Are webinars still worth running for lead generation?

Webinars have been part of B2B marketing for a very long time, but many businesses question whether they still work. Audiences are busier, inboxes are crowded, and many are more selective about the live events they attend. Webinar fatigue is real, especially when sessions are too broad, too sales-led or too similar to content people could read elsewhere in their own time. 

This doesn’t mean webinars have lost their value, they just need to work harder. A good webinar gives people a clear reason to register, attend, ask questions and take the next step. It should feel useful before it feels promotional. When planned properly, webinar production can still support lead generation and give your sales team more informed conversations to follow up on.

Are webinars still worth running?

The short answer is yes, webinars are still worth running. But not in the traditional format of setting a date, presenting a slide deck and sending a replay afterwards. This approach often results in low attendance and limited follow-up value.

The way people engage with webinars has changed. Some will attend live because they want to ask questions and take part in the discussion, while others will register because they are interested in the topic but prefer to watch at a different time. This flexibility is part of their appeal. A webinar can help you reach a wider audience than an in-person event while still providing an interactive experience through Q&As, polls, and live discussions.

Webinars can also attract stronger leads because people usually register with a clear interest in the subject. If someone gives their time to a live session, asks questions or watches the recording afterwards, it provides you with a useful signal about what they care about and where they may be in the decision-making process.

Nowadays, the value of a webinar shouldn’t be judged solely on live attendance. A webinar can become a live event, an on-demand resource and part of a broader content campaign. A recorded session can be repurposed into shorter clips, follow-up emails, blog content or future campaign material. The result depends on how well it’s planned from the beginning.

How webinars fit into the wider lead generation funnel

A webinar shouldn’t be created on its own. It needs to be connected to your wider marketing and sales activity. This means having a clear registration process, email reminders, CRM integration, lead scoring, and a follow-up plan in place before the event.

This helps make webinars much more useful for lead generation. Someone who registers but doesn’t attend might still be interested. Someone who attends, asks a question and clicks a follow-up link might be showing stronger intent. Someone who watches the recording a week later may still be worth contacting.

The aim isn’t just to collect email addresses. It’s to understand where people are in the decision-making process and to give them a useful next step. That could be a downloadable guide, a follow-up email, a sales conversation, or a product demo.

Choosing the right webinar format

The webinar format should match its purpose. For instance, a panel discussion can work well for brand awareness and thought leadership, as it brings different perspectives into a conversation. A product demo is better suited to people who are closer to making a decision and want to see how something works in practice. A fireside chat can feel more relaxed and personal, making it useful for expert-led or partner-led content. A workshop is useful when the aim is education. It gives attendees a reason to stay engaged because the session is built around practical value rather than passive viewing.

Simulive webinars are also worth considering. A simulive event is pre-recorded and then broadcast as if it’s live. This can reduce the risk of a fully live webinar and enable the content to be streamed several times for audiences in different time zones. This format can still include live chats, comments, polls and additional resources, helping the audience feel involved without the same pressure as a fully live broadcast.

Topic selection for webinars

Not every topic needs to become a webinar. Some ideas are better suited to a blog, a report, a guide, or a short video. A webinar works best when the subject benefits from explanation, discussion or demonstration. Strong topics usually help people make a decision, understand a complex issue or solve a practical problem. This could include a product demonstration, an industry update, an expert panel, or a training-style session.

The mistake many businesses make is choosing a topic that is too broad or too focused on their own product. If the session feels like a sales pitch, people are more likely to leave early or ignore future invites. The better approach is to start with a question your audience is actually asking, then build the session around helping them answer it.

What successful webinar production involves

Successful webinar production starts before live streaming. The content needs a clear structure, the speakers need to know their role, and the event needs a defined goal. Are you trying to generate new leads, support existing prospects, educate customers or create content for a wider campaign? The answer should influence the format, call to action and follow-up.

Technical preparation is just as important. The right webinar platform, clear audio and video, and a broadcast plan all help the session feel more professional. Whether you choose Zoom Webinars or Teams, or have remote speakers across Europe, the technical side of your webinar needs careful planning so the audience can focus on the content, not the setup.

It can be easy to overlook, but post-event production is also part of the process. A virtual event, such as a webinar, should be recorded and edited for on-demand use. In addition to providing the full session as a follow-up, content such as short clips, social posts, and supporting articles can be created to provide further engagement opportunities. 

Measuring ROI and lead generation success

A webinar doesn’t need hundreds of attendees to be successful. A smaller session with the right people can be more valuable than a large session filled with low-intent registrations. Instead of simply asking “How many people came?”, it’s more useful to ask, ‘Did the right people engage, and did they move closer to a meaningful next step?’”

This is why webinar ROI needs to be measured beyond sign-ups alone. While registrations are important because they show initial interest, they don’t tell you how valuable the session was. A high number of sign-ups doesn’t mean much if they don’t all attend the event or if no one takes action afterwards. You need to look at how people behaved before, during and after the event.

Useful metrics to track include registration-to-attendance rate, session drop-off, engagement scoring during the session, on-demand views, MQL conversion rate, cost per lead, and pipeline influenced. Together, these numbers help show who engaged, how useful they found the content and how well the webinar supported the wider sales process.

This gives marketing teams a clearer way to explain value internally. Instead of relying on attendance alone, they can show how the webinar created better follow-up opportunities and helped move the right people through the pipeline.

Webinar mistakes that limit results

Not every webinar offers a good ROI, and they usually underperform for similar reasons. 

Common mistakes include choosing a vague topic, over-pitching a product, or promoting the event too late. Weak calls to action can also limit results. If attendees don’t know what to do next, the momentum can disappear quickly. The same applies if a follow-up is delayed or too generic. A person who attended live and asked a question shouldn’t receive the same follow-up as someone who registered but never watched. Poor audience targeting is another issue. A webinar should speak to a clear group of people with a clear problem. When the audience is too broad, the content often becomes too general to be useful.

How professional webinar production makes a difference

Rather than running webinars in-house, outsourcing to a webinar production company to handle all of the logistics and technical details can be beneficial. Live broadcasts can fail if they’re not properly planned or managed, and from start to finish, professional production services can reduce risks. They handle the platform setup, audio and visual checks, and live production, with contingencies in place in case something goes wrong. 

There is also an opportunity cost. Marketing teams are usually focused on campaigns, content strategy, lead generation, and follow-up. They don’t always have the technical expertise to manage the production details of a live or simulive event. External support gives internal teams more space to focus on the message and the audience.

Another reason to get professional support with webinars is content multiplication. One well-produced webinar can become a full marketing campaign. It can be turned into on-demand assets, social media clips, email content, blog material, and sales support content. With editors, graphic designers, and messaging experts, a webinar production company can ensure your webinar content continues to work hard long after the event. 

Creating a webinar that generates leads

Webinars are still worth running for lead generation, but only when they are properly planned. The topic needs to be useful, the format needs to match the goal, the live or simulive event needs to run smoothly, and the follow-up needs to be clear.

For businesses that want to get more value from webinars, working with an experienced Essex marketing agency can help turn a single event into a wider lead-generation campaign. At This is Fever, we provide managed webinar production services, offering tailored support from pre-event planning to post-event outreach. Get in touch with us today to learn how we help marketing teams plan, produce, and repurpose webinars with a clear lead-generation purpose.