• by Jess Nelson , April 26, 2016

Webinars are a common B2B marketing strategy, and a new study from BrightTALK reveals the best ways to promote webinars via email. 

Promoting webinars earlier in the work week correlates with a higher number of registrations, according to the BrightTALK study, and Monday leads the charge with a market share of 22.2% of all webinar registrations.

The company analyzed over 12,000 webinars published into communities on the BrightTALK platform.

Prior notice is a consistent specter of webinar marketing, and BrightTALK noted that the highest-performing webinars were promoted by email or lead-nurturing campaigns 3-4 weeks ahead of time.

“Focus your efforts on the 'starting now' email promotion, which has a 35-40% CTR,” states BrightTALK in the benchmark report online. “This is your most important email to ensure more of your pre-registrants show up live.”

Viewership and content exposure can significantly increase when live webinars are published as on-demand content, according to the report. With the exception of the legal industry, every vertical examined by BrightTALK had a higher percentage of on-demand webinar viewers instead of live streamers.

A/B testing is also a critical component of a successful webinar marketing campaign because video and audio content needs to be accessible from any device. 

International SOS, a medical and travel security risk services company, increased webinar attendance by 400% and registration by 352% by incorporating more relevant content and A/B testing into its marketing campaign, according to a 2014 case study by Marketing Sherpa.

Marketers should also note the potential intimacy of a webinar experience. 

The Economistargues that the informality of podcasts, which are often listened to privately by headphones, makes them a popular way to advertise products and services that may be traditionally difficult to sale.

Webinars offer a similar private experience between marketer and a potential customer, especially when a consumer is watching a previously taped webinar on-demand.