In this day and age, online communication is critical. Whether you're trying to keep in touch with friends and family or stay up-to-date on the latest news and trends, there's a good chance that you're doing at least some of your communication online.
When it comes to communication in business situations, webinars are one of the best tools available. They will allow you to connect with your target audience, provide value and offer them something that will solve their problems.
But what exactly should you look for when choosing a webinar software that will work best for you? While there are multiple solutions available, understanding what your goals are and keeping them in mind as you decide on the right webinar software, is crucial.
In this article, I'll walk through the top webinar software options currently on the market and discuss which features they offer. After that, I’ll discuss a few tips to consider when choosing a webinar platform that's right for you.
Choosing The Right Webinar Software For Your Needs
The following are some of the best webinar platforms available in the market right now.
Demio
Best For Quickly Creating Fully-Fledged Webinars
Demio is an easy-to-use, no-download webinar platform that allows you to have all of the marketing tools needed to get your message across. Creating your webinar has never been easier with a drag-and-drop editor and an in-browser slide editing tool. You'll have access to tools for hosting, presenting, and recording audio and video so you can also target people who missed the live presentation or update past recordings with new information.
Demio's platform contains more options to customize your webinar than any other. This means that Demio has got you covered, whatever your needs and your goals.
Everything you need to create a gorgeous registration process, promote your event, and collect registrations can be found within one interface. You can also embed a registration form on your website if you're using their native registration pages, or if you have your own, just paste in your registration URL.
Use their engagement suite of tools, such as chat, polls, and highlighted activities, to turn leads into customers as they get to know more about what your business can offer them.
Key Features
Pricing
There are four pricing plans for Demio, which are as follows:
Note that these prices are part of their two-year plan, where you end up saving up to 40% when compared to regular payments.
Easy Webinar
Best For Creating Webinars Without Needing To Understand Technology
Easy Webinar is one of the most accessible webinar software to use. It's perfect for businesses that want to host webinars without worrying about the technology behind them. Using their built-in tools and features, you can create, manage, and promote your webinars with little effort.
Hosting live and automated webinars with a single click is easy when you use their tool. It comes with built-in landing pages, registration pages, and a web page builder to help you create a professional online presence without any hassle.
With just a few clicks, you can use their plug-and-play system to add interactive features like chat, surveys, and live voting on your webinars.
Easy Webinar is your best bet if you want to launch multiple webinars without any technical experience.
Key Features
Pricing
With three pricing plans available, EasyWebinar fees are as follows:
Livestorm
Best For Using Webinars To Connect To Your Target Audience
Livestorm makes it simple to connect with your audience by providing an all-in-one webinar platform that includes video conferencing, chat, and breakout sessions.
You can create a webinar in minutes using their easy-to-use templates and tools. Plus, you'll be able to powerfully engage your audience with their real-time questions, polls, and chats.
An end-to-end video engagement platform allows businesses to produce meetings and webinars at scale. This platform keeps the focus on business and ensures that you don't have to worry about the technology behind your webinar.
With various features, Livestorm is perfect for any business that wants to conduct webinars and meetings. This platform allows you to connect with your audience quickly and include them in the conversation through built-in polls, surveys, chat boxes, and more.
Key Features
Pricing
With a free plan available to test out this system, Livestorm then offers two paid plans, as follows:
Webinar Ninja
Best For Using A Platform Built For Teaching
Webinar Ninja is a webinar software designed for teaching, rather than just a meeting solution. This means that Webinar Ninja's primary focus is delivering quality content and in-depth presentations.
WebinarNinja is one of the most comprehensive, cost-effective, user-friendly webinar software for trainers, instructors, coaches, and creators. This makes it perfect for anyone who wants to create, manage, and deliver high-quality webinars without any hassle.
In a matter of seconds, you may have a fully functional webinar up and running. There is no need to be concerned about presentation slides that don’t look the part, or even software malfunctions.
Connect with your audience in real-time or at a later date. Their platform enables you to reach your audience even if they cannot attend the live event. With the ability to record your webinars for on-demand playback, get your content delivered at a time that fits your audience without you needing to be there live.
Key Features
Pricing
With a free plan offering the webinar experience to up to 10 live attendees, you can explore the features that this system offers you. After that, these are the paid plans:
WebinarJam
Best For Using Cloud Technology To Deliver Your Teaching Material
WebinarJam uses cloud technology that makes it simple to broadcast your webinars without the need for any downloads or installations. Plus, you can use their platform to promote and sell your products and services with just a few clicks.
WebinarJam is perfect for online entrepreneurs who want to create quickly, market, and sell their products and services. Their all-in-one platform allows you to develop high-quality webinars quickly, run effective marketing campaigns, and sell products with ease.
With the potential to reach up to 5000 people, WebinarJam is perfect for businesses of all sizes. You'll be able to connect with your audience in real-time and create a connection that can result in increased sales and conversions.
The resolution should be high enough to ensure that the video is not pixelated or fuzzy, and with all of this information, streaming will be smooth. Video transmission with High Definition (HD), 30 FPS, high-quality video, and audio broadcasting is a critical element of providing an optimal experience for your webinar attendees.
In addition, use live chat to communicate with your attendees in real-time and run polls and surveys to get feedback during the presentation.
Key Features
Pricing
With the highest package able to host up to 5000 attendees, these are the pricing plans available.
Functionality To Look For When Choosing Your Webinar Software
Not all webinar software platforms are created equally. Some are more functional than others, but deciding what to look for depends on your specific needs. Let's have a look at some of the key features you consider when choosing a webinar platform:
Ease Of Use
Creating webinars is not an easy task. If the software isn't simple to use, it's frustrating and time-consuming, resulting in increased costs for your business.
