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How the planner reads your date
A webinar rarely fails on the day. It fails three weeks earlier, when the registration page is not live yet or the first email goes out after your audience's calendars have filled. So this planner counts back. You pick the date, the start time and how much lead time you take: two, four or six weeks. It puts every step on a day, from the moment topic and speaker are fixed to the follow-up email a week after the broadcast.
Team tasks that would land on a weekend move to the Friday before. Nobody works on slides on a Saturday. Reminders to registrants stay on their day, because they hang on the webinar itself: the day before is the day before, even if that is a Sunday. If the webinar itself falls on a weekend, the planner says so. For a business audience that is rarely a good idea.
Click download and you get a calendar file with every step as an appointment. Open it in Outlook, Google Calendar or Apple Calendar. If you work with others, forward it to the speaker and the colleague who handles the tech. Viewers in another time zone? Convert the start time with the time zone calculator before you fix the date.
The twelve steps with four weeks of lead time
- 4 weeks aheadTopic, speaker and platformA topic your audience has a question about, someone who can explain it, and a platform that tracks registrations.
- 3.5 weeks aheadRegistration page liveA page with the promise, the date in your audience's time zone, the speaker and a short form.
- 3 weeks aheadFirst announcementAn email to your list, a post on your site and a post on the channels where your audience is.
- 2 weeks aheadSecond waveA short clip or quote from the speaker. People register for a person, not for a topic.
- 1 week aheadSlides and reminderSlides and poll questions done, and a first reminder to everyone who registered.
- 3 days aheadDress rehearsalWith the same laptop, the same mic, the same link and the same connection as on the day.
- The day itselfReminders and broadcastAn email the day before, a last one an hour ahead, then live.
- AfterwardsReplay and follow-upThe recording to everyone who registered, and a week later an email with a next step.
When to schedule a webinar
Research by Contrast across more than 500,000 registrants found Wednesday the strongest day for live attendance, followed by Tuesday and Thursday. Monday morning and Friday afternoon do worse: people are planning their week or have already left. By hour, 2 PM and 11 AM score best. Those figures come from an international sample; your own audience may differ.
| Choice | What works well | What often disappoints |
|---|---|---|
| Day | Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday | Monday, Friday, weekend |
| Hour for a European audience | 11:00 or 14:00 | early morning, after 16:00 |
| Length | 30 to 45 minutes, plus questions | over an hour without a break |
| Lead time | four weeks | under ten days |
| Reminders | a week, a day and an hour ahead | only the confirmation email |
Do not expect everyone who registers to turn up. The ON24 benchmark report on 2024 came out at an average 57 percent of registrants watching live or later. Other platforms measure around 40 to 50 percent live. So plan for about half, and make sure the other half gets the replay. For many people that recording is the real webinar.
Why four weeks is the default
Two weeks works for a fixed audience you already know: clients, members, an internal group. For people you do not know yet, it is too short. The first announcement needs time to be read and forwarded. Many registrations only come in the last week, but only if the first wave already put the date in their head.
Six weeks suits a large webinar with an outside speaker, a partner who co-promotes or ads that need to learn. How to build a registration page that works is covered under landing page design. Facebook and Instagram ads for your webinar work best with a Meta pixel on that page, so you see which click became a registration.
The emails that do the work
Most registrations come from email, not social. Your own list already knows you and opens what you send. Write the announcement like an invitation: a subject with a question your reader recognises, two sentences on what he can do afterwards, the date and a button. More on tone and structure in how to write a newsletter.
The reminders are shorter. A week ahead you repeat the promise and the date. The day before you send the link and a calendar file. An hour ahead only the link, with a question whether they have tested their mic. To reach people who are not on your list yet, Facebook and Instagram ads that send to your registration page work. Start two weeks ahead, so the campaign has time to learn.
Planning, reminders and turnout
How much time do I need to organise a webinar?
Four weeks for an audience you still have to reach, two weeks for a fixed audience. Shorter is possible, but you miss the people who plan their calendar a few weeks ahead.
How many reminders should I send?
Three works well: a week ahead, the day before and an hour ahead with the link. The confirmation email after registering does not count.
What is a good webinar turnout?
Around half of registrants live is normal. The ON24 report on 2024 came out at 57 percent including replay. Send the recording to everyone who registered.
Can I open the calendar file in Outlook?
Yes. It is a plain .ics file. Outlook, Google Calendar and Apple Calendar read it and put every step in your calendar as an appointment.
After the webinar
The recording is the start of the second half. A 45 minute webinar yields a replay for those who missed it, three to five short clips for your social channels, and a video that can be found on YouTube for years if the title is right. Test that title with the YouTube thumbnail preview and read under YouTube channel management how a channel grows that way.
If you want to hand off the whole process, from registration page to the clips afterwards, read what we do under webinar production. More on the shape of the day itself is in how to host a webinar. Put your plan for the rest of the year in our content calendar template, and ask any open question through contact.