want to consider all the contributing factors, including the time and effort your team put into these webinars to determine if they’re worth future investment. 

Make Your Next Webinar a Success with AddEvent

Ready to take your webinar to the next level in 2024? Reach the widest audience possible when you use AddEvent’s video conferencing integrations in partnership with leading platforms like Zoom, GoToWebinar, and so many more. Let us help you share your events, collect RSVPs, and promote your next webinar so it can be as successful as possible. Sign up for a free account today to try it for yourself!