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Webinars, because they are an online event, can be hosted at any time. You may have guests who are attending from all over the country, or even the world, so you’ll need to be mindful of the time zones your guests are in. This guide will help you determine the best time to host a webinar for the most successful results!
Time is an important factor when hosting your webinar. You spent your time planning and executing your webinar, so you want it to be viewed by as many guests as possible. There are times and dates that won’t work for all of your guests, especially if your guests are located in several different time zones. Whether you choose to host a live or an automated webinar, it is crucial that you consider the best time to host a webinar.
According to a study done by LiveWebinar, the best day to host a webinar is midweek, specifically Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Thursday is the best day to host a webinar, as this day typically has the highest number of guests attending the webinar. You will have the most guests to provide your information to, while their minds are fresh and ready to learn! After Thursday, Wednesday is the best day to host, followed up by Tuesday.
The days you want to avoid when hosting a webinar are Mondays and Fridays. On Mondays, people are getting back into their routine and getting caught up with their work. According to The Fact Site, people are up to 30% less productive on a Monday and on average only manage 3.5 hours of work throughout the day. On Fridays, your guests are too focused on the weekend and their minds are in other places. You will also want to consider holidays when scheduling your webinar- if a holiday falls on a Thursday, you won’t want to schedule your webinar for that date and you should schedule it for another day. This should go without saying, but you should never schedule a webinar on the weekends! Your guests deserve time to spend on themselves and their families, and they shouldn’t have to worry about attending a webinar.
You may think that first thing in the morning is the best time to host a webinar, as everyone’s mind is fresh and ready to learn. However, people may be running late, run into traffic or have a deadline they are trying to meet. This can cause a delay in the attendance for your webinar. As seen in webinar statistics from Blogging Wizard, the best time to host your webinar is between 11AM and 2PM. If your guests are all attending from the country you are located in, this is the best time to host a webinar! If you have international guests attending, you may want to switch your webinar time to between the hours of 10AM and 12PM.
While the creation of the webinar might seem like the hard part, the scheduling to accommodate everyone might actually be the hardest part. If you need help with scheduling, you can use a scheduling software to schedule a webinar that works best for everybody! To sum up, your webinar will be the most successful and attended by the most guests in the late morning, during the midweek work days.
When you use a webinar hosting platform, you may be presented with all kinds of data at the conclusion of the event, which can help you to plan more events in the future. Webinars are all about engagement between the webinar hosts and the guests, so you should consider using a webinar hosting platform with all of the capabilities to help you succeed.
Event analytics can help webinar hosts see the successful and the unsuccessful parts of the webinar. You’re able to see what days and times guests attend, as well as if there’s a day or time that is high in attendance. If you notice a trend for a day that works best for everyone, you should prioritize that day to host your webinars on. Be sure to work around your guests’ work schedules, as they will still have their own work to do, personal responsibilities, and deadlines to meet.
As previously discussed, webinars are all about engagement between the webinar hosts and the guests. If a guest has any questions about anything during the webinar, the webinar host should be available to answer the questions in real time. This communication can be done with live chats and polls! In the time leading up to the webinar, be sure to also send out email reminders to your guests. You can help to create a sense of excitement with the email reminders by adding a countdown or including any special guest speakers attending.
When your guests are planning to attend a webinar they enjoy, they are more likely to share with their social media friends about the webinar. The social media reach that your guests can have is essentially endless! Once your webinar is shared with your inner circle and acquaintences, you can reach an even larger audience. If your business hosts several webinars throughout the year, there’s likely a webinar that your new guests can enjoy.
When you’re dealing with hundreds or even thousands of guests, it can be difficult to schedule a time that works for everyone. In order to create a webinar that is successful for everyone, be sure to follow these tips:
As previously mentioned, the best times to host a webinar are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; Thursdays are known for having a higher attendance rate! Try to avoid hosting webinars on Mondays and Fridays, as your guests won’t be as focused on the webinar as they are during the middle of the week. One thing to keep in mind is that because you are hosting your webinar on the best day of the week, you may be competing with other webinars for the attention of your guests. If possible, try to communicate with your previous guests with a post-webinar survey about their own professional schedules to see when they have free time.
First thing in the morning in the corporate world is not the best time to host a webinar. People are just getting to their offices, grabbing coffee and settling in to begin their work. You should allow everybody to get settled for the day before you begin hosting your webinar. Between 10AM and 11AM is the best time to host a webinar- it allows people to shortly step away from their work to receive the information you’ve put together for them. One thing to keep in mind is that your webinar shouldn’t go past 12PM since that’s usually people’s lunch hour.
Time zones are a tricky thing to work through when you’re hosting your webinar! As the webinar host, you need to consider who is attending your webinar. If you find that you have many international attendees, try and schedule the webinar during a time that works best for the majority of your guests. If you have no international attendees, you will just have to worry about both coasts, so scheduling your webinar between 10AM and 2PM EST is going to benefit everyone.
As we just discussed, the two coasts of the United States have a 3 hour time difference. There may be people in Boston who are ready to attend a webinar, while people in Los Angeles are still having their morning coffee. Try to schedule your webinar in an in-between time that works for everyone! If you wish, you can pre-record your webinar and schedule it to go live at a later date and time.
You may be dealing with multiple time zones for your webinar. If this is the case, you may want to consider pre-recording your webinar and scheduling it for a later date. By doing this, your guests can view the webinar at a time that works best for them at their leisure. Be sure to let your guests know what time you’ll be setting the webinar live and that they can view it at any time after the webinar goes live!
Webinar hosts sometimes feel that longer webinars are taking up too much time for their guests, but that isn’t true! You can host an hour-long webinar and your guests won’t feel too overwhelmed- the longer your webinar is, the more guests that can attend! You won’t be an inconvenience to your guests if you have a longer webinar, as they will be able to attend your event on their own accord.
If you wish to invite your guests via email, you should send those invites out on Tuesdays. By doing this, it gives your guests time to decide if they can attend, if they have any conflicting engagements and time to rearrange their schedules. This email can be sent out right at 9AM, as it gives webinar hosts the best responses. Guests going through their morning emails allow them to see the invite and determine if they wish to attend your webinar!
Some guests may be so busy, they don’t have time to attend a scheduled webinar. And that’s okay! If this happens, you should create your webinar to have an on-demand option. When a guest registers for your webinar, they will have the option to attend a webinar within 15 minutes of registering. According to Webinar Care, around 29% of people register on the day of the webinar. Guests won’t have to wait around to attend a webinar, or have to worry about any conflicting schedules. Be sure to express to your guests that your webinar is on-demand, and that they can attend the webinar on their own time.
In order to gain the biggest attendance for your webinar, you need to know the best time to host a webinar! If you choose the wrong day, like a Monday or Friday, your guests won’t be as engaged as they will be on a Thursday or Wednesday. Your webinar guests should be attentive and responsive during the webinar, as they should be engaging with other guests as well as the webinar hosts! When you choose the correct day and time, your guests can clear a space in their calendar to attend the webinar you worked so hard on and receive all of the important information they need to succeed.
Hubilo is the event professional’s event platform for live, hybrid, and virtual events. Founded over 5 years ago to revolutionize engagement at in-person events, the company makes it easy to bring people together anywhere, anytime. Hubilo’s powerful engagement features, personal client experience team, and custom branding tools have helped create over 12K events and counting. Headquartered in Bangalore and San Francisco, Hubilo’s nearly 400 employees are dedicated to co-creating the world’s most important events: yours.
