Webinars

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Your webinar ended two hours ago. A prospect clicks the registration link from a LinkedIn post your team promoted all week. They land on a page that says "This event has ended." No replay. No form. No way to watch. That lead is gone, and your team will never know they existed.

On-demand webinar platforms manage more than replay hosting. They govern the transition from live broadcast to persistent content asset, control who accesses recordings and under what conditions, sync engagement data into CRM for lead scoring, and determine whether a single webinar generates pipeline for a day or for six months. The operational surface extends from registration through gating, repurposing, and attribution.

This article evaluates 13 platforms across broadcast mode flexibility (live, simulive, and on-demand), CRM sync depth, and content repurposing capability. Each entry covers verified strengths, documented gaps, pricing, and the specific team situation where the tool fits best.

The 13 best on-demand webinar platforms for B2B event teams

Zuddl

Zuddl is an AI-native unified events platform that handles live, simulive, and on-demand webinars within a single workflow, with automated transitions between modes. It serves B2B marketing and demand generation teams running recurring webinar programs that need CRM-integrated engagement data and branded post-event content.

What it does well

• A single on-demand toggle automatically unpublishes the registration page and publishes the on-demand page at the same URL when the webinar ends, eliminating manual page swaps and preventing late registrants from hitting a dead screen.
• Simulive functionality lets teams blend pre-recorded content with live Q&A, so speakers do not need to present the same session across multiple time zones.
• Real-time, bi-directional CRM sync with Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, Eloqua, and Iterable passes granular engagement data (poll responses, Q&A questions, CTA clicks, minutes watched) into CRM records for lead scoring.
• A content hub auto-generates highlight reels, short clips, blog drafts, and social posts from webinar recordings, with attendance heatmaps identifying which segments drove the highest engagement.
• Embedded CTA banners and downloadable resources appear inside webinars during live and simulive sessions, with CTA clicks indicating buying stage for immediate sales routing via instant Slack notifications that include Salesforce lead fields.

Where it has gaps

• Pricing is not publicly listed and requires a sales conversation, which makes initial budget assessment difficult for teams exploring options.
• Initial setup for CRM integrations and the production studio involves a learning curve, particularly for smaller teams without dedicated marketing operations support.

Pricing: Custom pricing; Request a demo

Ratings: 4.8/5 on G2 · 4.5/5 on Capterra

Best for: B2B demand generation teams running four or more webinars per month who need a single platform that handles broadcast, on-demand gating, CRM engagement sync, and content repurposing without requiring separate video editing or hosting tools.

BigMarker

BigMarker supports live, simulive, automated, and on-demand webinars natively from one platform, with a wide range of native CRM and marketing automation integration connections. It fits mid-market to enterprise teams that need to run both free and paid webinar programs across multiple formats.

What it does well

• All four broadcast modes (live, simulive, automated/evergreen, on-demand) are native to the platform, giving teams format flexibility without switching tools.
• Native integrations span Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot, Eloqua, and ActiveCampaign, covering more CRM and MAP connections than most competitors in this list.
• Q&A with audience upvoting surfaces the most relevant questions during sessions, and moderated chat, polls, and handouts are available for attendee engagement.
• Embeddable webinar rooms and API widgets let teams host sessions on owned domains rather than redirecting attendees to a third-party URL.

Where it has gaps

• No evidence of one-click webinar cloning with inherited CRM mappings, email sequences, and branded assets.
• No AI-based content repurposing, clip generation, or branded on-demand content hub.
• Granular engagement signal sync (poll responses, CTA clicks, minutes watched flowing to CRM) is not documented in vendor materials.
• No pipeline attribution or revenue impact reporting.

Pricing: Custom pricing across three tiers (Webcast Basic, Professional, Enterprise). Contact sales for quotes.

Ratings: 4.7/5 on G2 · 4.8/5 on Capterra

Best for: Mid-market B2B teams running a mix of free lead-generation webinars and paid training or certification events who need broad native CRM coverage and the flexibility to embed sessions on their own site.

Demio

Demio offers live, automated, and on-demand webinar capabilities with in-session CTAs (called "Featured Actions") designed to drive conversion during the presentation. It fits small to mid-size B2B marketing teams focused on webinar-driven demand generation with a need for attendee-level engagement analytics.

What it does well

• Featured Actions (embedded CTAs) appear during live and automated sessions, enabling mid-presentation conversion moments such as demo requests or resource downloads without disrupting the attendee experience.
• Detailed analytics track attendance, CTA clicks, poll engagement, handout downloads, and session timing at the individual attendee level, with an activity timeline for personalizing follow-up outreach.
• Automated webinar sequences replicate a live-feeling experience for evergreen campaigns, and on-demand replay pages transition from live registration with reduced manual effort.
• Showcase feature creates a branded collection page displaying upcoming and past events with customizable layout, colors, and fonts for a cohesive webinar program presence.

Where it has gaps

• Salesforce integration is described by reviewers as less mature than HubSpot.
• No native AI-based clip creation or content repurposing tools.
• Multi-webinar ROI comparison and pipeline attribution dashboards are not available natively.

Pricing: Starter from $45/month (annual) for 50 attendees. Growth from $80/month (annual) for 150 attendees. Premium from $2,354/year. Unlimited plan requires custom pricing.

Ratings: 4.6/5 on G2 · 4.7/5 on Capterra

Best for: B2B marketing teams running 2 to 8 webinars per month who prioritize in-session conversion tools and attendee-level engagement tracking over enterprise CRM sync depth or AI content repurposing.

Livestorm

Livestorm is a browser-based webinar platform with native live and on-demand modes, GDPR compliance, and ISO 27001 certification. It serves B2B teams in regulated or security-conscious environments who need a compliant platform with straightforward setup.

What it does well

• Live-to-on-demand conversion is described as instant, turning live sessions into available on-demand recordings with evergreen registration pages and embeddable forms.
• Browser-based access with no download required reduces attendee friction and no-show rates, a feature consistently praised by reviewers on both G2 and Capterra.
• Multi-workspace support under one contract with unified billing and reporting gives larger organizations a way to manage multiple teams or business units from a single account.

Where it has gaps

• Simulive mode (pre-recorded content played at a scheduled time with live Q&A) is not confirmed in vendor materials. Teams running global webinar series across time zones may need presenters available live.
• CRM sync fidelity is unclear. Salesforce is named as a native integration, but whether granular engagement signals (poll responses, minutes watched, CTA clicks) pass through to CRM is not documented.
• No AI-based content repurposing, clip generation, or attendance heatmaps. A company page feature hosts past events but does not transform recordings into distributable content assets.
• Attendee-credit pricing model is cited by reviewers as difficult to predict at scale, with costs rising sharply as audience size grows.

Pricing: Free plan available (30 attendee credits/year, up to 30-minute sessions). Paid tier pricing requires contact.

Ratings: 4.4/5 on G2 · 4.7/5 on Capterra

Best for: B2B teams in GDPR-regulated industries that need a browser-based, ISO 27001-certified platform for live and on-demand webinars and can accommodate a compliance-first platform with less depth in simulive, content repurposing, and pipeline attribution.

GoTo Webinar

GoTo Webinar provides live, simulive, and cloud-recorded webinar modes with published pricing tiers that scale up to 2,000 participants. It fits established B2B organizations with an existing GoTo ecosystem that need a reliable, familiar platform for recurring webinar programs.

What it does well

• Simulive events (automated, pre-recorded content played at a scheduled time) are a confirmed capability, supporting global teams that need to run sessions without live presenter availability.
• AI-generated transcripts and summaries are available post-event, giving teams a starting point for repurposing webinar content into written formats.
• Polls, Q&A, breakout rooms, and closed captioning are available during live sessions, with Q&A moderation tools praised by reviewers managing large audiences.

Where it has gaps

• CRM syncs are limited to registration and attendance status.
• No branded on-demand content hub. Recordings sit in an internal dashboard, and on-demand replay pages carry GoTo Webinar branding, creating brand inconsistency.
• Simulive mode lacks confirmed ability to layer live Q&A mid-broadcast.
• No pipeline attribution or revenue impact dashboard.

Pricing: Multiple published tiers (Lite, Standard, Enterprise, Flex). Free trial available.

Ratings: 4.2/5 on G2 · 4.5/5 on Capterra

Best for: B2B teams already in the GoTo ecosystem who run monthly webinars at 500 to 2,000 attendee scale and need reliable simulive with AI transcripts, but do not require deep CRM engagement sync or content repurposing tools.

WebinarGeek

WebinarGeek supports live, automated, and on-demand webinar types natively from a browser-based platform with GDPR compliance and EU data storage. It fits European B2B teams and SMBs that need a straightforward platform with payment gating for monetized webinar content.

What it does well

• Automated webinars support preloaded polls, quizzes, and CTA buttons with live chat enabled, replicating a live-feeling experience for evergreen campaigns without requiring presenter involvement.
• On-demand webinars are available 24/7 for self-paced viewer access, and a webinar channel page displays all upcoming and on-demand webinars in a single hub.
• Paid webinar capability with Stripe or Mollie payment processing enables monetized on-demand content distribution.

