Feature Friday: Do Not Fear the Friday Webinar

Oh, Fridays. The end of the workweek and the start of the weekend. Some relax and take it easy. Some need to attend to last-minute to-dos. Most, I hope, read Feature Friday blog posts (thank you!). One thing you might not think happens often on a Friday, however, is a webinar. But the times are changing!

Due to concerns that audiences would not be available, marketers often avoided hosting a Friday webinar. But running webinars on the last day of the business week may be key to increasing conversion and lead rates and connecting with prospects and customers.

Audiences are now just as engaged on a Tuesday as a Friday. In our 2020 Webinar Benchmarks Report, we noted that the mid-week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, were the best days to host a webinar. But the massive shift to remote work due to COVID-19 health concerns has opened up Friday as another great day to host.

Friday’s Numbers Overall

Here’s a quick breakdown of why Friday has become an ideal day to run webinars: Between Q4 2019 and Q1 2020, webinars hosted on Fridays saw a registration to attendance conversion increase of nearly 10% — a number that’s expected to grow. When comparing engagement during the first week March (right before most United States lockdowns began due to the spread of COVID-19) versus the first week of April (after more cities and states instituted lockdowns), Friday webinar attendance increased by 406% globally.

Previously, Fridays weren’t a critical part of the webinar equation. Now, however, Fridays are seemingly becoming part of the Friday fold. The ON24 platform also experienced a 173% increase in the number of Friday events between the first week of March and the first week of April.

Strategic Friday Webinars

So what about when there isn’t a massive stay at home movement? How can webinar practitioners strategically use Fridays to their advantage?

Anecdotally, we’ve found Fridays for recurring events like our Daily Demo. Contrary to what you might expect, the Daily Demos on Friday have traditionally generated the most leads out of all the days in the week. This makes sense from a certain perspective: Fridays are good days to catch up on emails, calls or other low-priority tasks you haven’t had the chance to manage earlier in the week. A 30-minute demo is an easy addition to round out a week.

In sum: If you want and need more availability and engagement opportunities, you don’t have to fear hosting a Friday webinar. Your audiences can still attend and engage with you and your content.

Be sure to check out our 2020 Webinar Benchmarks Report to gain more perspective and insights on digital experiences.