Are Webinars Slowly Dying?
Everywhere you look, everyone is talking about how webinars are the hottest selling tool right now.
While this is true, what most people don’t know is that the average attendance rate versus how many people registered for a webinar is slowly dropping. Although this may not be true in all niches, it is definitely happening in a few niches such as Internet marketing.
I remember when upwards of 60-70% of the people who registered for a webinar would actually show up for the live event. But now, webinar attendance has dropped to about 30-35% of registered attendees.
Why? There are a few reasons for this.
One of the main reasons is that everyone is having a webinar now. Once everyone is doing the same thing, the novelty and impact wear off.
Most people now know that a webinar almost always closes with a sales pitch and there is nothing wrong with this if the pre-pitch content is valuable.
With so many webinars happening in a particular niche, attendees have gotten more conscious of their time and realize that they can’t attend all of them.
Also most people know that a webinar replay is usually put up within hours of the live webinar and prefer to watch it on their own time.
If you have seen a drop in your webinar attendance, here are a few suggestions to get it back up.
1. Provide rock-solid content before the sales pitch so your webinar attendees actually learn something in exchange for their time.
2. Offer an exclusive bonus for everyone who attends the live webinar. Maybe a free report or software tool.
3. Offer prizes such as an iPad 2 that will be given to a random live webinar attendee. People love contests and a chance to win.
4. Engage your webinar attendees with polls and questions so that they feel apart of the webinar.
5. Offer an exclusive deal for the product pitch just for live webinar attendees.
6. Make the webinar replay available for only a limited time period.
7. You may not even want to make a replay available. This may get more people on the live event.
8. Instead of just boring powerpoint slides, spice them up with animations, images and possible video in your webinar presentation.
I still do think webinars are one of the best marketing tools for promotions, but webinar presenters are going to have to become more creative to get attendance back up.
Your thoughts? Can you add to this list? What would make you attend a live webinar?
Comment below.
Gauher Chaudhry
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November 15, 2011
4:36 pm #comment-1
Dude I always like reading your posts cuz you tell it like it is. Seriously I am on so may IM lists and get webinar after webinar and yeah the sales pitch and slow-moving presenter makes them a pain. However, I agree that if content is valuable instead of hype, then it makes it easier and justifiable to watch. The IM niche is still so full of hype and get rich quick without any effort pitch…that I think all these dudes make money from the sales of their products….not from doing what they teach.
November 15, 2011
4:42 pm #comment-2
Gauher,
Honestly I register for webinar’s every week that I have no intentions on attending. I know that there will be a recording and that is why I register. I save these and usually watch them on my own time. The only exception is if it is subject matter that I happen to be studying at the time.
I conduct a training webinar every Sunday night & we have averaged 83% attendance for the past year. I feel the difference is, this is for a specific niche group and I am inconsistent at best at posting replays on my website. They know if they want the information the only guarantee is to be on the webinar.
These are also 100% training with no pitch.
I think the most important aspect of a webinar is to not BS too much. Get to the point. people are there for information and content and not to hear jokes or be entertained.
My 2Cents
Dale Calvert
November 15, 2011
4:53 pm #comment-3
Hi Gauher
Mixergy.com for Andrew Warner and his live interviews via skype that are posted online for free for a limited time and then only for paid subscribers is perhaps webinars ’2.0′?
- Transcripts are provided (free)
- Video interview is provided (paid)
- Comments (free)
Anyways; even though I don’t like #7; if there’s a webinar with a special guest where the replay will not be shared, then that may compel others to attend. However, again, the mixergy model appears to be a win-win; and there probably will be more niche sites like it in the future; multi-language; like ted.com.
Thanks.
November 15, 2011
4:54 pm #comment-4
Gauher, I think people like me have become weary of all of the webinars that have been turned in to hour long “pitch fests” filled with hyperbole that want $2000 for an average info product. I personally think webinars will continue to be great vehicles to sell items that require longer explanations and education and that also provide valuable content. I agree with Dale as well. I often sign up to webinars when I already know that I will not be available. That way I can get a copy if it is of interest, and I can also skip around it so that I don’t have to sit for the entire hour for someone to get to the point.
That is my 2 cents.
Carry on.
November 15, 2011
5:04 pm #comment-5
Hmm
I use to register for all the webinars that seemed to be of interest but gradually I only register for the webinars from some internet marketers now as most are nothing but a quick splatter of info then a very long pitch. And yes its true that even those I am more and more not actually attending just watching the replay if I get the time. Especially as most mean for me 3 o’clock in the morning.
