The Marketing Millennials Episode 344: 5 Webinar Mistakes to Avoid with Logan Lyles, Founder of DemandShift
Date: August 29, 2025
Host: Daniel Murray
Guest: Logan Lyles

Episode Overview

This episode delves deep into the most common mistakes marketers make when running webinars, featuring Logan Lyles, founder of DemandShift and a B2B webinar expert. Daniel and Logan break down why most webinar programs fall short, outline practical strategies to turn webinars into a high-performing acquisition channel, and share in-the-trenches tactics for better tracking, promotion, engagement, and repurposing. Throughout, they emphasize actionable insights, real-world stories, and Logan’s "Webinar Fast Track Framework."

Main Themes and Purpose

• Challenging the typical "dead end" B2B webinar playbook: Most marketers run webinars as a one-off lead gen activity with poor tracking and lack of intent.
• Reengineering webinars as a consistent, high-impact channel: Logan shares how treating webinars like an ongoing series (not just events) fuels better pipeline and thought leadership.
• Practical frameworks and modern tactics: From intent-driven signup flows to high-converting hooks and creative repurposing, Logan offers step-by-step advice.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The #1 Webinar Mistake: Lack of Tracking & Intent (02:53)

• Logan: The biggest issue is marketers want webinars to drive leads, but don't track conversions from registration to booked calls.
  • Quote: “They want webinars to drive leads, but they're not effectively tracking it. They don't have a system for converting webinar registrants into leads.” [03:32]
• Data Insight: Most marketers Logan surveyed didn't even know their own webinar-to-sales call conversion rates.

2. Start with the Right Mindset: Webinars as a Program (05:09)

• Treat webinars as a program/channel, not one-offs.
• Story arc over multiple events: Use a consistent series to increase attendance, engagement, and repeat conversion opportunities.
  • Quote: “I think a lot of people box themselves in...I think the other pitfall is looking at, hey, I'm going to spin up a webinar...as a one off thing...and try and get some leads. That’s missing the forest for the trees.” [05:40]

3. Building Momentum: Tying Webinars to Larger Initiatives (07:17)

• Daniel shares: At The Marketing Millennials, all webinars ladder up to a larger virtual event, driving ongoing registration and maximizing list building for their big launch.

4. Maximizing Conversion: The "Double Opt-In" & Progressive Registration (08:45)

• Progressive registration survey: After signing up, ask a few extra questions (role, pain point, intent to book call) to segment leads in real-time.
  • Logan: “I saw a much higher conversion rate than the typical ‘right hook at the end’ approach. There’s power in striking while the iron’s hot.” [09:43]
• Daniel: This process helps pre-qualify and segment audiences for targeted sales outreach.

5. Unique Value of Webinars: Real Intent Data (10:47)

• Webinar attendance shows deeper intent than clicks or downloads.
  • Daniel: “...You build a list of people who have attended events...usually convert more down funnel for sales than...your email list...”

6. The Webinar Fast Track Framework: Four Pillars (11:47–14:16)

a) Promotion — Beyond Email & Organic (11:56)

• Traditional: Email/in-house lists, organic, paid social
• Standout tactics:
  • Paid/partner promotions in industry newsletters
  • Cold email (content-only offers, not sales)
    • Logan: “I saw as much as 40% increase in my registrations...by adding cold email.” [13:42]

b) Signup Flow — Two-Step Registration (26:26)

• Custom landing page + redirect to survey or progressive form
• Capture both basic info & qualifying questions
  • Logan: “By making it feel like a one step process...I went from 1-2% of webinar signups booking sales calls to as high as 10%.” [28:12]
• Segment “hot” vs. “cold” leads for tailored follow-up.

c) The Live Show — Making it Interactive (21:06, 33:00)

• Series format increases repeat attendance.
• Live-only elements: Polls, Q&A, on-stage attendee questions, interactive chats, exclusive offers.
  • Logan: “Doing things live that only people live get to experience...rewards those attendees of feeling like, hey, I'm experiencing something others didn’t get.” [21:32]
  • Example: Audit/giveaway offers for first few live bookings [24:35]
  • Creative example: “Vote in chat...which [A/B test] do you think worked? That created a lot of engagement.” [33:20]

d) Repurposing & Amplification (35:03, 36:26, 40:24)

• Most marketers don’t “re-promote” high-performing webinars on-demand.
• Repurpose into: Clips, blog posts, memes, cross-channel content, email sequences.
  • Logan: “AI isn’t going to develop your brand point of view...but if you’ve spent time developing those things...AI is really great at summarizing and organizing that information.” [38:00]
• Process tip: Use guest/user content for additional exposure — “When you get [guests] to agree to be on the webinar, ask them, will you be willing to promote this?...equip them with how to do that.” [42:16]

7. Stand-Out Tactics for Better Promotion & Engagement (16:08, 19:00)

• Stop using forgettable titles and graphics:
  • Workshop the title 10–20 times, make it outcome-based (like a YouTube video).
  • Design landing/graphic like a YouTube thumbnail, less focus on dates/faces, more on the outcome.
  • Logan: “I've started designing webinar graphics more like YouTube thumbnails to increase click through rates.” [18:25]
• Live attendance levers: Exclusive content, “no recording” policies, live-only offers.

