Not all webinar leads are created equally

Is it important to understand webinar lead generation and how to qualify them? 

The simple answer is, yes.

Webinars are a proven marketing tactic that increases brand awareness. But, they also simultaneously qualify your prospective leads.

In this blog, I want to help you understand, not only the importance of lead scoring but how to do it properly.

Webinars are becoming increasingly popular since they are cost-effective when looking at engagement.

If you’ve never hosted a webinar or find yourself falling behind with the competition, read our  10 Podcast Tips For Beginners

Then, come back here and learn more about webinar lead generation and the importance of lead scoring.

The Importance Of Lead Scoring

As mentioned in our previous blog posts, webinars are great evergreen content.

You can take snackable content bits from a product demo (or “deminar”) and turn it into a video for your website. Or, you can use it as a promotional content for social media.

None of that really matters if your webinars aren’t tailored your various leads.


Let’s Put It Into Perspective

Think about what you can do in an hour:

  • Manage your emails.
  • Hold meetings (productive or not).
  • Create ads for your business.
  • Finish time-sensitive reports.
  • Plan for your next content campaign.

The point I’m making is that a lot can be accomplished in an hour. Which means, it’s a great sign if you’re viewers taking at least an hour out their busy schedules to watch your webinar.

Their lead scores should reflect their interest. 

Keep in mind: There’s a difference between a lead who registers and the lead who actually watches your webinar.


Don’t Stop At Total View Time

But lead scoring doesn’t stop there. How long did this lead stay for?

A lead who watched for the full hour deserves more attention than a lead who only viewed your webinar for only 10 minutes.

You can’t only look at the total view time. You also need to ask yourself:

  • What did they do during the time that they were watching your webinar?
  • Was this lead passively watching?
  • Were they asking questions?

Every business has its own lead score range. Make sure the one you implement makes sense for your business.


For example: 


What if your webinar lead generation scoring only gives 5 points for signing up, but they needed 100 points to be qualified for sales?

That’s going to take a lot of time before your MQL to qualify as an SQL. You could be missing out on a sale because your scoring is too low.

Instead, look at what they’re doing:

  1. Are they actively asking questions during your webinar?
  2. Or, are they downloading your lead magnet.

These viewers are looking for an answer to their problem and believe that you may have that answer.

At this point, these leads are closer to the bottom of your funnel (BOFU) and should get a higher lead score.

Now that we’ve sorted out a bit of scoring, let dive into the webinar lead generation.

3 Tips To Improve Webinar Lead Generation

Here are some simple tactics you can start applying today to generate more webinar leads.  

1. Exhibit Scarcity

Get on social media. Tell your audience how you only have a few spots left. Maybe 100, or even a 1000 people have already signed up for your webinar.

Convey that message to your audience.

This does two things:

  1. It shows social proof; people are interested in your webinar.
  2. Stating “a few spots left” adds urgency. “Act now before you lose your chance.”

2. What Happens Next?

What next steps do you give your audience? You’re not just going to end the webinar without an ask, are you?

Instead, create a calendar for your website with all your upcoming webinar events. Maybe someone can’t make your webinar for next Tuesday, but they’re free to watch it the following Thursday.

This is a great strategy to start getting some sign-ups in advance.

And, you should always remember to share lead magnets with your events.

If your attendees download your lead magnet, keep track of that because you’ll need to up their lead score.

3. Always Follow-Up

Send an immediate email after your webinar. Just follow up and thank your viewers for attending the webinar. Segment the list into “attended” viewers and “registered but failed to attend.”

Thank the former for their attendance and let the latter know that you are sorry that they could not attend.

This way, you are still engaging all of your leads. (And if they open the email, give add a tick to their lead score.)

Don’t forget: Send everyone an on-demand version of your webinar for them to watch on their own time.

Webinar Lead-Gen: Let's Recap

First and foremost, make sure you have a proper lead scoring in place before you being implementing any webinar lead generation strategies.

After that, you can implement 3 easy lead-gen tactics:

  1. Exhibit Scarcity: let your prospective viewers know that other people are interested in your webinar and there’s not a lot of seats left.
  2.  What Happens Next?: Don’t leave your audience hanging. Keep a calendar of your next webinar dates. And never forget to give your audience a lead magnet.
  3. Always Follow-Up: Thank your audience for attending right after your webinar is done. Give them the option to watch it again on demand. Be sure to segment your lists to attended and not attended, tailor your message accordingly. 

Interested in learning about how to optimize your webinar program? Download the Smart Marketer’s Guide to Webinar ROI and start getting in front of as many marketing-qualified leads as possible.

Stay tuned for more updates on how to leverage your webinars to convert viewers into buyers.

Matthew Ley

Matthew Ley

Matt Ley is the current President and co-founder of The Streaming Network. Starting his career in virtual events in 2007, Matt is an industry veteran that is passionate about helping customers stand out in their industry with compelling virtual events that people want to attend. The driving ambition for Matt is that virtual events are not a utility for information distribution but an opportunity for firms to create a competitive advantage. Matt is an accomplished speaker, moderator and a sought-after thought leader.

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