Are Webinars Dead? Not Even Close (But the Landscape Has Changed)

Nov 7

I see this question pop up constantly in marketing circles: "Are webinars still worth it?" Usually followed by someone claiming they're tired, overdone, or losing effectiveness. Here's my hot take: webinars aren't dead—but the lazy ones should be.

The Data Doesn't Lie

Let's address the elephant in the room with actual numbers. The average webinar attendance increased to 216 in 2024, marking a 7% year-over-year growth, and 64% of B2B marketers hosted a webinar in the past 12 months, with 47% saying webinars were their best-performing content format.

Even more telling: Between 2024 and 2025, there's been nearly 20% growth in the number of organizations integrating webinars into their marketing plans. If webinars were dying, we'd see the opposite trend.

But here's where it gets interesting—and where the "webinars are dead" crowd has a point.

The Landscape Has Fundamentally Shifted

The way people consume content has evolved dramatically. Short-form video is exploding across TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Long-form content thrives on YouTube, but it's highly produced, edited, and engaging. Traditional hour-long webinars that feel like glorified PowerPoint presentations? Those are struggling.

The average webinar engagement duration in 2024 was 51 minutes, which tells us people will commit time—but only if the content delivers real value. The problem isn't the format; it's the execution.

What's Actually Changing

Attention spans haven't shrunk—standards have risen. People will watch a 3-hour video essay on YouTube about niche topics if it's compelling. They won't sit through 45 minutes of boring product features disguised as education.

Short-form is training new behavior. Quick hits of value have conditioned audiences to expect immediate insight. Your webinar needs a hook in the first 90 seconds, not the first 15 minutes.

On-demand is becoming the default. Live attendance matters, but AI-generated content from webinar transcripts multiplies reach exponentially through clips, newsletters, and social content. Smart marketers are thinking about the webinar recording as the real product.

Why Webinars Still Work (When Done Right)

Here's what hasn't changed: 68% of surveyed marketers could tie webinars to revenue, and 75% said webinars lowered their cost-per-lead. That's not the performance of a dying channel.

Webinars offer something short-form content can't: depth, trust-building, and real-time interaction. Companies see 20% to 40% of webinar attendees entering the sales pipeline as qualified leads because attendees are pre-qualified by time investment alone.

The average cost per lead from webinars is around $72, compared to more than $800 per lead at trade shows. The ROI is still there—if you're creating content worth watching.

The New Webinar Playbook

The old approach is dead. The new one looks like this:

Stop treating webinars as standalone events. They're the centerpiece of an omnichannel content strategy. Your webinar should feed:

10-15 short clips for social media
A blog post or article
Email nurture sequences
LinkedIn posts from speakers
On-demand library content

Using AI to repurpose webinar recordings into blogs, clips, and social posts saved marketers an estimated 13,000 hours in 2024. One webinar becomes dozens of touchpoints.

Embrace shorter, punchier formats. Not every webinar needs to be 60 minutes. Some of the best sessions I've seen are 20-30 minutes of pure value with 10 minutes of Q&A. Respect people's time.

Make it genuinely interactive. Webinar hosts extended audience engagement by up to 50% when adding chat, Q&A, polls, surveys, videos, and offers. Stop reading slides at people. Create experiences.

Lead with education, not products. Two-thirds of organizations use webinars to teach, not sell. The best webinars solve real problems and leave audiences feeling smarter. The product mention should feel natural, not forced.

My Honest Assessment

Are webinars dead? Absolutely not. Are boring, self-promotional, poorly executed webinars dead? I hope so.

The format is evolving, not dying. The winners will be marketers who understand that webinars aren't competing with other webinars—they're competing with Netflix, YouTube, and every other form of premium content vying for attention.

If you're going to host a webinar in 2025, ask yourself: "Would I actually watch this?" If the answer is no, go back to the drawing board.

The medium is alive and well. The mediocrity needs to go.