Defining Goals in a Webinar Marketing Strategy
What should a webinar accomplish in the sales process?
Every successful webinar begins with a clear understanding of what it should achieve in the sales process: lead generation, client education, thought leadership, or sales acceleration. Each objective dictates how the event will be structured, what content will resonate, and which metrics will prove success.
How do clear objectives shape a successful webinar marketing strategy?
The most productive webinars are not built around a topic but around an outcome. A marketer who begins by asking, “What should participants know, feel, or do after this?” is already halfway to an effective campaign.
Defined objectives guide every decision that follows:
- The tone of the presentation
- The format of delivery
- The level of detail in follow-up materials
When goals are clearly defined, whether that means hitting a qualified-lead target or increasing demo requests, a webinar becomes a measurable and scalable engine for predictable growth.
This clarity also aligns marketing and sales, giving both teams a shared understanding of the event’s purpose and the actions attendees should take afterward. With everyone working toward the same objective, the webinar naturally shifts from a simple learning experience to a focused lead-conversion tool.
Ten Events helps clients establish these measurable foundations early in the planning stage, ensuring each webinar supports tangible revenue objectives rather than serving as stand-alone content.
Webinar Planning: Identifying the Audience and Their Pain Points
Who should attend the webinar?
The first step toward marketing success is knowing the audience you want to reach. A webinar must be crafted for a specific audience segment with well-understood frustrations, motivations, and decision pressures. The sharper the focus, the more precisely the content can connect.
How can audience insight refine your webinar marketing strategy?
Audience knowledge is more than simple demographic data; it provides insight into the factors that influence potential buyers' decisions. By mapping pain points to the purchase journey, marketers can frame topics that feel immediately relevant to buyers.
For example, a webinar aimed at IT leaders might focus on risk reduction and system uptime, while a virtual event for finance executives might emphasize ROI and cost control. Each speaks to a product but from a viewpoint that reflects the listener’s world.
This level of personalization also determines tone. Technical audiences may want performance metrics and demonstrations, while strategic decision-makers prefer real-world outcomes and case studies. The key is designing content that removes uncertainty and positions the brand as an empathetic expert.
Ten Events enables this precision through advanced registration analytics and engagement tools in Ten Events Pro, allowing users to build data-driven profiles and tailor every element to their audience’s specific challenges.
Aligning Webinars with the Sales Funnel
When does a webinar fit into the sales process?
A webinar’s role shifts fundamentally based on the prospect's stage in the journey. At Ten Events, we categorize these into three distinct operational frameworks:
How can marketers align content for stronger ROI?
Strategically sequenced webinars act as the "connective tissue" of the buyer journey. Top-of-funnel (TOFU) events should avoid the "hard sell," focusing instead on industry challenges to build brand equity. As prospects move to the Middle (MOFU), sessions shift toward solution education—proving how specific features solve the problems identified in the TOFU stage.
Bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) webinars are the most critical for revenue. These should be high-touch, intimate sessions addressing specific buying objections. By integrating Ten Events Pro engagement data directly into your CRM, your sales team can see exactly which attendees asked high-intent questions, allowing them to strike while the lead is warmest.
Establishing Buyer Readiness and Belief
What must the audience believe before they buy?
A buying decision depends on the belief that the problem is solvable, the solution is credible, and the provider can deliver. A webinar must cultivate that confidence before any transaction can occur. A technical glitch mid-demo can shatter buyer confidence. Ten Events ensures reliability through redundant stream backups and low-latency delivery, so the technology never distracts from the message.
How can a webinar shape perceptions that lead to conversion?
The goal of every webinar is to replace uncertainty with understanding. By teaching rather than selling, presenters can help participants recognize that change is both necessary and achievable. Demonstrations, real-world success stories, and transparent discussions of implementation challenges build authenticity and make the solution feel accessible.
Storytelling is particularly powerful here. When attendees see peers succeeding with the same product or service, abstract promises become tangible proof. Effective webinars use this social validation to move audiences from curiosity to conviction, paving the way for sales teams to step in with tailored conversations and proposals.
Timing and Promotion Strategy of Your Sales Webinars
When should marketers host a webinar for maximum impact?
Timing isn't just about convenience; it’s about "Mindshare." While many sources suggest Tuesday through Thursday, our internal data across the Ten Events platform shows that Wednesdays at 11:00 AM local time consistently yields the highest "Join Rate" (the percentage of registrants who actually attend live).
How does timing and promotion influence webinar success?
A successful campaign requires a "Warm-up" period. We recommend a 21-day promotional cycle:
- Day 1-7: Awareness. Social teasers and early-bird email invitations.
- Day 8-14: Value reinforcement. Content snippets or "Meet the Speaker" videos.