Where it has gaps

• Native bi-directional CRM sync is not available.
• No content clipping or repurposing tools.
• Branding customization is described as surface-level by reviewers, with limitations on custom colors, fonts, and email sender identity at lower tiers.
• Analytics stop at attendance counts and poll results, with no pipeline attribution, revenue tracking, or attendee-level engagement profiles for sales.

Pricing: Basic €49/month (up to 50 viewers); Premium €69/month (up to 1,000 viewers); Enterprise €349/month (up to 5,000 viewers). 14-day free trial available.

Ratings: 4.5/5 on G2 · 4.6/5 on Capterra

Best for: European SMB marketing teams running automated and on-demand webinar programs at moderate scale who need GDPR-compliant hosting with payment gating and can work without deep CRM sync or content repurposing.

ClickMeeting

ClickMeeting runs live, automated, and on-demand webinars natively with a visual timeline editor for configuring when polls, CTAs, and chat messages appear during automated sessions. It fits SMB and mid-market teams running recurring training, product demos, or sales webinars.

What it does well

• The visual timeline editor for automated webinars lets organizers schedule when polls, CTAs, chat messages, and video segments fire during a pre-recorded session, reducing the manual coordination typically required for simulive-style broadcasts.
• Live, automated, and on-demand modes are available within a single account, and the webinar cycle automation handles pre-event reminders, recording publication, follow-ups, and attendee redirects.
• White-label options on the Enterprise plan allow full removal of ClickMeeting branding, and custom-branded event landing pages are available across all tiers.

Where it has gaps

• No native Salesforce integration.
• One-click cloning of webinars with all settings intact (forms, email sequences, CRM mappings) is not confirmed.
• No AI-based content repurposing, branded content hub, or attendance heatmaps.
• Pipeline attribution and revenue reporting are absent.

Pricing: Live from $32/month (25 attendees); Automated from $48/month (25 attendees); Enterprise custom pricing. 14-day free trial.

Ratings: 4.2/5 on G2 · 4.5/5 on Capterra

Best for: SMB teams running weekly sales demos or training webinars who want a simple automated scheduling cycle with visual timeline control and do not require Salesforce integration or post-event content repurposing.

LiveWebinar

LiveWebinar is a browser-based platform with live webinar delivery, on-demand recording capability, and interactive tools including breakout rooms and whiteboards. It fits teams running workshop-style or training webinars that need collaborative in-session features at an accessible price point.

What it does well

• In-session engagement tools include polls, surveys, interactive whiteboards, breakout rooms, and chat, making it well-suited for training and workshop formats that require collaboration beyond passive viewing.
• Browser-based access across all devices (browsers, smart TVs, mobile, conferencing systems) removes download friction for both organizers and attendees.
• Recordings can be stored on Amazon S3 or FTP servers, giving technical teams flexibility in managing recording infrastructure and compliance requirements.

Where it has gaps

• True simulive mode (pre-recorded content played at a scheduled time with live Q&A overlay) is not confirmed in vendor materials.
• CRM sync is limited to registration and attendance status via Zapier. No native Salesforce campaign hierarchy mapping.
• No AI-based content repurposing, branded on-demand content hub, or attendance heatmaps.
• Each webinar setup requires manual reconfiguration of forms and settings. No one-click cloning or template inheritance for high-volume series.

Pricing: Free plan available. PRO from $32/month (25 to 100 attendees); Business Plus from $42/month (up to 500 attendees); Premium from $62/month (up to 1,000 attendees). Enterprise pricing via quote.

Ratings: 4.4/5 on G2 · 4.7/5 on Capterra

Best for: Training and enablement teams running interactive workshop-format webinars with breakout rooms and whiteboards who need a budget-friendly, browser-based platform and can manage CRM sync and content distribution externally.

Riverside

Riverside captures 4K video and uncompressed audio locally on each participant's device, with live, pre-recorded simulive, and on-demand webinar modes plus editing tools that generate social clips, transcriptions, and highlight reels. It fits content and media teams that need broadcast-quality recordings and post-webinar repurposing alongside standard webinar delivery.

What it does well

• 4K local recording on each participant's device produces broadcast-quality output that is resilient to internet instability, giving teams that repurpose webinar content heavily a recording foundation few competitors in this list match.
• Pre-recorded webinars can be scheduled and streamed at a set time with live chat, polls, and Q&A active during playback, functioning as a simulive mode. On-demand viewing is also available for viewers to watch at any time.
• Magic Clips automatically generate short social-ready snippets from full recordings, and text-based editing lets teams cut video by editing the transcript rather than scrubbing a timeline.
• Live call-ins allow audience members to join as speakers during a webinar, adding a layer of interactivity beyond standard Q&A and polls.
• Automated reminder emails before events and follow-up emails after events support lead nurturing workflows from within the platform.

Where it has gaps

• CRM integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo) are listed for registration data, but sync fidelity for engagement signals (poll responses, CTA clicks, minutes watched) is not verified.
• Registration gating for on-demand replays is not confirmed in vendor materials.
• No one-click webinar cloning with inherited settings, branded on-demand content hub, or pipeline attribution dashboards.
• The Webinar plan caps registrants at 100. Business plan extends to 10,000.

Pricing: Free plan ($0, 2 hrs recording, 720p, watermarked); Pro $24/month (annual); Grow $34/month (annual); Webinar $79/month (annual, up to 100 registrants); Business custom pricing.

Ratings: 4.8/5 on G2 · 4.8/5 on Capterra

Best for: Content marketing teams that run webinars primarily to generate social clips, podcast episodes, and video assets, and who handle lead capture and CRM workflows through separate tools rather than expecting the webinar platform to manage the full funnel.

WebinarKit

WebinarKit runs automated, evergreen, like-live, just-in-time, and instant-watch webinars with AI-driven chat that handles objections and drives conversions during automated sessions. It fits solopreneurs and individual marketers building always-on webinar funnels at a flat cost.

What it does well

• AI-driven automated chat engages viewers and handles objections during automated sessions without requiring a live moderator, with timed CTA overlays appearing at key moments to drive conversion.
• Unlimited webinars and attendees at the plan level remove per-event cost friction for high-volume evergreen programs.
• The funnel builder packages registration, thank-you, and replay pages together, reducing multi-step setup for each new automated webinar.

Where it has gaps

• No native Salesforce or HubSpot integration.
• No branded on-demand content library, AI clip generation, or attendance heatmaps.
• Live webinar engagement tools (Q&A moderation, breakout rooms) are limited compared to live-first platforms.
• Pipeline attribution, multi-webinar ROI comparison, and executive-facing reporting are not available.

Pricing: Lifetime deals from $497 one-time; monthly subscription from $79/month (unlimited webinars, automated + live). $1 for 7-day trial.

Ratings: 4.7/5 on G2 · Not available on Capterra

Best for: Solo marketers and coaches running high-volume evergreen webinar funnels who want AI-driven automated chat and unlimited webinars without per-event fees, and who manage CRM and analytics outside the webinar platform.

EverWebinar

EverWebinar runs automated webinars exclusively, with chat simulation, timed offers, and just-in-time scheduling that give pre-recorded sessions a live-feeling experience. It fits individual marketers running set-and-forget automated sequences for lead generation or course promotion.

What it does well

• Chat simulation at specific timestamps during automated playback creates the appearance of live interaction, and timed offers (CTAs) display during the presentation to drive conversion at peak attention moments.
• Just-in-time scheduling lets registrants start watching almost immediately, functioning as an always-on gated lead capture asset.
• Hybrid mode plays pre-recorded video with live chat capability, letting organizers add a layer of real-time interaction without delivering the full presentation live.

Where it has gaps

• No live webinar mode.
• No native CRM integration with Salesforce or HubSpot.
• No content repurposing, branded on-demand library, or AI clip generation.
• Branding and customization options are limited.

Pricing: Starting at $99/month (billed annually). $1 trial for 14 days.

Ratings: 3.9/5 on G2 · 3.9/5 on Capterra

Best for: Individual marketers or course creators who need a dedicated automated webinar tool with timed offers and chat simulation, and who do not require live broadcast capability, CRM engagement sync, or content repurposing.

Webinar.net

Webinar.net supports live, pre-recorded rebroadcast, and on-demand webinars with automatic conversion from live to on-demand after the event. It emphasizes fast setup, browser-based delivery, and branded registration pages, fitting teams that need a straightforward platform with built-in on-demand conversion.

What it does well

• Any live webinar automatically converts into an on-demand webinar after the session ends, removing manual steps to make recordings available for post-event viewing.
• Pre-recorded live webinars can be rebroadcast repeatedly with audience interaction, allowing teams to re-run high-performing sessions without presenters going live again.
• Scheduling and launching a live webinar is fast, with the vendor claiming setup in under 60 seconds and reviewers confirming minimal ramp time for new team members.
• Browser-based delivery with no plugins required reduces attendee friction and technical support requests during sessions.
• Engagement tools include live polling with real-time results, moderated Q&A, one-to-one attendee-presenter messaging, document sharing, and post-webinar surveys.

