How long should a webinar be? Learn best practice with Tame

Congratulations on beginning your webinar journey! Our guess is that you’re probably reading this article because you know all the wonderful reasons to host a webinar (namely the low costs, the ability to nurture and grow qualified leads and the insane opportunity to grow your brand's value), but might need a bit of help getting started.

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Now that you’ve decided to join the chorus of webinar lovers, you may be stuck on the actual steps and process involved in hosting a successful webinar. No worries, we’ve got you!

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As you ask yourself where to start, the first question that may come to mind is how long are webinars? Or even more importantly, how long should webinars be for the best chance of success? We’re ready to share the secret! And we promise by the end of this article, you’ll be armed with all the answers.

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Building a foundation

So, while we know you're eager to get going, it's important we start with the fundamentals before we jump head first into webinar specifics. After all, there are a few first steps to creating a successful webinar.

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First you should know the basics, what a webinar is and how a webinar works. Let's briefly go through it.

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In summary, a webinar is an online seminar that enables and encourages two-way communication, growing leads and nurturing brand value in the process. Webinars do this by prioritising engagement between presenters and their attendees. What makes webinars unique is the many, many ways your business can engage with attendees. From whiteboards, to chat boxes and Q&A sessions, webinars are the perfect stage for creating that spark between your company and potential leads.

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So that's the (simplified) foundation of webinars, but if you want to read articles that go more in depth about both of these topics we’ve got you covered. Our articles “What is a Webinar?” and “How Does a Webinar work?” are great sources to learn from, especially since starting your journey to the webinar world may seem overwhelming at first. But we promise, once you have a foundation of information you can start to build the perfect webinar.

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One last thing to remember, it’s not only important to know the ‘what's’ and ‘how’s’ of webinars, you should also know precisely what you want your own webinar to be about. Setting a focus and narrowing down the goals of your webinar is a surefire way to have an informative and meaningful interaction with attendees. It’s also vital for the next step in your webinar plan: deciding just how long your webinar should be.

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How long are webinars?

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Webinar lengths vary widely, but the general rule of thumb is to stay between 30-60 minutes. One industry survey found that 40-45 minutes was the preference for 44% webinar attendees, with space for an additional 15 minute Q&A session. And that Q&A session is vital it seems, since the same survey found that a whopping 92% of webinar attendees want the Q&A session at the end of a webinar session.

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Let's run through what the structure of an educational or industry talk webinar may look like. Likely it will be on the longer side, to make space for introductions, in depth explanations and questions. The general structure may look like this:

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5-7 minutes for welcomes and introductions
30-45 minutes for the presentation or lecture
10-15 minutes for questions and answers

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This structure is great for educational talks and branded industry leading conversations because it is long enough to make sure all the details are covered and that there's plenty of time for attendees and presenters to engage, but it's not so long that attendees lose their focus. In fact, it's often recommended that class or lecture go no longer than 45 minutes before having a break as students stop learning after that mark. The same rule applies to webinars, giving even a short break between presenters for longer webinar sessions (60+) can be extremely helpful for keeping attendees engaged.

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But not all webinars need to be that long. Webinars are actually a wonderful way to get the day going and get started on other projects. B2B meetings or inter-company meetings via webinar can last as little as 30 minutes. These webinars require no introductions, and can entail a brief memo with a Q&A section. On the flipside, a short webinar can also be a quick introduction of one company to another, setting the stage for other meetings and long term business relationships.

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The 30 minute webinar also happens to be the second most popular length for webinars, according to one industry survey.

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Creating qualified leads and introducing brand values via short, face-passed webinars is a great way to start business dialogues and grow your brand's value without nagging potential leads. A solid, short webinar can make just as big of an impression as a 60+ minute webinar because it emphasises a brand authority, trust and consideration of people's time. You could also look at it as a digital elevator pitch.

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Let's go over that one more time. When asking yourself how long a webinar should be you should first ask yourself:

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What are webinars and how do they work?
What is the goal of my webinar?
What type of engagement does it require?

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Once you know the answer to these questions you’ll know exactly how to time your very own webinar!

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Now that we’ve got you thinking about your next webinar, are you ready to get started? We’ve got your back. Here at Tame, we offer free demos tailored to your webinar needs and personalised support so you won’t have to dive into this alone. Reach out to us and we’ll help you every step of the way.

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