But each webinar in general only sells a very expensive product.
Which I’m afraid I am more and more sceptical of the quality or value, as if I pay 1000 dollars for a product I expect it to sing, and my last 2 experiences both gave no more info than you could find on the internet for free or a 100 dollar product
So i feel this is also part of the reason.
cheers ian
November 15, 2011
5:14 pm #comment-6
Gauher,
I would be inclined to agree with you under most circumstances; however, these last two weeks I’ve been on webinars that are going over two hours! Sounds crazy right? This all started about two weeks ago and I think the first one had about 1,000 attendees, the next over 1,500 and last night there were 2,262 people on the call and almost all stayed on until the end.
I think people have a genuine sense the presenters are transparent and have a strong desire to help everyone, even those who have never done any marketing before.
I agree, too, with the whole sales pitch thing at the end. What people really want is to learn how to make money online efficiently, effectively and consistently. There’s so much out there and people are buying anything and everything hoping it will be their golden ticket. Most of the webinars out there seem to offer bits and pieces but newbies want to know how to put the pieces of the puzzle together so they can be successful like the presenter. Then, there are those who are earning something but want to learn how to get to the next level.
My guess is the majority of the people attending webinars are still trying to learn how to make their first dollar online and need some very basic, inexpensive strategies.
Everyone loves free stuff! You hit the nail on the head there!
Valuable information Gauher! I’m still on the journey, absorbing info like a sponge.
See you at the top!
Thanks!
Cheryl
November 15, 2011
5:15 pm #comment-7
Good points, Gauher.
The one thing that makes me more likely to attend a webinar is not having it at 3am my time.
Most live webinars are US-primetime, which makes sense, but leaves a lot of cash on the table from the international audience.
The time-zone issue explains why I like replays… thanks for posting a lot of yours at your blog.
Neil.
November 15, 2011
5:28 pm #comment-8
I think you going to love this Big G!
Promote you webinars as usual.
2.Give free bonus just for signing up. say amazon gift card for 1 folks.
3.send email to your list announcing the winners and let them know you have more on the way.
4.another 1 free gift randomly for questions submitted.
5.create webinar as usual and still sell(of course use all the stuff Big G suggested up there)
6.Tell them before of so many questions you received, you could not answer all of them. You are doing another emergency one.
7. That is your chance to teach and pitch again.
8.then send replay to them as usual.
9. if you follow all these steps, one of these webinar presentations will click somehow.
***I just made all these stuff up. I hope it made sense.
thanks
November 15, 2011
5:35 pm #comment-9
I very rarely attend live webinars – due to family commitments.
But I often watch the replays and find most of the webinars offer valuable information.
November 15, 2011
5:54 pm #comment-10
I prefer going to a webinar than going to a hotel…Webinars should be shorter, 40- 45 minutes max..many of the emails are too long, I don’t read them, I watch the 10-15 min demo and scroll to the bottom. If the demo begins sailing past 20 mins…I’m out by 30-35 mins.
I went to a webinar and it was scheduled to last 90 monutes..and at 40 minutes the speaker had not told me what the product would do…it was insane. I was out of there. I’d rather listen to a replay at my own convenience. I am part of the 1% at this point and do not have $400-1000+ on demand. Extra income is scheduled at intervals.
I also encounterd a webinar by a real estate guy ranting about the banks. I have been in tuned with 2 guys that negotiate with the banks, so it was not new news. His webinars was 560+ minutes. I listened to 40 minutes and that was it. Too much.
November 15, 2011
6:03 pm #comment-11
Yes Gauher,
I agree most webinars suck. How many presenters waste 30-40 minutes talking about how they were the homeless drug addict technical moron till they found this magic bullet system and now make $10K a week?
How many webinars do you sign up for and suddenly it becomes permission to spam you with all sorts of offers?
As for the contests…I’m not sure they are real now that Goo-rues are pushing automated webinars and making Q&A and phony attendee lists.
November 15, 2011
6:13 pm #comment-12
Gauher:
I no longer call them “Webinars.” In my mind I now refer to them as “Sales Presentations.”
Every time I get an email from a marketer telling me about his or her upcoming “Sales Presentation”, I ask myself this simple question: “What is the better use of my time — invest 1 to 2 hours of my day listening to this marketer’s sales presentation or use that time working on my business?”
You have to be vigilant with your time. If you are not vigilant with your time, people who want to sell you stuff will waste it more times than not. Every hour that I spend listening to a marketer’s sales presentation (i.e. webinar) is one less hour I get to invest in the development of my business.