Where it has gaps

• No CRM integrations documented on vendor pages.
• No native content repurposing, branded content hub, or AI clip generation.
• Analytics are described as limited by reviewers, who want more granular per-attendee engagement breakdowns and cannot access pipeline attribution within the platform.
• Custom post-registration pages are available, but gating controls for on-demand replays are not detailed.

Pricing: Starting from approximately $500/month (up to 100 live attendees). Enterprise from $1,250/month. Free trial available.

Ratings: 4.7/5 on G2 · Not available on Capterra

Best for: Teams running a small number of live-only webinars per quarter who need fast setup and do not require simulive, CRM integration, content repurposing, or program-level analytics.

Webinar+

Webinar+ (a Brandlive product) delivers cinematic, high-production webinar experiences with live, pre-recorded, and on-demand session types, plus managed production services including presenter coaching, technical rehearsals, and day-of event management. It fits organizations that need broadcast-quality production for high-stakes webinar events with on-demand replay.

What it does well

• Cinematic layouts, branded intros, lower thirds, and transitions give webinar sessions a production quality that approaches broadcast television, differentiating them from standard screen-share formats.
• On-demand is available as a native session type alongside live and pre-recorded broadcasts, allowing teams to offer post-event viewing without third-party hosting.
• Managed production services handle planning, scheduling, technical rehearsals, presenter coaching, and day-of management, reducing the operational burden on internal marketing teams for flagship events.
• Scale claims support up to 1,000,000 concurrent attendees, positioning the platform for large-audience broadcasts.

Where it has gaps

• CRM integration depth is not documented beyond general "connect engagement data across systems" claims.
• Program-level cloning, template inheritance, and one-click webinar duplication are not evidenced.
• No AI-based content repurposing outputs (clips, blog drafts, social posts) or branded on-demand hub confirmed at feature level.
• Pipeline attribution dashboards, multi-webinar ROI comparison, and attendee-level engagement profiles for sales are not confirmed in vendor materials.

Pricing: Custom pricing; not listed publicly.

Ratings: Not available on G2 · Not available on Capterra

Best for: Enterprise organizations running quarterly or annual flagship webinars where production quality is the primary differentiator and the team needs managed services support rather than self-serve program scalability.

What to look for in on-demand webinar platforms for B2B event teams

Broadcast mode flexibility: Evaluate whether the platform supports live, simulive, and on-demand natively within one workflow. Teams that cannot run simulive force speakers to present multiple times across time zones, and platforms without automated on-demand delay post-event lead capture.

CRM integration and engagement data sync: Check whether the sync passes granular signals (poll responses, CTA clicks, minutes watched) or only registration and attendance status. Platforms that sync only binary attended/not-attended data leave sales reps without differentiation signals for outreach.

Post-webinar content hub and repurposing: Determine whether recordings are transformed into clips, social posts, and searchable libraries within the platform, or require manual export to third-party editors. Teams without in-platform repurposing typically spend 8 or more hours per webinar on manual editing and lose ongoing pipeline from undistributed content.

Webinar program scalability and cloning: Test whether the second webinar in a series inherits forms, CRM mappings, email sequences, and branded assets from the first. Platforms that require manual rebuilding per event introduce configuration drift and consume capacity at four or more webinars per month.

Brand control across every touchpoint: Assess brand coverage across the full attendee journey: registration pages, emails, in-webinar studio, and on-demand replay hub. Platforms that brand only the registration page but default to generic in-room and replay experiences create visible brand discontinuity for attendees.

On-demand access control and gating: Verify whether the platform supports gated (form fill), ungated (public), and private link sharing for on-demand content. Teams that cannot gate replays lose the ability to use on-demand webinars as ongoing lead generation assets.

In-webinar engagement and live conversion: Look for individual-level capture of poll responses, Q&A activity, and CTA clicks that flow into CRM. Platforms that only report aggregate attendance produce a binary signal insufficient for lead scoring. If you're building surveys to help your webinar program drive business decisions, check out the linked guide.

Pipeline attribution and ROI reporting: Confirm whether the platform connects webinar engagement to pipeline influenced and revenue generated. Teams that cannot attribute pipeline to specific webinars cannot defend program investment at budget review.

Questions people ask about on-demand webinar platforms

What is the difference between automated webinars and on-demand webinars?

Automated webinars play pre-recorded content at a scheduled time, simulating a live broadcast with timed polls, chat, and CTAs. On-demand webinars let viewers access the recording at any time on their own schedule. Some platforms, such as Zuddl, BigMarker, and Demio, support both modes natively. Automated sessions create urgency through scheduled start times. On-demand removes scheduling friction entirely.

What features should an on-demand webinar platform have?

At minimum: gated and ungated access controls for replays, automated transition from live registration to on-demand page, CRM sync that passes engagement signals (not just attendance), and a branded replay experience. Platforms that also offer AI content repurposing and attendance heatmaps extend the webinar's pipeline-generating lifespan well beyond the live date.

Can automated webinars include interactive features like chat and polls?

Yes. WebinarKit and EverWebinar support chat simulation and timed polls during automated playback. Demio and ClickMeeting enable preloaded polls and CTAs during automated sessions. Zuddl supports real-time polls, Q&A, and embedded CTAs during simulive sessions with live interaction capability. The depth of individual-level engagement data capture varies significantly across these platforms.

What integrations do on-demand webinar platforms support?

Most platforms integrate with HubSpot and Zapier. Fewer offer native Salesforce bi-directional sync with granular engagement data. Zuddl, BigMarker, and Demio name Salesforce, HubSpot, and Marketo as native integrations. The critical question is what data passes through: registration status only, or engagement signals like poll responses, CTA clicks, and minutes watched.

[.ebook-q-card][.ebook-body-text] TL;DR: A post-webinar survey only works if every question has a pre-defined action trigger and a clear owner. This piece covers 17 questions across six categories, each with a threshold that routes to a specific next step, plus Zuddl's first-party benchmarks on response rates, completion, and purchase intent. [.ebook-body-text][.ebook-q-card]

An events team running 40 webinars a year sends the same five questions in their post-webinar surveys. The open-text field fills up with answers nobody has time to read twice, let alone act on. Response rates are inconsistent, and even when they aren’t, nobody changes anything based on the answers.

In order for that to happen, the post webinar survey needs to be treated like a decision system: a question only belongs on it if a specific answer triggers a specific next action that’s owned by a specific person. 

What is a post-webinar survey?

A post-webinar survey is a short set of questions sent to attendees immediately after a session ends, asking about the content, the presenter, the experience, and what they plan to do next. 

It is different from a general customer satisfaction survey because it is time-bound to a single event, which means the questions should reference specifics the attendee just experienced.

It’s best when it’s used as a way to map attendee responses to decisions your team needs to take, instead of a way to produce an average of satisfaction scores.

But it’s still largely used as a feedback form: send it, glance at the average rating, file it away. This doesn’t work at the scale of a mature B2B events program. You’re sitting on a rich feedback loop that can be used to meaningfully improve your program…if you’re able to frame the survey questions right.

One way to do that is to scope a survey to a single webinar session instead of multiple sessions. 

Zuddl's internal data across our customer base shows that a survey attached to one specific session collects roughly 3.3× more total responses than a single survey meant to cover an entire multi-session event.

This is because a post-webinar survey asks participants about the one thing they just watched, which is an easier question to answer honestly and quickly.

Why do post-webinar surveys matter in 2026 for B2B events programs?

Three things have changed the stakes for the post-webinar survey:

1. Event programs are running more webinars per team

The webinar software market is growing at a 12.68% CAGR, but the growth is not evenly distributed. Among organizations running recurring webinar programs, teams producing twelve or more sessions a year has nearly doubled in two years (per Zuddl’s internal data). This means that a post-webinar survey can produce a rich dataset of responses to analyze.

2. AI has changed how open-text feedback can be analyzed

The open-text field used to be a place where good feedback went to die. Reading every free-response comment across dozens of webinars a quarter, by hand, is not a realistic ask of anyone's calendar. 

Text-analysis tools built for survey data now classify open-ended responses into sentiment categories automatically, incorporating the context of both the question and the answer. That means open-text fields can be extremely useful in a post-webinar survey to surface patterns across responses.

3. It helps answer the event-influenced pipeline question

Events leadership is increasingly asked to connect what happens in a webinar session to what happens in the pipeline, in the same terms RevOps already uses for it. 

Mature B2B marketing teams already score accounts on engagement by tracking a buying group's collective activity across a deal's stakeholders rather than any single contact's enthusiasm on its own. 

If there’s a purchase-intent question on a post-webinar survey whose high-scoring responses route into the same account-engagement view, that can become an additional buying signal for RevOps.

What does a good post-webinar survey question look like?

One thing matters more than question length, tone, or scale type: before the question goes out, does the team already know what it will do with each possible answer?

If a 3-out-of-10 rating and an 8-out-of-10 rating would produce the exact same response from the program (nothing), the question is not worth asking. 

If an answer of "no" to a technical-issues question does not trigger anything beyond a shrug, cut it. 

