How long will the webinar take?

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One of the questions our clients often ask is “How long will my webinar take?” and “What is the best webinar duration?”

We have the answer for you: keep it short, maybe under 10 minutes.

Here's why.

History of our short webinar format

We call it “WebiNINE — 9 Minute Webinar”

Nearly two years ago, long before the pandemic and the dizzying rise of screen fatigue, Jay Baer pioneered a new idea for seminor. Offer a full webinar in just nine minutes! We call this " WebiNINE .” It was never heard of or certainly not popular. But with switching to this format for C&C webinars and subsequently with clients, we've seen tangible benefits globally. So much so that we now boldly declare the death of 45 – up to 60 minute webinars!

Benefits of Short Webinar

There are five undeniable benefits to this shorter format:

1. Shorter means more subscribers because it doesn't take an hour of their day.

Face it, the 1-hour block in time is often hard on a daily schedule. That's a big ask for something as unnecessary as a webinar. But nine minutes, heck, that's not even 10 minutes. That's not too big of a request during the commit.

2. Shorter means that people who can't stream are more likely to watch the recording.

If you track your internal webinar attendance, the number of people who sign up versus the number of people who actually show up, you know it's never 100%. Usually much lower. And the convenient excuse we all tell ourselves when the day's carefully planned schedule doesn't go right is, "I'll just watch the replay of the webinar." And you know from your own experience, that usually doesn't happen either. 45 minutes to an hour time commitment is still a big ask. But the nine-minute webinar replay was swift. That might be the right length to start before starting a project you've been procrastinating on.

3. Shorter means it's much better for the sales team to send the link to the prospect. It's much easier to ask a prospect to watch 9 minutes than it is 60.

If your webinar content plays any role in lead generation or customer retention (which often happens), consider how easy and helpful your sales team can provide. deliver by delivering a quick, 9-minute webinar on a topic of interest to potential customers, versus expectations, and imposing something even longer. Prospects are busy. Make the message relevant and fast (no more than nine minutes).

4. Shorter means it's easier to create featured videos that are 1-2 minutes long for social media use.

It doesn't take much effort to collect those gems for atomization on other channels. You'll quickly find the nine-minute format is, of course, all gems! This makes reposting, kick-starting, and sharing much more productive for everyone involved.

5. Shorter usually means better content itself.

Like comedians, most people can do 10 Minute Educational Content. 45 – 60 is a completely different ball game.

Knowing you have only nine minutes to deliver your message, or messages, forces you to focus on the key elements and leave everything unnecessary on the cutting room floor. That means better content. That can help viewers better engage, retain, and share. Write a script for your webinar, or at least sketch it, rehearse it, and time it with a stopwatch. Always try to end it without seeming rushed at the end.

How to format your short webinar

Here is your opening script:

Intro: Minute 1

“What is this webinar, and yes, it will be done in 9 minutes.”
“Yes, it is being recorded and yes, we will send a link later. ”
“No there won't be any Q&A as we have a lot to share with you in the remaining 8 minutes and 30 seconds. ”

Content: Minutes 2-8

Now dive into your first point. Reach out to it, directly, and keep your thoughts focused on that main point. Then move on to the next section.

In our experience, getting between five and seven is where you should be aiming. Much more than that, and it can get rushed and difficult to fully support each of those points. An average of about 60 seconds per screen is a good benchmark.

Closed: Minute 9

Keep closings short and concise. This is not a Q&A time, but you can use it as an opportunity for potential customers to contact you directly with their questions, which is also a good way to Start a conversation with your audience.