How to increase your webinar show-⁠up rate

Increase your webinar show-up rate: more signups in the room.

Q: Does SMS help more people show up?

It can, especially for the 1-hour reminder. It costs a little per message, so test it against your own numbers.

To increase webinar show-⁠up rate, make it easy to remember and easy to join: give every signup a personal join link and calendar invite straight away, send reminders 24 hours and 1 hour before with the link first, show the time in two time zones, add an optional SMS, and send a replay with a deadline to anyone who still misses it.

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By Kuldip Parmar, Founder · Updated November 2026

Livestorm’s 2026 benchmark of 33,786 webinar sessions puts average live attendance at 47.7% of registrants. The gap is rarely your topic. It’s what happens between signing up and the start time.

In short

Livestorm’s benchmark of 33,786 webinar sessions puts average live attendance at 47.7% of registrants.
Most no-⁠shows forget or can’t find the link; few decide to skip.
A calendar invite at signup does more than any later email.
The 1-⁠hour reminder should lead with the join link.
Measure show-⁠up as live attendees divided by signups, every event.

Why people sign up but never show

They forget

They signed up a week ago, and nothing put the event in their calendar.

They can’t find the link

It’s in one email from days ago. At start time, they give up looking.

The time is unclear

They’re in another time zone and guessed wrong, because the email only showed yours.

Three fixes, in order of impact

Personal link and calendar invite at signup

The event and their link are in their calendar from day one.

Reminders 24 hours and 1 hour before

Each with their own one-⁠click link. Show the time in two time zones.

A replay within 24 hours for everyone else

Some people will always miss it. Send the replay with a deadline so they still watch.

Why do people register for a webinar and not show up?

Signing up takes ten seconds. Turning up means remembering, being free and finding the link at the right moment. Each of those is a small gap:

Time passes. Someone who signed up a week ago has had a week of other emails.
Nothing is in their calendar. If the event lives only in their inbox, it’s easy to double-⁠book.
The link is buried. At start time, they search their inbox, find the wrong email, and give up.
The time is unclear. They read “7pm” and assume their own time zone.

None of these are about your topic. They’re about the steps in between, which is good news: they are all fixable.

What is the step-by-step plan to raise show-up?

At signup: register each person in Zoom or WebinarJam so they get a personal link. Show a thank-⁠you page that says “Add this to your calendar now”, with the button right there.
Within a minute: send the confirmation with their link, the time in two zones and a calendar invite.
24 hours before: a short reminder with one line on what they’ll get from it.
1 hour before: the link first, then the time. Nothing else.
Optional, 10 to 15 minutes before: a text with the link, for people who agreed to SMS.
At start time: someone watching for “I can’t get in” replies, with the link ready to paste.
Within 24 hours: the replay, with a deadline, for everyone who missed it.

Example copy for each email is on the webinar reminder emails guide.

Does the day and time of a webinar matter?

It matters less than the reminders, but it still matters. Choose a time that works for your audience, not just your diary:

For a UK and US East Coast audience, an early evening UK slot lands in the US afternoon.
Including the US West Coast too pushes you later in the UK evening.
Avoid times when your audience is usually with clients, if you know them.

The best test is your own data. Keep the time the same for a few events, then change one thing and compare. Write down the day, time, signups and live attendees for every event, so you can compare like with like.

Also give people a simple way to say they can’t make it, such as “Reply to this email if you can’t come and I’ll send you the replay.” It keeps them engaged, and tells you who to send the “missed it” path to.

What should I do on the night to stop people dropping off?

Open the room a few minutes early, with a simple “We start at 7pm UK” slide.
Welcome people by name in the chat as they arrive.
Tell them early what they’ll leave with, and when you’ll finish.
Have a second person handle tech problems, so you can teach.
Record from the start, so the replay is ready the next morning.

How do I track show-up rate properly?

Use personal join links, then download the Zoom attendee report after the event. Show-⁠up rate is people who came live divided by people who signed up. Count each person once, even if they joined twice. Copy this template and fill in one row per event:

Swipe for more →

Event	Signups	Came live	Show-⁠up rate	Booked calls
[Date]	[Number]	[Number]	[Came live ÷ signups]	[Number]

Compare with your own last few events, not just the average. If you’d rather not build this yourself, our free Leak Check scores your flow out of 15.

Questions people ask

What is a good webinar show-up rate?

Livestorm’s 2026 benchmark of 33,786 webinar sessions puts the average at 47.7% of registrants, and says anything above 50% is strong. The useful number is your own: write it down every event and try to beat it.

Does SMS help more people show up?

It can, especially for the 1-⁠hour reminder. It costs a little per message, so test it against your own numbers.

How do you measure show-up?

With personal Zoom links, attendance comes back for each person. Show-⁠up rate is people who came live divided by people who signed up.

Do paid webinars get better show-up than free ones?

People who pay usually have a stronger reason to come, because they’ve already committed something. But paying doesn’t stop people forgetting or losing the link. The same basics apply: a personal link, a calendar invite and reminders 24 hours and 1 hour before. Test any change against your own past events.

Does a shorter gap between signup and event help?

Often, yes. The longer the gap, the more time people have to forget or book something else. If you promote for weeks, keep promoting, but add a short check-⁠in email a few days before so earlier signups remember why they registered. Then the usual 24-⁠hour and 1-⁠hour reminders take over.

Should I offer a bonus for attending live?

It can help if the bonus is real and only makes sense live, such as live Q&A or a worksheet you walk through together. Say it in the 24-⁠hour reminder. Avoid promising something you then also put in the replay, or people will learn that live doesn’t matter.

Does a thank-you page help show-up?

Yes, if it asks for one thing. Right after signup, people are paying attention, so use the thank-⁠you page to say “Add this to your calendar now” with the calendar button right there, and tell them to look for the confirmation email. Don’t fill it with videos and other offers that distract from that one step.