I still attend webinars and I am still open to hearing marketers pitch their latest stuff — but only if the marketer has a history of producing great products that deliver great value.
Jon Poland
November 15, 2011
6:50 pm #comment-13
Webinars take way too long and usually drone on and on an on about useless products that don’t work.
They are just rehashed techniques of things that are 2-3 years in the past and end with a hyped up, overblown pitch for a shitty overpriced product that doesn’t work and doesn’t make anyone money including the scamsters giving the webinar.
The only way they make money is by putting on the webinar and getting 90% of the suckers to give the 10% of the hucksters all their money.
November 15, 2011
6:50 pm #comment-14
Gauher
Your post makes so much sense
Can you believe that i have signed up for two webinars tonight a 8.
Boy am i going to be busy! Information Overload!!!!!!!
November 15, 2011
6:50 pm #comment-15
2 Reasons I Don’t Attend Webinars
1. Inconvenience: I prefer to learn when I’m available rather than schedule a specific time.
2. Learning Style: I prefer to learn by reading rather than audio or video.
The best way to sell me and many others is with an unscheduled sales letter or PDF report, not a scheduled audio or video.
November 15, 2011
7:46 pm #comment-16
Hey Gauher:
Right on as usual!!!
Because I am inundated with invitations to sign up for webinars, I am being much more selective about the ones that I choose to register. If I wanted to, I suppose that I could watch webinars all day, every day but what a waste of time that would be.
Having said that, I have found that I signed up for two different webinars that run back-to-back carving a large chunk out of my day or worse still, like Steve Leach above, sign up for two webinars that end up running at the same time.
My pet peeve is when I register for a one hour webinar that runs for 2+ hours or more.
Also, another new one is when I register for a specific webinar and then find myself registered (not by me) for other webinars by the same presenter.
You asked for comments, now you have mine. LOL
Wayne
November 15, 2011
7:49 pm #comment-17
Its frustrating to keep being pitched to by multiple affiliates for the same Webinar. Also where is it written that the presenter & sponsor have to carry on with “their inside baseball conversations.” Or go on and on about each other. It’s a real turn off.
And if Webinar is to start at 8 start at 8 don’t be screwing around with sound checks, and waiting for other to tune in. Have some respect for your audiences time. Even in school classes don’t run an hour or more. An hour TV program isn’t an hours worth of content.
If presenters can’t educate me as to the whys & how’s of their product or system in 20 minutes or less I am out of there. Because its either above my pay grade or they are just trying to sell to hard.
Thanks for letting me sound off.
November 15, 2011
8:01 pm #comment-18
Hi Gauher
This is turning out to be an excellent thread with some great advice, in IM I think you are right because the bullsh1t factor that people use in emails is leaking into Webinars. The other day I saw a couple of jerks telling people that they were not going to be able to send emails as a scare tactic to sell their product, they said “google was putting an end to it” as if Google even controlled all mail servers. They were using a “tire them out” strategy and went on and on for hours (4 I think). However, despite this, I still think that Webinars are great if they are done right.
In some ways Webinars are the same as emails and any other form of marketing, if your audience is not “qualified” they were never a prospect in the first place. If your product is aimed at females 60+ then there is little point inviting 20 year old men.
The biggest problem I have with live webinars is the time they are scheduled, so often I register to get the replay and so I disagree with you about the replay and YES I have bought from replays and I definately WON’T buy if I am deprived from the replay.
I don’t think it matters if people attend live, what matters is that you follow every attendee up in an appropriate way, so if they were a “no show” you have a different set of follow up emails to the people that showed, and again for those that left early and so on.
People who can’t attend live get pissed off if you offer a bonus to a webinar that they could not attend for their own reasons. They blame you and often won’t buy, so I would not bother with that, just have a draw once a month, perhaps tie it in with a Facebook competition where the answer is near the end of the webinar or the link to the competition is at the end.
That is why I got into “pre-recorded webinars” (http://bit.ly/websoft), the first one of these I saw was from Rich Schefren, it was obvious to me that it was “canned” but the content was still valuable, but this new software takes it to a whole new level. You can do polls, use your results from live webinars to simulate responses and create different autoresponders depending on what people did.
Now I am not saying that live webinars are out, in fact they make great material to edit for your pre-recorded webinar. Now consider the funnel, you email people inviting them to the webinar, someone from Australia does not fancy a 3am start time, but they see an option to watch one of your previous webinars. Now for me, I would offer them that chance almost immediately or withing the hour (which means running them hourly which is no problem and the software can even simulate users if you want).