[.ebook-q-card][.ebook-body-text] A good question is one designed to trigger a series of decisions depending on the answer. [.ebook-body-text][.ebook-q-card]

Here are 5 practical filters to follow when designing post-webinar survey questions:

1. One variable per question: "How would you rate the content and the presenter?" cannot be acted on, because a low score does not tell you which one to fix. Split it. Did this session give you something you can act on this week?" and "How clearly did the presenter explain the material?" are more measurable.
2. Default to forcing a choice: So that scaled and multiple-choice questions produce a numbered trigger. Open-ended questions also produce a trigger, but the threshold there is a pattern of responses vs a defined number
3. Be clear on who owns the actions on scores: Is it product? CS? Marketing? Assign the owner when the question is designed
4. Specific and self-routing beats general and hypothetical: A single "how satisfied were you overall" question can mask specifics that the audience didn’t like 
5. Don't ask what the platform already knows: Reserve survey questions for what only the respondent can tell you: what they thought, what they want next, what would move them to take an action. Everything the event platform can already observe should come from the platform’s own data

For B2B specifically, research on 1,500 B2B customers found that nearly one in five who scored 9 or 10 on recommendation likelihood had actually failed to reach their desired business outcomes — meaning the score looked healthy while the relationship wasn't.

A question that asks for a specific next action instead of a general impression or a hypothetical prediction tends to do more of the routing work by itself.

What are the best post-webinar survey questions by category?

These tables are built to be scanned in 10-minutes during a post-webinar review. For every question, there is a suggested action threshold or trigger, and what you should do next along with who owns the next steps.

First, an quick overview of the question categories and what they measure:

Post-webinar survey questions category overview

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Now let’s look at the questions in detail.

For scored questions, the trigger is a threshold, such as 6 out of 10 or below. For open-text or multiple-choice questions, the trigger is a mention pattern instead.

Session effectiveness and advocacy

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Asking whether the respondent will actually forward the recording is a real commitment, and a "somewhat" or "no" answer says more than a 6/10 satisfaction score does. A single session's score also never shows a trend by itself, which is why the comparison question is important.

Content relevance

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Why not how relevant was this to your priorities? That might lead to abstract answers - everyone can answer "somewhat relevant" without the answer meaning anything specific. Naming an actual current priority forces a focused answer.

Presenter and speaker performance

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Why clarity and pacing are two questions: One question asking about clarity and delivery combines two different problems into a single score, which breaks the one-variable-per-question rule. A presenter can be perfectly clear and still rush through the material.

Technical and logistics experience

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A caveat on priority: for a program that already runs high volumes of webinars smoothly, this category is not a rich source of insight. You could choose to skip this and spend more energy on purchase intent or content relevance, where a mature program has more room to actually learn something new.

Purchase intent and funnel signal

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Why not a 1-10 "how likely are you to explore this further": "Talk to someone on your team" tells the rep exactly what to open with instead of a likelihood score. 

For anyone who didn't ask for a conversation, the objection question routes further: "need to loop in others" gets a forwardable summary and a request for who to include. "Budget or timing" indicates a lead meant for the nurture track, 

"Comparing other options" goes to an AE briefed on that specific comparison. "Already have a solution" gets logged for a future win-back attempt instead of an immediate call. 

B2B buying groups now range from five to sixteen people across as many as four functions. The "who else" question allows you to see which of the participant’s colleagues might need to be influenced at their organization, which would be intel that’s super useful to mature RevOps teams. 

From Zuddl's own data, roughly one in six respondents say yes when a post-webinar survey asks them directly whether they'd like to talk to someone, yet very few programs currently ask this kind of question at all.

A positive response there is an MQL. They’re raising a hand and asking to speak with your team about a specific interest.

Program-level format feedback

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How do I analyze post-webinar survey data across multiple events?

When you’re running a mature event program that also has field dinners, flagship conferences and third-party events, you need to be able to interpret post-webinar survey results at scale.

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What does a ready-to-send post-webinar survey template look like?

Here’s a stripped-down, ready-to-send 10 question set the six survey categories covered earlier in this piece:

1. Did this session give you something you can act on this week? (Yes, specifically / Somewhat / No)
2. Did this address something you're actively working on right now? (Yes, directly / Adjacent to it / Not really)
3. What's one thing you wish had been covered but wasn't? (open text, optional)
4. How clearly did the presenter explain the material? (1-10)
5. Did you experience any technical issues? (Yes/No + optional detail)
6. What would help you most right now? (Nothing for now / A specific example relevant to my situation / A case study or benchmark / Talk to someone on your team)
7. What's the main thing holding you back from moving forward? (multiple choice, shown only to respondents who didn't ask to talk to someone in question 6: don't have enough information yet / need to loop in others on my team / budget or timing / comparing other options / already have a solution in place / not a priority right now)
8. Who else on your team should see this? (open text, optional, name and/or email)
9. Was the length of this session right for the content? (Too short / Right / Too long)
10. Anything else you'd like us to know? (open text, optional)

If you want to adapt the set by webinar type, we’ve included a useful table below:

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When should you send a post-webinar survey (and through which channel)?

Research on memory and recall shows that the number of details people can retrieve drops significantly within 24 hours of an event, even when the quality of what they do remember holds up. Attendees forget specifics fast.

The best channel is the same screen attendees are already looking at, and the best moment for a post-webinar survey is during the last few minutes of the session. Here’s a handy table that lays out the best times to send the survey.

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No-shows need a separate set of questions 

The no-show survey questions

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What are the most common post-webinar survey mistakes?

The single most common mistake is collecting insight with no pre-wired action. You don’t want to end up with a dashboard full of average ratings that nobody changes anything based on.

Do:

• Adapt the question set by format. Demand-gen and product webinars measure different things
• Send the survey on-screen the moment the session ends, with a same-day email as backup
• Keep the core set to five to ten questions and mark open-text fields as optional
• Review the question set against your program's actual results at least once a year
• Include at least one purchase-intent question that routes a response to a specific next action
• Run open-text responses through a text-analysis tool that surfaces patterns
• If text analysis isn’t possible, drop the field and rely on scored questions
• Cross-check high-intent self-reports against actual behavior before routing to an AE
• Compare results across the series and review trends quarterly
• Ask about specific things (content, presenter, pacing, next steps) so a low score tells you what to fix.

Don't:

• Reuse the same form across every webinar type
• Send the survey the next morning
• Make every question mandatory
• Set the questions once and never revisit them
• Track satisfaction and nothing else
• Let open-text responses pile up unread
• Trust a high-intent score on its own without checking follow-up behavior
• Judge a single session against a fixed threshold in isolation
• Lean on one "overall satisfaction" or NPS question to explain the score

Frequently Asked Questions

What's a good response rate for a post-webinar survey?

There is no single reliable external benchmark that applies across industries and formats, and specific percentages circulating online are rarely backed by disclosed methodology. As per Zuddl's own aggregate data across B2B organizations running webinars between 2023 and 2026, the median post-webinar survey response rate, sits around 3.7%, with most programs somewhere between roughly 1.4% and 7.9%. 

What is consistent is the pattern of surveys sent close to the moment a session ends outperforming surveys sent after the session, because the accuracy and willingness to respond both decay quickly once attendees leave.

When should you send a post-webinar survey?

Immediately, before the session window closes. An on-screen prompt at the end of the webinar, backed up by a same-day email for anyone who skips it, captures feedback while it is still accurate. A next-day send should be reserved for a separate, optional, longer survey, not the primary reaction capture.

How do you analyze open-ended survey responses at scale?

Text-analysis tools designed for survey data can classify open-text responses into sentiment categories automatically, using both the question and the answer as context, which turns a pile of unread comments into a surfaced pattern across dozens or hundreds of responses without requiring anyone to read each one individually.

Should you survey no-shows too?

Yes, but not with the same form. No-shows need a short, separate survey asking why they registered without attending, whether a recording would help, and whether a different time would have worked. It exists to catch a scheduling or targeting problem, not to evaluate content they never saw.

How many questions should a post-webinar survey have?

For the immediate, on-screen version, keep it to roughly five to ten core questions. Zuddl's own aggregate data shows that once someone opens a post-webinar survey, roughly 83 to 89% of its questions get answered whether the survey has 2 questions or 15, with no meaningful drop as length increases within that range. External benchmarks confirm a similar non-linear pattern (Survicate, 2025). Don't obsess over trimming one more question. The real lever for completion is getting the survey opened at the right moment

Is NPS still worth asking after a B2B webinar?

Yes, but it should be one data point in addition to what the post-webinar survey says. Research on 1,500 B2B customers found only a 54% correlation between NPS and retention, and nearly one in five respondents who scored 9 or 10 failed to reach their desired business outcomes with the vendor's solution. A high recommendation score doesn't mean the session moved anyone closer to a decision. Pair it with at least one question that asks for a specific next action like "what would help you most right now" rather than treating the NPS number as a complete answer on its own.

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Hey, I'm Kevin Davidson, and I’m here to share a few cool lessons and tricks from my experience running webinars in the B2B space.

Now, you don’t have to call me the Webinar Whisperer, but I will admit it sounds really cool!

Anyway, let’s dive right in - here are 5 of my personal learnings that helped me find success with webinars.

