Webinar Metrics That Matter: How to Measure What Moves the Needle (Blog 3 of 3)

If you’ve put in the work to plan, promote, and host a high-value webinar, don’t stop short when it’s time to measure results. After all, webinars are an incredible opportunity to unlock insights that can inform future content creation. That’s why every successful webinar campaign should end with a clear, data-backed performance review.

This blog gives you a roadmap for diagnosing webinar performance from top-of-funnel promotion to bottom-line business impact. We’ve put together a list of questions you can ask yourself to assess what’s working and where you need to improve. 

If you're just getting started, check out the first post in our series on webinar strategy and planning to set your foundation. Already have your game plan locked? Don’t miss our guide to pre-, mid-, and post-webinar tactics for making the most of your execution.

Part 1: Audience, Promotion, and Engagement

Did we reach a large enough audience?

Before you can get people to register for your webinar, you need to reach. So, the first checkpoint in evaluating webinar performance is reach: How many people saw your promotional efforts and became aware of the webinar?

Look at volume across your promotional channels:

• Email: Total recipients across your webinar campaign emails and newsletter

• Social: The number of people who saw your webinar posts on LinkedIn, Twitter, or through content partners

• CPM (cost per thousand impressions): A good metric for efficiency—especially if you’re running paid campaigns

Did we promote the event in a compelling way?

Reach is only the first part of the equation. Next, look at whether your messaging converted views into clicks and sign-ups.

Evaluate each channel’s ability to move people to action:

• Email: Look at open rates (is your subject line doing its job?), click-through rates to the registration page (did the email content compel?), and the ultimate metric, sign-up rate (did the landing page itself inspire?)

• Social and content partner channels: Count clicks to the registration page, total number of sign-ups, cost per click (CPC), and cost per sign-up to understand ROI by source

Was the webinar engaging?

All the registrations in the world won’t help if people zone out two minutes into the live event. 

Use your webinar platform’s analytics to understand how well the content landed:

• Average watch duration: Did people stick around? Where did they drop off?

• Engagement with interactive features: Poll responses, chat participation, downloads—these signal active participation, not just passive attendance

Part 2: On-Demand Value and Business Impact

Did the replay audience see value in the webinar?

The live event was just the beginning. A strong on-demand strategy can extend your reach for weeks. To see how well that did, you’ll want to measure:

• Traffic sources for on-demand views: Were people able to find your replay via email, organic search, or social shares?

• Follow-up email performance: Look at open and click-through rates of your follow-up emails. How many people clicked to watch on-demand or download resources?

• Post-event social engagement: How well did your recap posts, snippets, and quote graphics perform?

Did the webinar shift how your brand is perceived?

Not all impact is measured in leads. Some of it shows up in how people think about your company.

The best way to assess this? Ask your audience.

• Post-webinar surveys: Ask attendees if their perception of your brand has changed, if they learned something new, or if they’re more likely to engage with you moving forward

Did the webinar deliver against business objectives?

This is where you get down to brass tacks. Did this webinar support your actual business goals, like generating new leads or moving existing prospects down the funnel? 

Check:

• Lead generation: Total number of leads captured from the webinar, both during registration and follow-up

• Lead quality: How many of those leads meet your qualification criteria (MQLs, SQLs)

• Conversion rate: The percentage of registrants that converted to leads and how many became qualified opportunities
  

A Few Final Tips

Don’t stop at collecting data. Analyze patterns across multiple webinars to refine what works. Compare performance by segment—by audience type, format, or channel—to uncover optimization opportunities. And align your reporting with sales and leadership KPIs to make sure marketing is tied directly to pipeline.

Need a partner to help you turn webinars into real growth engines? Let us know. Wheels Up has helped dozens of startups build high-performing, pipeline-driving webinar programs, from strategic planning to execution and performance analysis.

Let’s build your next webinar with results in mind.