The key thing to me is getting my message across, if you think about things from your client (or potential client)’s perspective, isn’t it better to work to their schedule?
The conversions from these pre-recorded webinars speak for themselves, they are insane, often in double digits! Most importantly you do not get the “tech” issues of the live webinar, how many times have you been on a webinar when the audio bombs out or the idiot presenter does not pace themselves to allow for their slides to load? I could go on, there is a 54m video at http://bit.ly/websoft that explains it better than I ever could.
I am now developing a webinar around 3 youtube videos, some polls and a few slides, the invite will go out as an ad, not via email. It is for a vertical market where there are no webinars at all so the audience will not be spoiled as you describe above.
So my thinking is that rather than try to get people to the live webinar, keep your live bookings low (and your costs) and forget all the inventives to attend the live event, focus on the quality of the event.
November 15, 2011
11:07 pm #comment-19
The only reason that I can think of for viewing a video or webinar is if there is no other solution.
I prefer a PDF presentation, but failing that I would download the video and do a transcript.
Finding something again in an old-fashioned paper book is a real pain. You can’t just type in a keyword that you have remembered and click search.
Videos are a backward step. You can’t just type in a keyword that you have remembered and click search.
I hope videos lose popularity soon.
Ian McAllister
November 15, 2011
11:15 pm #comment-20
Pitch-inars are definitely dying. If something is relevant I’ll wait for the recording and download it. Then I can skip around and within minutes decide if it’s worth my time.
The is no way I’m going to waste 1-2 hours to see the “what and how much.”
November 15, 2011
11:20 pm #comment-21
Thanks for the informative post!
Honestly, the only time I ever see webinars advertised, are for the IM niche. I have NEVER seen a webinar offered for any other niche. I look for them, too, because I do webinars outside of the IM niche and it seems like I am the only one that is doing it! I know that is not true, but it just seems that way.
So, if you are outside of the IM niche, I don’t think you have to be worried about webinars fading for a long time. Not enough people are doing them…yet.
November 15, 2011
11:33 pm #comment-22
Another valuable article…
The name of the game is content, and those that offer it, see the biggest success the vast majority of the time. Most webinars are a joke, nothing but 60-90 minute long pitchfest’s, and glorified marketing tools for the “guru” crowd. I’ve been in this industry for a very long time, that experience allows to seperate the real from the fake every time. Gauher is one marketer who’s stuff i will always absorb, never talks about cars and houses, just straight content. I do 4 figure days regularly, and i still get solid nuggets of cash generating training every time gauher produces something….the name of the game really is “Valuable” content!
November 15, 2011
11:39 pm #comment-23
The absolute best is when I have to listen to the guest tell me how wonderful he is and how much he’s accomplished for the first 20 minutes of the webinar, even before I get one shred of usefull info I can use.
Thanks Gauher for your continued honesty.
November 15, 2011
11:47 pm #comment-24
Gauher,
It boils down to the question of synchronous vs. asynchronous. I recall taking an online class. We were from all around the U.S. and in different time zones. We had an environment where we could easily leave comments and share materials (asynchronously). Wouldn’t you know it — some of the students were constantly trying to get everyone together in real-time mode (synchronously). This would have totally defeated the intent of the online class, that is, we didn’t have to all be in the same place at the same time. That’s why we were taking the class online in the first place. Naturally, the attempts to get everyone together at once failed — people were too busy with their own varied schedules.
That’s the essential problem with webinars — they are synchronous. That’s why everyone posts replays which are — you guessed it — asynchronous. Synchronous webinars are a solution in search of a problem to be solved.
Regards,
Gene
November 15, 2011
11:51 pm #comment-25
Webinar = Sales Pitch
November 16, 2011
1:12 am #comment-26
Gaugher: ” I think the most important aspect of a webinar is to not BS too much. ” LOL.
So it’s ok to BS a little bit!
I stay clear of all of them as even these “special guests” BS.
I only really read you and Matt Carters stuff now but even Matts guests wind me up.
$10’000 from Amazon in 6 mths through free traffic working PT – Yeah right.
Or – mum with 6 kids made 5 figures through Amazon selling $400 prams through free traffic PT – BS. She even showed us her site – I did the research – while she was ranking OK – exact traffic was minimal (200/mth) and at 8% max commission on $400 = $32. 100’000 – 32 = 3125 sales.
