As digital fatigue increases with video chat and online meeting applications, new data in The 2022 State of Digital Experiences report from ON24 reveals this fatigue does not apply to digital experiences like webinars, curated content, and personalized experiences.
Over the past two years, B2B marketers increased the total number of digital experiences 136% to accelerate their digital-first strategies. Despite more experiences, audiences are showing no signs of fatigue. Engagement metrics such as length of attendance and interactions were higher again last year, with Calls to Action (CTA) engagement during personalized target experiences seeing the most dramatic increase – rising 3,106% in 2021.
“Audience attendance and engagement in digital experiences outpaced 2020 and reached an all-time high last year, despite growing discussion about digital fatigue,” said Cheri Hulse, vice president of strategy and research at ON24. “This is encouraging for B2B marketers, signaling that not all digital channels are created equal and that engaging digital experiences are the antidote to this fatigue.”
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Webinars continue driving audience engagement and leads
Audience engagement during digital experiences is consistently increasing. Marketers are using more engagement tools and continuing to align experiences – and CTAs in these experiences – to meet prospects and customers where they are on their buying journey.
The average length of webinar attendance rose 8% last year from nearly 49 minutes to almost 53 minutes. Attendee engagement with tools such as polling, content, and surveys grew 31% in 2021. CTAs taken at the end of webinars also increased, as “Book a Meeting” grew 1,028%, an overwhelming indication that audiences are increasingly taking action during engaging experiences. For sales and marketing, the data shows webinars remain one of the most significant lead generation activities.
Conversion rates reveal opportunity to change promotional strategies
Conversion from registration to attending a live and on-demand webinar saw a modest decrease of just over 4 percentage points last year. In 2019, before the pandemic, 43% of registration occurred the day-of and week before the event, while in 2021 this rose to 66%.
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This trend indicates an opportunity for marketers to better understand the registration cycle and change their promotional strategies to accommodate a shortened registration window. Tactics used for physical, in-person experiences, including stopping promotion the week of the event, don’t apply in the digital world. Marketers should continue promoting their digital experiences through the day of the event to increase conversion.
Curated content and personalized experiences show strong growth and conversion
The popularity of curated content experiences continues to grow, with total experiences increasing nearly 31% since 2020. As marketers share more content and find ways to repurpose it into new experiences, they drive higher audience engagement before an event and increase the likelihood of someone attending a digital experience. Conversion rates for curated content experiences increased year-over-year 15% points.
Marketers are also increasingly using personalized experiences to engage their target audiences. The rate in which audiences actively engaged in targeted experiences and attendee conversion was more than 18 percentage points higher in 2021. This indicates a trend emerging around personalized experiences, which can also be an effective way to lower issues with digital fatigue.
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[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]
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