1. Cut the noise: ensuring a distraction-free experience

Remember, the smallest distractions can derail your webinar's impact. I've been in webinars where background typing sounded like a hailstorm on a tin roof. It's not just annoying; it's a surefire way to lose your audience's attention. Invest in quality microphones and encourage your speakers to find quiet, controlled environments. This might seem like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised how often it's overlooked. A clear, distraction-free audio experience keeps your audience focused on your message, not guessing the background noise.

2. Branding is your best friend

In the sea of webinars out there, your brand's identity is your lighthouse. Early in my career, I underestimated the power of consistent branding. Now, I ensure our logo and brand theme are not just visible but also integrated seamlessly into the presentation. It's not just about recognition; it's about creating a professional and trustworthy atmosphere that resonates with your B2B audience. 

It also helps to identify interesting branding opportunities. For instance, let’s say your speaker doesn't have a camera or their microphone is poor quality. Consider sending him/her a Blue Jeti microphone or a pair of AirPods - they will not only appreciate your gift, but be extra motivated in helping achieve your event goals. It will also create a solid long-term relationship!

3. Privacy concerns and registration rates

The digital age has made privacy a hot topic, and rightly so. I've noticed a direct correlation between simplified registration processes and higher attendance rates. The lesson? Respect your audience's privacy concerns. Minimize the data you request upon registration and be transparent about how you'll use it. This approach not only boosts registrations but also builds trust with your audience from the get-go.

PS: You can use other "creepy" technology to find out more about the registrant instead of asking them to share everything ;) 

4. Engage like never before

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that engagement is everything. The moment you treat your webinar like a one-way street is the moment you lose. Use polls, Q&A sessions, and interactive tools to create a two-way dialogue. And here's a pro tip: leverage these interactive elements to gather real-time feedback and insights, which can be gold for tailoring your content and offerings. Remember, engagement doesn't end when the webinar does. Follow up with attendees, share additional resources, and continue the conversation.

5. Promotion: Beyond the basics

Promoting your webinar can feel like shouting into the void, especially in the crowded B2B space. Early on, I relied too heavily on traditional channels like email blasts. While they're essential, diversifying your promotional strategy is key. Social media, especially LinkedIn for B2B, can be a goldmine for reaching your target audience. Don't overlook the power of employee advocacy; your team's networks can amplify your reach exponentially. And always, always measure the effectiveness of your channels to refine your strategy over time.

And there you have it…

Remember, the goal is not just to host a webinar but to create an engaging, memorable experience that drives real business results. 

Here's to your success in the webinar world!

Usually, marketing teams work like Lego. 

Sub-functions within the marketing team - designers, content writers, webflow developers, email marketers, etc. - come together like the fitting of different Lego pieces in order to build a website, publish ebooks and articles, run webinars, and so on. It's a smooth assembly line.

But sometimes, when the interdependency within a marketing team becomes too rigid, it can act as a blocker, hindering agility, causing project deadlines or go-live dates to be delayed or even canceled, and just causing all-around frustration and stress.

This is clear in the production of a webinar, for instance. Setting up and running a webinar is reliant on the involvement of different team members and requires a lot of orchestration as is clear in the diagram below.

Who are the key stakeholders involved in producing a webinar?

To set up and run a webinar requires the effort of at least 3-4 people in the marketing team.

All in all, for the webinar showrunner, dependencies can make running webinar programs extremely stressful as any delays or absences could significantly derail the efficiency of the event. 

How Zuddl Webinars makes it simple for 1-person to set up and run a webinar

Zuddl Webinars simplifies the setup and execution of webinars, making it easier for a single individual to manage the entire process. Here’s how the platform enables self-sufficiency:

(1) Easy-to-use templates make setup of ALL webinar activities as easy as 1-2-3

Using Zuddl Webinars, the webinar showrunner can ‘own’ all the activities that occur within the webinar production process by themselves, thanks to the platform’s ‘clicks not code’ ethos. This means that all webinar assets such as the landing page, webinar ‘stage’ and email promotions can be created and customized by just one person. ‍

This entire process is made easy through visual cues of every step in the process, and simple drop-down and toggle options,  reducing reliance on dedicated technical support or IT personnel.

• ‍Landing/registration page
  
  Zuddl Webinars comes with a set of templates that you can pick from for your webinar. You easily customize the banner, and speaker information. And importantly, the registration field as per your needs. 

• Email marketing
  
  You can create multiple event-related emails using our templates and send them to your attendees and speakers from a single dashboard. This streamlines your event communications and reduces dependency on your email marketer.

                 Building each email itself is as simple as using these drag-and-drop blocks.

By using ChatGPt to populate text for straightforward emails, you can also reduce dependency on your hardworking content team.

And by automating the sending of key emails - registration confirmations, reminders to attend, and post-event communication - you can make the attendee experience a smooth one. The bonus is that you won’t have to keep checking if messages are sent out on time.

The takeaway: With the availability of these user-friendly templates, webinar showrunners can now breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that the days of painstakingly putting together landing pages, emails and webinar stages, and battling tech constraints and formatting mishaps are over.

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(2) Branding made as simple as drag-and-drop + a couple of clicks

In today's visually-driven world, the design and branding of your webinar is really important. Zuddl Webinars makes it simple for organizers to add branding directly to all your webinar assets. You can customize banners, backgrounds, buttons, forms, alignment, error messages etc. all by yourself. 

This means you can reduce revision rounds, and that you don’t need to badger team designers for around-the-clock assistance. (PS: This is not to take away from the importance of your team designer, without whom you wouldn’t have those essential hex codes, fonts, and logos to use in the first place).

The takeaway: Using these Canva-like editable tools, you can reduce dependency on your design team. You yourself can make your webinar look on-brand and aesthetically pleasing in a short amount of time.

‍(3) A smooth run-of-show as a default, freeing you up to focus on engagement‍

Webinar organizers usually have a lot to juggle during the live webinar. You need to keep your speakers on track as well as the host. Visual aids (if any) need to be shared on time. The Chat has to be moderated. Polls need to be launched. 

Normally, you’d need at least one more extra person from your team to help coordinate all of this and make sure that the webinar is on track. Zuddl Webinars can replace that person.

• Pre-setting your run of show with Scenes: Using the Studio tool, you can pre-upload intro videos, presentations, and transitions and compose them into scenes.  These are then pushed live during the webinar - you can move from one scene to the next just like you would from one Powerpoint slide to another: with a simple click. 

• Managing guest speakers: With Studio also being a virtual green room, you can communicate directly with your speaker(s), and coordinate webinar logistics. 

The takeaway: Studio capabilities give you better control over your run of show, leaving little room for error during your livestream. This means that you can fully concentrate on making your stream more engaging.

From dependency to efficiency

With Zuddl Webinars, gain more control over the entire setup and execution of your webinars than you’ve ever had before. 

The platform tools enable you to carry out many activities by yourself, without having to keep going back and forth between team members. This in turn allows you to have better control over timelines and output, thereby improving efficiency.

‍TLDR: Here’s a quick breakdown of how you will reduce team dependency with Zuddl Webinars:

• ‍Landing page builder
  All you need to do is drag-and-drop to build.
  This means your team developer can take that much needed power nap without worrying about getting a flurry of Slack messages from you.

• ‍Email marketing
  Ready-made templates + a scheduler for all emails
  The team email marketer can take time off to meditate 

• ‍Canva-like branding tools
  Upload + drag-and drop pre-set brand fonts, logos and colors
  Your team designers can breathe a huge sigh of relief.

• ‍Studio
  Scenes + Backstage means you’re the only showrunner you need
  All your marketing teammates can go peacefully about their day

So, go on. 

Make your life as a webinar organizer 100 times easier.

In the world of B2B companies, the power of webinars to generate leads is undeniable. 

Back in 2022, a whopping 57% of B2B event marketers declared webinars as their preferred format for lead generation. 

But hold on – there's a catch. 

These same marketers raised concerns about a growing trend: attendees are losing interest in traditional one-way monologue style webinars.

Is it really that surprising? Think about it – with attention spans dwindling, people now prefer bite-sized content. And in a sea of webinars, why would your target audience choose yours if it sounds like just another run-of-the-mill option?

So what’s the secret to running webinars that are relevant to today’s buyers?

Here are 3 killer tips shared by Aarthisri Srinivasan, Events Marketing at Sprinto HQ.

Tip 1: Keep webinars short, tactical and focused

When we asked Aarthisri what Sprinto has learnt from experimenting with webinars and finding success, one key takeaway that she shared was that an event marketer needs to think of a webinar as if it’s competing with a TV show.

Which means, its duration cannot be longer than a typical 30-minute show. Not just this, Aarthisri also suggests keeping the session super-focused. 

“We take one tactical problem - attack it properly - with four questions.” she says.

Tip 2: Plan your webinars a quarter in advance

Why? Because this is the sweet spot that ensures your planning is not too dated, yet it gives you enough lead time to get your ducks in a row.

“We do it quarterly just so that our planning isn’t too dated to adapt any feedback, but just enough to get the right speakers and plan out the email campaigns.” states Aarthisri.