Plus there’s always an upsell – obviously. Unless I give someone $1000 and they turn it into $1500 and show me how – I don’t waste my time.
November 16, 2011
5:26 am #comment-27
Hey Gauher,
Great post.
I think you have hit the nail on the head and the conversation that has erupted from it echos this view.
First of all, every Internet marketer under the sun is hosting webinars now, most of which end up in a sales pitch for another overpriced yet for the most part underperforming product.
Also, most webinars are too long and I hate the “poor me” rambles about being born in a dumptser and “look at me now”.
The other issue dealt with in one of your post a while back is the use of time.
This biggest issue in most of our lives is “what is the best use of my time right now”? and though I like to continuously keep learning there is clearly a situation of info overload.
“How to sift through the overblown hype and find the real gems that will propel us forward”.
I won’t ramble on but have reduced my webinar attendance a lot lately because I am tired of the bs and hype and also, don’t need any more “Magic Bullets”! (A good case in point BTW. )
I have bought products in faith that I wish i had avoided, not only because they didn’t perform, but they took my time to figure this out.
Your 8 points above are excellent as are some of the comments added.
Cheers,
Paul Grimm
November 16, 2011
7:59 am #comment-28
Gauher
You are one of the good guys
you always over deliver.
some are just pitch fests or someone finds
one little thing hot for today and wants to make money off of it.
also sometimes 3 good webinars are at the same time.
so time or you are away at that time. that is why replays still can be
profitable for people in differant time zones or busy at the time of the webinar.
keep up the good work
Don
Maui,HI
November 16, 2011
8:35 am #comment-29
Meant to say thanks to your post anyway – still genuinely value your posts, Cheers.
December 6, 2011
2:07 am #comment-30
Hi Gauher,
As you rightly pointed out, the attendance rates would not remain as it was earlier. But I can tell you why I normally stay way from these events:
a) Inconvenience Timings: Most webinars are meant for US audience (to the best of my belief). It becomes very difficult to stay awake up to wee hours with very little value addition and listen to sales pitches. I normally opt for the recordings for the events.
b) In continuation to the above, hosts need to plan webinars which suit to audiences from a particular region (timings). If you are planning to make it a global event, your attendance figures are bound to fluctuate. Also try to concentrate on groups (depending on knowledge levels) for appropriate sharing and making the event to be successful.
c) Give value: I doubt if IPAD-2′s can really make much of a difference to webinar attendees. What is important is to share appropriate value with your audience. If during any event an attendee feels that he has not gained much from the event, he will stay away from your future webinars for sure and stick to recordings for quite some time.
d) Post webinar follow up: Every individual appreciates personal attention. It would be ideal if the host gets into some kind of a short mail exchange with attendees to understand if the requirement has been met. A mail sent from the host to individuals after a webinar will do wonders I believe. Most of the reply mails will usually be “thank you” in nature but there can be some odd queries to answer. This process is important which leads to what follow next…
e) Proper Planning: Hosts need to plan the webinars well in advance and create a hype before the actual event. This part is mostly ignored these days (I believe) as normally hosts have pre-plans for undertaking a list of webinars for the entire month. On the contrary, every event should be exclusive and need to taken up as the last event in your life to make it successful. If required, cut down on the webinar frequencies and stress more on post webinar follow-ups. If required keep a track of individuals who failed to attend the webinar after registration and share some value with them also to give them a feeling that they have really missed out on an event of their lifetime.
There are many other ways which can be worked out. Only what came to my mind immediate has been shared above.
Enjoy!
February 11, 2012
4:25 pm #comment-31
Gauher, webinar is a scammer’s “dream” come-true. (not saying that there aren’t people doing it the right way) I’ve recently seen some crazy stuff being sold for $997 through webinars. Here is the process of how it works:
- Short intro
- Talk about how you got rich with some software
- Show your “vendor” earnings
- Fake proof (They go as far as buying through their own affiliate link on the webinar to show people instant results lol)
- Call to action (go “here” to get your card charged $997)
Total BS if you ask me. The thing is that people fall for it and because it’s a webinar the scammers won’t get caught and will get away with it.
Then they change domain names, name of the product etc. ….and get ready to sell again.
But here is the kicker.
These idiots export their lists from their main autoresponder and load it up to another one. Then mail from it using a pen name. This way you can’t even unsubscribe from them and you can’t tell who it came from. They will upload the same list to another autoresponder and mail again.
Because of a few morons that do this less and less people want to attend a webinar. It also gives everyone else a bad name in the IM niche.