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Digital Webinars Are Driving Engagement, According To ON24 Report

ON24’s Webinar Benchmarks Report reveals that webinar usage has grown 162 percent in 2020 and is a centerpiece in many digital strategies.

David Pepin

Digital webinars are growing into an essential part of engaging with potential customers, according to ON24’s Webinar Benchmarks Report 2021. The data, gathered from over 100,000 experiences on ON24’s digital platform last year, revealed a 162 percent increase in webinar usage.

Data from experiences hosted by over 2,000 organizations reports that in 2020, audiences of over 60 million people participated in over 61 million hours of webinar content.

Webinars are establishing themselves as a fundamental feature of marketing and sales strategies. A survey of over 100 customers released alongside ON24’s Webinar Benchmarks Report revealed that 99 percent of respondents consider webinars essential.

The same survey reveals that 72 percent of marketers and sales professionals found that webinars directly impact revenue and lead generation, and 66 percent prioritize the leads generated from webinars.

Overall, 89 percent of respondents consider webinars their top digital channel for generating and qualifying leads.

The majority of webinars take advantage of video content to boost their engagement. 66 percent of all webinars include some form of video content embedded in the plan. 36 percent of respondents have plans to invest more in equipment that will support video webinar content.

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Of webinar viewers, 53 percent attend for the live event, while 43 percent view it on-demand. By accommodating viewers who cannot attend live events, companies are boosting their viewership and allowing viewers the flexibility to watch and learn when it is convenient for them.

In fact, 58 percent of those surveyed plan on creating webinars that are released as on-demand sessions, without a live event. On-demand viewers typically average 29 minutes of watch time.

“Digital engagement is enabling marketing and sales teams to reach more people and spend more time with their prospects and customers,” said Steve Daheb, CMO at ON24.

“Digital-first approaches are here to stay because companies now have a much better and cost-effective way to capture buyer attention, drive deeper engagement, and gather insights and data to generate pipeline and revenue.”