Tip 3: Pick topics your customers WANT to hear

When it comes to webinars, a unique topic of actionable value is critical to event success. In a sea of clutter, attendees will only notice your webinar if there’s something compelling enough for them to spend their time on.

Aarthi’s approach to finding topics that work is split into 3 tactics. 

“I look at like all of these industry, credible sources, communities, recognized communities which security leaders look at.

#2 -  Existing customers: Analyze the calls that they have with the CX team. See what exact problem that they are having.

#3 - Analyzing peer content - see competitors.”

Hope you found these 3 quick tips helpful! You can watch our whole conversation with Aarthisri in this link.

You’ve probably noticed that webinars are more popular than ever.

They’ve skyrocketed from a once-a-quarter marketing activity to once-a-month. 

And for good reason.

Today, everyone’s looking to better their work, their skills and knowledge.

But everyone’s also short on time and attention.

The solution? Webinars are unrivalled as quick, effective learning tools. 

In a short 30-40 minute webinar session, your target audience can get snackible lessons, digestible takeaways, new skills, and walkthroughs. That window of time is also a perfect opportunity to show them just how much they need your product or service.

In fact, the best webinars can generate conversion rate averages of 19%.

And this is precisely why you just can’t afford to mess up.

Eminem said it best: “You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime.”

Your best shot at not messing up: a dry run for your webinar.

Here's everything you need to know about conducting one.

In this blog post

• Why it’s important to not skip over a webinar dry run
• How far in advance should you schedule a webinar dry run?
• What to have in place before the dry run
• Who should attend the dry run?
• Webinar dry run agenda

Why it’s important to not skip over a webinar dry run 

A practice session ahead of your live webinar can expose cracks or gaps that are not noticeable during your planning process or on a Google Doc, such as malfunctioning audio settings on your speaker’s laptop or not having enough talking points for a 40-minute session. You can gauge timing, test audio and video equipment, refine slide transitions, and ensure smooth coordination with co-presenters.

It’s the difference between nudging registrants further down the customer journey, or losing them forever to competitors with better webinars.

How far in advance should you schedule a webinar dry run?

 At least 7 days prior to the go-live date.

This will give you enough space and time to make any required changes.

Any less and you might not have enough time to straighten out the kinks. 

For instance, if you identify that your webinar ‘script’ - by which we mean the storyboard of talking points used by a speaker and moderator - is too short, you and the speaker can work on adding more meat to it. This could take a couple of days, especially if you are both in different timezones.

What to have in place before the dry run

1. A storyboard of the talking points that will be discussed during the webinar (key to this is creating a targeted abstract - read more about this here)

2. Slides or a deck that will be presented during the webinar. These should be proofread before the dry run.

3. A webinar platform that makes your life as the organizer easier. You should have already set it up with your branding - overlays, logo, backgrounds etc.

‍Who should attend the dry run?‍

• You, the organizer
• The moderator
• Your speaker(s)
• An additional member of your team 

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Webinar dry run agenda + what to check at each stage

Let’s jump right in.

1.  Before the webinar starts

Ensure that your speakers are confident about using the webinar platform.

What to check:

• Test that your speakers logins to the webinar platform are working 
• Check their audio and video settings
• Ensure that speakers are comfortable using the platform. Either ways, walk them through how they can present their deck or share their screen, how to change slides, answer questions and participate in the chat.
• Show speakers how they can reach out to you for help during the webinar if they need to
• Double-check that you are able to record the webinar

2. Hit ‘record’ before you start with the presentation run-through

3. Run through the presentation

Use your storyboard to navigate through the different stages of the webinar as if it were live.

1. Welcome the audience + housekeeping announcements
2. Introduce yourself and the speakers
3. Hand it over to the speakers to share their presentation OR use the different talking points specified in your storyboard to move the discussion forward
4. Q/A time with the attendees
5. End the webinar and collect feedback

What to check:

• Timing: Ask the additional member of your team to time the session. If it’s severely under or over the allotted time, you’ll have to make adjustments.

• Branding: Sometimes the backgrounds or overlays you prepped ahead of time just don’t work when you see them live. Check if any need to be replaced.

• Flow of content
  
  ‍Visuals: Does the information on the slides sync with what the speaker is talking about? Do your visuals support what is being said? Is there too much text on screen?
  
  ‍Content: Are there any points during the presentation/discussion that are unclear? Your team member should flag areas that may need additional clarification or identify slides/visual content that needs more polish.

• ‍Audio/video quality: Are there any glitches in the video? Any lags? Issues with audio like an echo?

• ‍Polls and engagement: Driving interactivity during your webinar is critical, and polls are a great tool for this. So during the dry run, identify which points during the session, would a poll be most useful for the audience? (Note: Don’t be afraid to begin launching polls right from the start of the webinar) What poll questions can help drive the discussion forward, or interject some energy? Who will launch them?

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• ‍Links/resources: Are you planning on sharing any supporting material during the webinar? If so, who will be sharing it? Will it be shared in the Chat? 

4. Don’t skip the Q/A portion

Run-through a couple of seed questions to help your speakers understand what that portion of the webinar is like. If during the live webinar your attendees are hesitant to ask questions of their own, ask your additional team member to ask the seed questions to get the ball rolling and encourage others to speak up.

What to check:

• Are there any questions that the speaker wants to discuss? If so, include them in the seed questions.

• Are there any questions or topics to avoid? Discuss what to do if these come up during the live webinar. For instance, if your webinar tool allows moderation of Q/A questions submitted by the audience, ask your team member to block these unwanted questions.

5. Post-mortem of the dry run + share the recording

After the dry run, talk through the issues that were flagged with the team so that everyone is on the same page about what needs to be done.

Action items:

• Share the video recording of the dry run with the speaker, so that they can review it later. 

• Talk through contingency plans in case of audio/video malfunction, loss of connection to the internet, what to do with hecklers, or any other scenarios that may arise while presenting. 

• Arrange for another dry run if the team and the speaker feels that it is necessary.

And that’s it! Keep in mind these steps when conducting your dry run to fine-tune it.

Free resource:

‍Here’s a simple checklist that you can use to keep your dry run on track and help identify malfunctions and issues.

Don’t leave anything to chance

By allocating time for a thorough dry run, you can iron out technical issues, fine-tune your content and flow, and deliver an exciting and interesting experience for your target audience.

But keep in mind that no matter how carefully a webinar is planned and rehearsed, something may still go wrong with it. We’re all human. So if you do make a mistake or a little mishap occurs, acknowledge it and keep going. Your audience is just as human as you are. And if the webinar turns out to be a complete disaster, reassure your audience that you will email them an improved recording as a follow-up.

With a primary focus on empowering their customers and fostering a strong community, Cloudsmith's webinars have become an integral part of their growth strategy.

Through their webinars, Cloudsmith brings together experts who share their knowledge on pertinent industry topics such as container optimization and software supply chain security, demonstrating the company’s commitment to staying at the forefront of industry advancements.

In this manner, Cloudsmith is able to serve as a trusted advisor as well as create opportunities for meaningful engagement that benefit both customers and the company’s sales efforts.

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Here are 3 things that have helped Cloudsmith run successful webinars:

1)They make webinars look and feel polished

Cloudsmith uses Zuddl Studio’s ready-to-use collection of backgrounds, banners, and lower-thirds, and an easy-to-use interface to customize their branding.

This result? — A visually stunning and cohesive experience that reflects the brand’s professionalism, and contributes to a high average time spent at each webinar.

2)They make data-based decisions to optimize strategy

With UTM-tracking, they are able to identify which marketing channels drive more registrations than others in real-time and lean into those top-performing promotions immediately. Routing marketing campaigns directly to Zuddl’s webinar landing pages helps them improve results too.

Additionally, by customizing the registration form on their webinar landing page, Cloudsmith captures important attendee details. Using analytics, they identify which timezones the majority of attendees are from, and make an informed decision on the best time to hold live webinars so as to attract maximum turnout.

3)They drive leads for sales + enable targeted, timely follow-up

Customizable registration forms that capture company and job titles help identify how many attendees are potential customers. This crucial information, combined with Zuddl’s Salesforce integration, enables their sales team reach out post-webinar with better context.

Also, by streaming directly to social from Zuddl and downloading the recordings and posting them on Cloudsmith’s YouTube channel, the company has been able to consistently generate thousands of additional views after the webinar is over.

Read the complete case study here

Webinars: where marketers splurge on everything but the most important element - the abstract.

You know this is true. 

In the rush to complete a laundry list of tasks involved in producing a webinar - landing page, speaker selection, social media promotion, email blasts, etc. - the abstract receives far less attention and care than its due. But this is a mistake that could be costing you.

A strong abstract can give your webinar the best chance of succeeding by attracting the right ICP and generating interest and curiosity, while a badly-written and poor-quality abstract will confuse or turn people off and reduce attendance. 

So we should be aiming to write really, really persuasive abstracts, instead of settling for mediocre ones.

What exactly constitutes a strong abstract?

In today’s world of information overload, people are making snap decisions about what to pay attention to and what to ignore. So think about the abstract as a big billboard advertisement: if it’s done well, it will get your ICP’s attention. 