8. Segmenting for Smarter Sales (29:31)

• Don’t burn cold leads.
  • Daniel: “You get a list of 300 webinar attendees, they send it to SDR or AE...Instead: 50 said they’re interested, send custom outreach to those 50.”
  • Logan: “You don't want to miss out on the 5%, but you don't want to burn bridges with the 95%...By asking those questions you separate the hot from the cold leads.” [30:29]

9. Tracking and Nurturing: Go Beyond Registrant vs. Attendee (47:19)

• Track: First-time vs repeat registrants, registration path answers, how long they attended, behavioral data.
  • Daniel: “You treat someone whose first time versus the fifth time differently.” [48:11]

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• "They want webinars to drive leads, but they're not effectively tracking it." — Logan [03:32]
• "Treat it as a program, as an ongoing channel, as a series." — Logan [05:09]
• "There's power in striking while the iron's hot." — Logan [09:43]
• "If you're doing webinars, you need to commit to doing them consistently." — Daniel [07:17]
• “Stop leading with the time and date...really optimizing the copy on the landing page to be short, punchy: What are you going to get out of it?” — Logan [18:37]
• "You don't want to miss out on the 5%, but you don't want to burn bridges with the 95%." — Logan [30:29]
• “If you have outside guests...bring them into the promotion and the amplification and repurposing on the front and back end and think about how could I build a process to make it easy for them.” — Logan [42:39]
• "You have to have brand in order to do demand gen well." — Logan [47:01]

Memorable Moments

• Logan’s “conversion cliff” realization — High signup numbers but no pipeline; led to the progressive survey and double opt-in (01:30, 08:45).
• Daniel’s Marketing Millennials event ladder play — Webinars feed a bigger event, building a pipeline and audience anticipation (07:17).
• YouTube-style optimization for webinars — Rethinking graphics, copy, and landing page for curiosity and conversion (16:08-19:00).
• Building automations for guest amplification — Providing speakers with copy, options, and content they’ll actually want to share (42:16).
• The “art and science” of repurposing — Leverage AI to turn transcripts into posts, scripts, and even memes, but only when you start with intentional positioning (36:26, 40:24).

Timestamped Guide to Key Segments

• 00:00–01:06 – Intro & Logan’s background; DemandShift origins
• 02:53–04:07 – Biggest webinar mistake: not tracking conversion goals
• 05:09–07:17 – Why webinars must be an ongoing program, not isolated events
• 08:45–10:09 – Double opt-in/progressive registration increases pipeline
• 11:47–14:16 – Holistic promotion tactics + Logan’s Fast Track Framework
• 16:08–19:00 – Titles, graphics, and landing page copy for higher webinar signups
• 21:06–26:26 – Live engagement: polls, exclusive offers, Q&A strategies
• 26:26–33:00 – Two-step signup, lead segmentation, quality live shows
• 35:03–40:24 – Repurposing, AI workflows, and ongoing content amplification
• 42:16–45:23 – Amplification: getting guests to promote and participate
• 45:23–47:19 – Logan’s “marketing hill to die on”: invest in brand, not just leads
• 47:19–48:25 – Smart tracking and nurturing for repeat and high-intent webinar attendees

Episode Summary: Actionable Playbook

1. Set a clear objective: Know your conversion metrics for webinars before you launch.
2. View webinars as a recurring series, not one-offs. Build anticipation and engagement over time.
3. Promotion: Go beyond your own lists – partner with industry newsletters, run cold outbound (but make it value-first).
4. Signup flow: Use custom landing pages and progressive surveys to segment and convert; don’t just dump everyone into the same nurture.
5. Live experience: Maximize interaction with polls, chats, incentives for live attendance, and audience participation.
6. Distinctive packaging: Optimize your title and thumbnail like a YouTube video; focus on outcomes, not speakers or dates.
7. Segment your audience: Pass “hand-raisers” to sales, nurture the rest.
8. Repurpose & amplify: Make on-demand high performers evergreen assets. Use AI and systems to spin out social posts, articles, and more.
9. Empower guests: Provide assets and copy so guests will actually promote with you.
10. Track the right stuff: Go deeper than just registered/attended; track engagement, intent, and behavioral milestones.

Connect with Logan Lyles:

• LinkedIn: Logan Lyles
• Website: demandshift.co

Connect with Daniel Murray:

• Twitter: @Dmurr68
• LinkedIn: Daniel Murray

This episode is a goldmine for any marketer looking to overhaul (or finally make a real impact with) webinars, full of practical steps and tested frameworks from two pros who’ve made the mistakes — and built the systems — themselves.