If you’re reading this article, you probably already know a bit about webinars. But if you need a reminder as to why webinars are a superstar marketing tool, just know that webinars have been shown to turn 73% of total B2B attendees into leads.

Webinars are such a powerhouse of a marketing tool, that one industry study found that 95% of their respondents agreed that webinars were key to their marketing and lead generation efforts.

With webinars already being a powerful way to grow leads you may be wondering, can it get any better? We think so, with the options of on-demand and evergreen webinars.

In this article, we’ll explain exactly what an on-demand webinar is and why its close cousin, the evergreen webinar, is a powerful marketing tool. By the end of this article, we’ll even give you some pointers about the best way to create your own on-demand and evergreen webinars. 

When you think of a webinar, you probably think of a live webinar. Live webinars are exactly what they sound like: webinars held live where the attendees and hosts engage with each other in real-time. However, you may be surprised to know that the most popular type of webinar is actually a pre-recorded live webinar, also called an on-demand webinar.

And on-demand webinars are in demand! Pre-recorded webinars are so popular, in fact, that 94% of webinars are made available on-demand. One study found that 36% of attendees watch pre-recorded (on-demand) webinars.

With more flexible access to webinars, comes more signups. One company, Venture Harbour, decided to integrate on-demand features into their webinar sign-ups, and as a result they more than doubled their sign-up rate! 

Not sold yet? On-demand webinars aren't just favoured among attendees, they are also a seriously smart marketing tool. One survey found that 91% of businesses say that pre-recording a webinar saves them time and money. 

What is an on-demand webinar? 

An on-demand webinar is any pre-recorded webinar that's available via link, file share, or access code. Unlike a live webinar, on-demand webinars can be viewed at any time. For attendees that can’t get to a live webinar they wanted to see, on-demand webinars can offer an alternative way to engage with a webinar. The flexibility of on-demand webinars makes them great for convenient viewing, with 18% of on-demand webinars being watched on Saturday and Sunday. 

What is an evergreen webinar?

An evergreen webinar is a type of on-demand webinar. Like an on-demand webinar, evergreen webinars are usually available online, but an evergreen webinar retains its importance and value, no matter when it was published. Hence, the evergreen webinar gets its name from the evergreen tree, because the tree keeps its leaves all year round.

What makes an evergreen webinar unique is that the information and subject of the webinar are timelessly relevant and accessible on-demand. This is why many evergreen webinars are educational, with topics like teaching skills, product demos, or even brand introductions holding onto their value for a long time. 

This value is shared between hosts and attendees. In the evergreen webinar funnel, an evergreen webinar generates brand value by increasing awareness and trust between a potential lead and your brand. It’s also a great investment. The initial costs of hosting a live webinar are low, and since it is evergreen, the webinar will continue to drive leads and generate value long after its initial airing. 

On-demand and evergreen webinars: the difference

While both on-demand webinars and evergreen webinars are content creation opportunities, unlike an evergreen webinar an on-demand relevance can be more time specific and potentially fleeting. This means that on-demand webinars should be used strategically and be shared with specific customer segments and potential leads. 

Now that you're an expert, let's talk more about why on-demand and evergreen webinars are powerful long-term marketing tools.

To put it simply, both create the most influential type of content creation: video. Video content generates huge marketing value.

One survey found that 93% of marketers say video has helped them increase their webinar brand awareness and 87% of marketers say that video has increased their web traffic.

Video is one of the most powerful content creation tools, and webinars are set up to be one of the best types of videos. 

For example, those educational evergreen webinars we talked about earlier? One study found that 96% of participants watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service. This makes all on-demand educational webinars incredibly valuable, regardless if they are evergreen or not. 

 Need more evidence? 88% of people in one survey said that they were convinced to buy a product or service after watching a brand's video. 

You’re probably ready to get started on your own on-demand and evergreen webinar journey, you just need to know how to record a live webinar. 

It starts with the foundation of your webinar, the hosting platform. The best way to get a high-definition pre-recording of your webinar is to use a platform that has built-in webinar recording. This makes it easy to ensure that your entire webinar will be recorded and make file sharing much easier. You can also customise your recording with your platform. 

Having your hosting platform record your webinar will make life a lot simpler, and it also lets you spend more time focusing on other important aspects of a successful webinar. Namely, branding. 

You want to brand your webinars because every on-demand or evergreen webinar is a chance to elevate your brand experience for your attendees and grow your brand awareness and credibility in the industry. Having branding through your webinar creates brand consistency, which has been shown to increase revenue by 23%.

This means your webinar platform should give you as many opportunities to stay on brand as possible. From including logos and brand colours, to customising landing pages, every aspect of your webinar should be branded. So it doesn't matter if your webinars are reaching old customers or new potential leads, live audiences, or on-demand viewers, you can build and nurture relationships as a holistic brand. 

If you’re interested in learning more about the power of on-demand and evergreen webinars in your content marketing strategy you should read our article, ‘How to grow your content strategy with webinars.’ Here we give you all the details on the many ways webinars can grow your content creation and the power of on-demand and evergreen webinars in your content marketing strategy.

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If you’re ready to get started on your webinar journey and explore more about on-demand and evergreen webinars, we'd love to chat. Here at Tame, we offer free personalised demos so you can see if we’re the right platform for your brand and marketing goals. Reach out to us and we can help you every step of the way. 

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References:

1. LiveWebinar: “Webinar statistics 2021: 70+ webinar stats you need to know”
2. Thrive my way: “Amazing Webinar Stats, Trends, Benchmarks and Facts 2022”
3. Findstack: “The Ultimate List of Webinar Statistics for 2022”
4. Wyzowl: “Video Marketing Statistics 2022”
5. Forbes: “10 Marketing, Web Design & Branding Statistics To Help You Prioritize Business Growth Initiatives”
6. Tame: “How to grow your content strategy with webinars”