 To “sell” your webinar to prospective attendees, a powerful abstract must:

• Communicate why this webinar topic is important and distinctive clearly; don’t write a mystery story that leaves it to them to figure out.

• Highlight why the speaker or their perspective matters - why should your ICP take it and take you seriously?

• Spell out the value that attendees will receive by attending the webinar. This sets up expectations so when people do attend, they get what they were hoping for.

Easier said than done. 

Writing this requires both creativity and strategic thinking. There’s a lot of information to pack in about the speaker and the topic, whilst playing on your ICP’s challenges, motivations and goals. But here’s a framework that can help:‍

A blueprint for crafting a powerful abstract

Step 1. The headline 

• Ask an interesting question
• Address a specific problem or goal - the more focused, the better
• Use ‘How to’ or ‘Steps’ to show the value the attendee will get
• Add personality when possible
• Convey it in 12 words or less‍

Templates:

• Is your [function/issue of concern] strategy really working?
• How to [achieve a goal] in [timeframe] without [a pain point]
• The do’s and don’t of [an issue of concern]
• How to [achieve a goal] in [number] of steps
• [Number] ways/strategies/tips/secrets to [achieve a goal] in [current year]
• [Topic] trends changing the way we [something you take for granted]‍

Examples:

• The do's and don'ts of webinar landing pages
• How to double attendee turnout at your webinars in just 5 steps
• 10 new strategies to help you easily build a pipeline for webinar guest speakers
• On-demand vs. live webinars: Which is better for MQL generation and why
• 5 ways webinars will change in 2024 

Step 2. The introduction

• Get straight to the point - no fluff or generalizations. Don’t tell the reader what they already know.
• Set the context by establishing the pain points. Your reader is looking for someone who understands their challenge or problem.
• Or prompt curiosity by asking a question that asks readers to a) re-examine the status quo b) ask themselves a question that they should be asking
• Convey this in 1- 3 sentences

Examples:

• Here’s a great example by Cloudsmith: “Containers and Microservices architectures are no longer the new kid on the block, and it may be time to take a fresh look at your ecosystem.”

• Or this by Mindtickle: “It’s time for sales leaders, enablement, and ops to align on one common purpose: increasing revenue productivity. But how do you go about doing it?”

• And this by Common Room: Building one-on-one relationships with community members is one of the most rewarding and impactful parts of leading a community program—but how do you scale to meet member needs when one turns into one hundred thousand? And how do you manage an ever-growing pack of internal stakeholders to ensure they understand (and contribute to) the value of your user community?

Step 3. The rest of the body

• Having established a pain point or prompted curiosity, use the rest of the abstract to build trust and interest

• Use bullet points to give the audience an idea of the talking points that will be discussed in the webinar. Keep it short and crisp to make it skimmable.

• Always keep in mind your intended audience - do they prefer stories or facts? Would they want demonstrations or just recommendations? 

• Use industry-specific terminology to set the expectation that you’re already attuned to your target audience.

• Highlight your speaker’s domain expertise and industry experience to substantiate credibility. If you can quote any details pertinent to the pain point/goal discussed in the webinar, even better.

Examples:

• Another one from Cloudsmith:
  
  In this session SLSA experts from across the industry gather to discuss the practical uses of the framework and address topics such as: 
  What controls are included in the specification and why 
  Real world developer approaches to software supply chain security 
  What's working and what's not working in software supply chain security 
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  Featuring: Isaac Hepworth, Group Product Manager, Software Supply Chain, Google

• And here’s a description about a webinar titled ‘Is the MQL dead? by Drift that provides background for the talk and highlights the specifics that will be covered:

• Here’s one more example that gets everything right

‍Drive better impact from a well-written abstract

We hope that if you take away anything from this piece, it’s an understanding of why your webinar abstract deserves as much time and care - or more - than the other activities in your webinar production laundry list. 

Stick to this 3 step blueprint and you’ll be able to set the stage for a compelling and engaging webinar experience that drives positive results, such as increased attendance, participant engagement, and post-webinar actions.

Let’s face it. Organizing webinars is just not as easy as the thousands of ‘How to host a webinar and drive lots of revenue’ articles make it out to be. There’s so many steps involved, from sourcing the speaker to planning the dry run, making the landing page to sending out emails, etc.

But even if you have a solid plan in place, you may be overlooking simple steps or activities that can completely derail your efforts, leaving you like this:

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So in this article, we’ll cover the top 5 ways you could inadvertently shoot yourself in the foot - and tips on how to prevent this. 

1. You send out basic follow-up emails after someone registers

The mistake: It can be tempting to schedule ‘1 week to go’,  ‘1 day to go’ and ‘1 hour to go’ emails, emphasizing ONLY the date and time of your webinar, and call it a day. But you need something beyond just this to keep interest in your webinar piqued.

The solution: This is why it's important to keep reminding registrants the value of turning up on the day-of. This means that in every follow-up email you send, you need to reiterate why your webinar is unmissable. And you can do this through some simple ways:

• Share a screenshot of your previous webinar, highlighting the interactivity of the Chat for instance, or a learning moment that an attendee had.

• Share social proof of positive tweets or comments from attendees at your previous webinars.

• Play up the FOMO by highlighting what the registrant will lose out on if they skip the webinar, for instance ‘Learn how to double your leads from a webinar by the end of the hour.’

• Offer an exclusive perk for those that do attend live.

2.You pick the entirely wrong date and the wrong time for the webinar

The mistake: If you’re not factoring in the day of the week, holidays, other industry events, and timezones, you’re making it difficult for people to want to attend your webinar. If it conflicts with anything else they have going on, you can bet this is how they’ll react:

The solution: Center your scheduling around your target audience’s availability. 

• Marketing wisdom states that Tuesdays and Thursdays are the best dates for a webinar. (On Mondays, people are in the thick of planning their work for the week while on Fridays, it’s likely that most people are already in a weekend mood and unlikely to tune in. ) But take this with a grain of salt, and use your analytics to determine which day attracted the most turnout.

• Avoid the run up to holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas and conflicting major events, whether that’s an industry conference or the Superbowl.

• Time differences can cause scheduling conflicts - it’s very difficult to accommodate everyone, so shoot for the majority instead. At Zuddl we usually schedule webinars at around 10:30 AM PT as it corresponds to accessible time zones across most geographies.

3.You take a hands-off approach with your webinar speakers

The mistake: Your speakers are busy, busy people, so while they may confirm their availability on a specific date and time for your webinar, this can quickly change. It’s just life. 

But if the only communication with your speaker is weeks after the initial call, then you’re only going to hear about a change in their availability later rather than sooner. This may mean having to cancel your webinar altogether - and quite abruptly.

The solution: Check-in with your speaker at regular intervals. Not only does this help build the organizer-speaker relationship, but enables you to spot red flags early on - like if a speaker requests a time or date change more than once, or doesn’t respond to your follow-up emails.

4.You decide not to make a basic conversation flow for your speaker and host

The mistake: We’re not telling you to make your speaker and host read directly from a script  - that’ll only make them sound either like a robot or a news presenter. But not providing them with a conversation guide either is a mistake. 

It leaves too much room for interpretation, by which we mean that the speaker and host could go wildly off topic, or not quite know how to navigate moving from one sub-topic to another leading to lots of awkwardness during the webinar, and causing attendees to drop-off the call.

The solution: A conversational flow can help guide your host and speaker through all the topics they need to cover, whilst letting them sound natural and conversational. This isn’t as complicated as you think. Even something as simple as this will work:

Introduction

• The host introduces the webinar/webinar series and goal
  ‍E.g. “Welcome to Event Heroes - a show where we engage with industry professionals to offer you practical guidance on crafting a successful event strategy and executing it with excellence, all to maximize your returns.”

• The host introduces the guest speaker and their career story
  E.g. for our webinar with Alex Temple - “Our guest today is Alex Temple, Senior Corporate Relations Manager at Explori. Now, Explori is an attendee feedback platform for events, expos and event venues.”

• The host asks the guest to introduce themselves
  E.g. “Hi, thanks for having me on as a guest today. I’m a B2B event marketer with 15 years of experience., etc. etc.’

Educational content

• Questions that touch upon the pain point or goals that your audience signed up for
  E.g. Solutions to challenges in the industry, a new perspective on an age-old practice, commentary on new trends, insights and best practices from their day-to-day. Protip: Use customized questions on registration forms to gauge what attendees are really interested in learning at the webinar

Q/A

• The host reads out questions shared by the attendees in the Chat or using a Q/A tool and prompts the speaker to answer each in turn

Fun rapid fire 

• End the session on a high note with fun questions for the speaker
  E.g. ‘What are you proud of, but never have an excuse to talk about?’ or ‘If you were a pizza topping what would you be and why?

Closing and next steps

• The host thanks the speaker for their time and the attendees for theirs. Then, the host shares next steps.
  E.g. “Thank you for joining us to learn about <X topic> and hope you learned a lot. We’ll be sharing a link to a video recording of this webinar with you in an email so you can go back and watch it at a time of your convenience.’