- Day 15-21: Urgency. Final reminders sent 24 hours and 1 hour before go-live.
This graduated approach respects professional schedules while maintaining top-of-mind awareness. Ten Events automates these workflows, ensuring that every touchpoint, from the registration page to the final reminder, reflects a high-production standard that builds trust before the first slide is even shown.
When should marketers host a webinar for maximum impact?
Timing dictates attendance. We have found that the most successful B2B webinars are scheduled midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) but we encourage testing for your specific audience.
How does timing and promotion influence webinar success?
Scheduling is as strategic as content creation. B2B audiences follow established patterns shaped by business routines, and hosting a webinar when they are most receptive (11am often cited as the best time; other well-performing times are 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM or 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM) maximizes participation. A 3-4 week promotional period allows marketers to pace communications, generate excitement, and avoid audience fatigue.
It is best to evolve the promotion in stages. The first announcement sparks curiosity, subsequent messages reinforce value, and final reminders emphasize urgency. This graduated approach respects professional schedules while maintaining interest. When paired with data-driven timing and creative consistency, promotion becomes a prelude to the value the event itself delivers.
Ten Events orchestrates these details through coordinated marketing workflows, ensuring that every registration page, teaser clip, and communication mirrors the same professional standard as the live broadcast.
Selecting Promotional Channels and Tactics
Which marketing tactics work best for webinars?
Email remains the most reliable driver of registrations, but no single channel can shoulder the task alone. Effective promotion combines email, social, partner networks, and targeted advertising into a cohesive, multi-touch campaign.
How can a multi-channel approach strengthen a webinar marketing strategy?
Different audiences consume information through different mediums. While decision-makers may respond to direct email invitations, influencers within an organization might first encounter the event through social feeds or partner mentions.
A synchronized multi-channel approach ensures that every segment encounters consistent messaging, regardless of where they engage. This orchestration also supports retargeting. Prospects who interact with social posts but don't register can receive follow-up ads or emails that bring them back into the funnel. Each channel amplifies the next, forming a self-reinforcing loop of visibility and credibility.
Following Up After the Webinar
What happens after the broadcast ends?
The live event is only the midpoint. In our experience, 50-60% of total views for B2B webinars now occur on-demand. If your post-event strategy only targets live attendees, you are leaving half of your ROI on the table.
Ten Events Pro-Tip: Don't just send a generic recording link. Segment your follow-up. Send a "We missed you" email to non-attendees and a "Deep Dive" resource to those who stayed for the full Q&A.
How does post-webinar strategy convert engagement into revenue?
To turn "views" into "pipeline," your follow-up must be segmented based on behavior:
- The "Active" Attendee: Those who stayed for >80% of the session should receive a direct "Next Steps" calendar link.
- The "Passive" Attendee: Those who watched but didn't engage with polls should receive a whitepaper or deeper educational content.
- The "No-Show": These leads should receive an automated "We Missed You" email with the on-demand link within 4 hours of the live session ending.
Ten Events Pro simplifies this by syncing "Engagement Minutes" directly to your CRM. Instead of a generic list of names, your sales team receives a prioritized list of leads ranked by their actual interest level during the broadcast. This ensures marketing-sales alignment and a faster path to conversion.
Measuring Success and Optimizing Performance
How can marketers effectively measure webinar ROI?
Data provides the clearest measure of return on investment. Measuring registration, attendance, engagement, and conversion reveals the true health of a webinar program and informs the next iteration.
Which metrics define a successful webinar marketing strategy?
Performance analysis closes the strategic loop. A high registration rate indicates topic relevance; strong attendance reflects the timing of promotions; sustained viewing and participation indicate compelling content. Most importantly, conversion data connects those signals to revenue outcomes, proving the webinar’s place in the sales engine.
Analyzing these patterns over multiple events exposes what consistently drives results. Marketers can refine their topics, adjust timing, or tweak promotional mix to improve efficiency with every new campaign.
Ten Events Pro provides clients with comprehensive analytics dashboards that clearly visualize this data, turning post-event reporting into a forward-looking strategy. Through that insight, webinar marketing evolves from an experiment to a predictable growth channel.
Contact us today to see if Ten Events Pro is right for your next webinar.
About the Author
Erica Scudilla is the Vice President of Marketing at Ten Events, where she leads the strategic vision for demand generation and business growth. She combines innovative strategies with bold creativity to enhance Ten Events' visibility and market influence. With a career rooted in the evolution of B2B demand generation, her expertise lies in aligning marketing objectives with executive-level ROI, helping brands build authentic connections in a digital-first world.
Follow Erica on LinkedIn for insights on event ROI, marketing technology, and the future of virtual engagement.