5. And you opt not to do a practice run

The mistake: Without a practice run, you may not realize issues with the software or your speakers presentation or your showflow (ie. it might be too short or too long). As a result, you may appear unprofessional, confuse or bore your audience, and self-sabotage the opportunity to make a positive impact.

The solution: Do a dry run. Not only can you check that everything is in working order - webinar platform, presentation flow, speaking points etc. - but it helps your speaker feel more comfortable and confident too. 

Prevent mistakes instead of trying to firefight them

No one is immune to making mistakes, but knowing what obstacles are ahead makes it that much easier to overcome them.

For event marketers, seeing a low registration-to-attendee ratio is as heartbreaking as being stood up on a dinner date.

Think about it: you have a great topic, a solid marketing plan that is driving registrations, and a popular guest speaker as well - yet getting registrants to actually show up can be a challenge. 

But fear not – the 4 tips in this article are certainly worth your time if you’re looking to jazz up that attendee-to-registration ratio.

Send Automated Reminders and Calendar Blocks:

It’s fair to assume that all your potential attendees have busy work schedules. 

Hence, it’s a bit of a stretch to expect them to remember which event or webinar they registered for. This is where event marketers can leverage technology to send automated reminders, including calendar blocks. 

Additionally, set up run-up emails that will be sent out a few days before, the day before, and a few hours before the event. Include details like the date, time, and how to join the webinar platform to ensure attendees know what to expect. (Protip: Get a ready-to-use event promotional timeline and free email copy from our brand new ebook: 'A Guide To Before-Event Marketing: Basics, Best Practices, Blunders' as well as insights and hacks on all before-event challenges such as sourcing event speakers quickly to building a truly value-add event agenda).

Here’s an example of how you can plan out your email reminders, for instance:

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Select a time slot (and day) that suits your audience

From an attendee’s perspective, nothing can be a bigger buzzkill than them registering for an event and then learning that it’s happening at an unearthly hour. With the digital realm, event marketers have to be mindful of time zones. So pick a webinar slot that is neither going to clash with prime-time Netflix viewing nor is going to be an unearthly hour for your attendees. 

If your attendee time zones are spread out, pick a common time that is great for a majority of them.

‍This article by datadrivenmarketing.co indicates that the 10 AM - 12 PM PST slot could be ideal (with 11 AM being am the most popular start time). This timing is convenient because it corresponds to 2 PM EST and 8 PM in Europe, making it accessible for viewers across different time zones. 

Similarly, you are not going to want to host a webinar on a day when your attendees are observing a particular holiday etc, for obvious reasons. 

Since your target attendees are largely B2B professionals, the article recommends that you optimize attendance by scheduling webinars on weekdays, with Thursday being the top pick, followed by Wednesday and Tuesday. 

Make attending your event as simple as possible for the attendee

Let’s face it; nobody likes a tedious login process, especially when it comes to events.

This is where you as an event marketer can introduce some magic into the experience, quite literally. Yes, we’re talking about Magic Links. 

Why use magic links?

When these are enabled, your attendees will be provided with a distinct URL that enables instant access to your event or webinar with a simple click. This means no need for authentication, no usernames to remember; and most importantly - no passwords to forget!

Scarcity and FOMO go a long way

The psychological phenomenon of “people want what they can’t have” is the basis of scarcity marketing. 

With social media showcasing a world of experiences, around 69% of millennials feel the FOMO bug, spurring them to attend, participate, and share.

So how do you weave this into your marketing campaign effectively?

According to this article by Forbes, the right formula to create a ‘must-attend’ mindset is to make sure your campaign makes your target audience curious while giving them a compelling promise.

Here’s how you can build scarcity and FOMO in your webinar promotions:

• Experiment with limited registration slots or cut-off time for registrations
• Offer sessions that truly feel exclusive. For example: “The 1 event marketing mantra that the top 5% of CMOs use - and how you can use it too” is way more compelling than a run-of-the-mill title like “5 event marketing mantras to use”.
• Get video testimonials from attendees who attended previous sessions - social proof of positive experiences always help justify the quality of your sessions.

So to quickly wrap up, creating an irresistible hook, crafting a seamless post-registration experience, stoking the fires of FOMO and tapping into the power of social proof all have the potential to spruce up attendee turnout and repair the wounds of a passionate event marketer’s broken heart!

Over the past few years, the events industry has seen a rise in the prevalence of virtual events and webinars. In the association space, meeting online means that association members can still connect and share valuable resources and knowledge even when geographically separated. The success of virtual events in facilitating communication, engaging attendees, and fostering connection has solidified their use. 

Webinars allow your members to reach each other no matter where they are. Additionally, your association can seek out speakers from around the world, helping members make connections with and learn from people they may not otherwise have the opportunity to meet. In addition to providing a space for live connection, you can also record your webinars and upload the videos to your website or association management system to create a comprehensive collection of professional resources.

Your organization can take advantage of these benefits by following the necessary steps to prepare for the webinar, develop engaging content, and promote the event to your members. In this guide, we’ll walk through three strategies you can use to plan and execute a webinar your members won’t want to miss.

Prepare for the webinar

Taking the time to plan and prepare for your webinar is key to ensuring it runs smoothly and your members have a positive experience. But, it can be difficult to know where to start and how to navigate the basics of planning a webinar. Here are a few tips you can use to complete some of these first steps:

• Selecting topics. Choosing engaging topics is what will capture and keep members’ attention during your webinar. Access to resources and the opportunity to deepen their industry knowledge is a primary reason people why join associations. Offering webinars on relevant educational topics is essential to member recruitment and retention. A good way to get started is to research recent trends, technological developments, or major breakthroughs in your field and select a topic focused on one of those subjects. You could also use your association management software to research past events and determine which topics garner the most attendees.
  
  
• Sourcing speakers. Once you choose a topic, you’ll need to find an expert in your field who can bring their perspective and expertise to the webinar. While there are endless ways to source speakers, you can get started by asking members of your association to speak, requesting that members contact those in their professional network, messaging prospective speakers on platforms like LinkedIn, or using online speaker directories.
  
  
• Planning the agenda. Be sure to plan a detailed schedule that your webinar will follow and share it with everyone involved in the presentation. Estimate how long each section will take and assign times to keep everyone on track, ensuring you start and end on time. It can also be helpful to pad your schedule with a little extra time if you think there’s a chance certain speakers or sections might go over their allotted time or use this time for a Q&A between the speaker and attendees.

Once you create a detailed agenda for the event, organize at least one practice session for everyone who will speak during the webinar. Speakers will have a chance to try out their presentations without any members present, giving them an opportunity to make adjustments ahead of time. Plus, a practice run can help your association iron out any technical issues and other errors ahead of time and create smooth transitions between speakers and topics.

Ask attendees to get involved

A unique challenge associated with virtual events is keeping attendees engaged for the entire webinar to prevent members from dropping from the call early. To engage attendees during virtual webinars, give them the space to add their input and get involved during the webinar. A few ideas to try might include:

• Using pre-event surveys. Before the event kicks off, upload surveys to your social media pages, your next email newsletter, or through your association management software. Include questions like “which topics would you like to see in future webinars?” or “who are some professionals from the field you would like to hear from?” Then, use these responses to shape the content for the webinar. 
  
  
• Encouraging co-creation. In a business context, co-creation involves collaborating with customers to create a service or product. You can use the principles of co-creation in your next virtual event to turn passive viewers into active, engaged participants. For example, using and engaging with the chat feature allows you and your speaker to gauge members’ responses and field questions throughout the webinar.
  
  
• Adding polls or Q&As. You can use polls or Q&A features, considered to be a part of co-creation, in your webinars to gather important information from members that could shape the direction your webinar will take. For example, you might ask what the top challenge members face in their careers and have the speaker present on the subject that earns the most votes. You can also hold a designated Q&A section of the webinar during which the speaker calls on specific attendees and answers their questions, making them feel recognized and connected with the event.

In addition to these strategies that keep viewers engaged for the entire webinar, consider pushing the most anticipated, exciting part of the virtual event to the very end. In this case, your keynote speaker or the opportunity to ask an industry celebrity a question should be the last thing on the docket.

Leverage social media

Ensuring your webinar is engaging and runs smoothly is essential to providing your members with an enriching, positive experience. To spread the word about your next event to more current and prospective members and to learn what you can improve for future events, make sure to leverage your association’s social media accounts.

Social media is an accessible, affordable, yet highly effective means of promoting conferences, events, and webinars. Announce the event ahead of time on all of your social media pages—generally, you should announce events at least one month in advance to ensure members can fit them into their schedules. As the event draws closer, post additional graphics to remind members to attend along with any other online marketing strategies your association uses.

Once the event wraps up, you can continue to use social media to your advantage. Encourage attendees to post about the event and engage with those posts through your association’s accounts. You can also post impactful clips from the keynote speech or resources from the event to show those who didn’t attend what they’re missing and encourage them to join future events. 

Webinars are an effective tool your association can use to create additional value for its members, especially those who aren’t able to gather in person. With the right virtual event platform and association management tools, you can create a seamless, enriching experience and resource that members can reference again and again.

Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

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