The most important thing is that you must be able to launch your webinar quickly with little or no effort. Whether you're creating an on-demand webinar, or launching one that has been scheduled months in advance, the process should be quick with minimal technical issues.
In addition, the software must be able to easily integrate with other tools and services that your business is dependent upon. For example, if you're integrating registration and payment processes, there should be no issues with compatibility or connectivity issues.
Mobile & Tablet Friendly
If your website is mobile-friendly, so should your webinar platform be. Being browser-based makes this possible for any web-enabled device, including iOS or Android devices. You want to avoid being tied into an app for mobile access because if there are problems with the app down the road (which might happen), you'll have to wait for the app developer to release an update instead of being able to use a browser solution.
In addition, you want attendees to be able to join in on the fun from anywhere they happen to be, without having to download an extra app. With the rise of mobile devices, this is more important than ever before. Allowing attendees to join from their phones and tablets will increase attendance and interaction.
The Number Of Participants
A live webinar usually maxes out at around 100-300 people. Beyond that, you'll start to see some degradation in both audio and video quality. If your webinars routinely have more than 300 attendees, you may need to look for a platform that can accommodate a larger audience.
Some platforms allow for an unlimited number of attendees, but be sure to check the specs before signing up. You also want to look at reviews to ensure that the platform can handle a large number of participants without any problems. If you're using video or audio files as part of your presentation, you'll need to ensure enough bandwidth is available to avoid any glitches or buffering issues.
The Ability To Record And Playback Webinars
Webinar features are not just for live events. In many cases, you'll want to be able to record your training and then release it as an evergreen webinar to help with your marketing. This allows you to reach a larger audience who may not have attended the live event.
Recording features also provide you with a backup if something goes wrong with the live event. If there are any technical issues during such an event, you can always go back and use the recording to help smooth things over.
Integrated Payment Processing
One of the key benefits of using a webinar platform is building a list of attendees. In many cases, you will use this list for marketing purposes, and you'll want a platform that makes it easy to integrate registration and payment processes.
Some platforms have their integrated payment system, while others allow you to use your preferred third-party payment processing service, such as PayPal. Other services like ClickBank provide webinar software that integrates seamlessly with their service, making adding new attendees into your pay-per-view sales funnel easier. A well thought out sales funnel can make you a ton of money and easy payment processing can help with this.Pricing
Pricing varies from one platform to the next, so it's a good idea to compare what different platforms have to offer before you sign up. Pricing will depend on various factors, including features, technical support options, and which third-party services you want integrations with.
In some cases, your webinar provider will charge based on the number of attendees rather than an annual fee or a per-event fee. Make sure that you understand how you'll be charged before signing up, so there are no unwelcome surprises later down the road.
A free trial is usually available with each webinar tool so that you can try out the platform and get a feel for how it works before paying for it. While free webinar software is available, it usually doesn't offer the same features or level of support as paid platforms.
Customer Service
One of the most important factors to consider when choosing a webinar platform is the quality of customer service. If something goes wrong with your live event, you'll want to know that you can count on the provider to help you fix the issue as quickly as possible.
Good customer service includes:
Make sure to check out the customer service offerings before signing up for a webinar platform. It's essential to have a backup plan if something goes wrong on the day of your event.
Marketing Features
Webinar marketing features vary from one platform to the next. The most basic components include sending out invitations and tracking registrations. Marketing features can consist of:
Make sure to check out the marketing features of different webinar platforms so that you can choose one that has the tools you need to promote your live events. Webinar tools with built-in marketing features make it easy to get your event off the ground and running.
Hybrid Webinars
Webinar technology has evolved to the point where it's possible to deliver a live event that includes both an in-person and online audience. Known as hybrid webinars, these events can be more interactive than traditional live streaming because you'll communicate with both audiences simultaneously. Live webinars that use a hybrid format can be a great way to reach more people and increase engagement.
Running a hybrid webinar requires:
The above will allow you to deliver part of your presentation remotely while speaking directly with attendees over video conference. With these abilities, you can interact with participants worldwide, which can add an extra level of excitement to your event.
Webinar Registration Pages For Webinar Participants
The webinar registration page is the first impression you'll make on potential attendees. It's essential to take your time and design a webinar registration page that looks professional and is easy for people to navigate.
A good registration page should be able to do the following:
Make sure to spend some time designing a registration page that will convince people to sign up for your event. The better the registration page looks, the more likely people will register.
Automation Features
Webinar platforms that include automation features make it easy to manage your live events. Automation features are helpful when you need to handle tasks such as sending emails, recording sessions, or updating registration lists.
Such features can also help to keep your attendees engaged. For example, automation can send reminder emails before the event or share post-event resources.
Advanced features such as on-demand webinars are a great way to reach a wider audience. They allow you to host a live event without having to worry about scheduling issues or capacity constraints. These features can give the user an experience based on their individual preferences, whether that's watching a recorded video at their convenience or joining a live event.
Webinar tools with automation features are great for giving people the chance to engage with your content on their own time. The more flexibility you offer your audience, the easier it will be to reach them.
Video Conferencing Abilities
Virtual conferences are a great way to bring people together worldwide. Webinar tools with video conferencing features make it easy for attendees and presenters to chat as if they were in the same room.
For best results, look for a webinar platform that allows for:
Video conferencing is a more personal experience than watching a live stream because it allows you to interact directly with participants over video conference. This leads to richer interactions and better engagement, making virtual events more immersive for your team or audience members.
File Sharing Abilities
Webinars are an effective way to share complex or detailed information with many people. Unfortunately, it can be challenging to convey a message effectively without presenting it in an organized manner.
Web conferencing software that includes uploading and sharing files quickly solves this problem. They give participants a way to experience the webinar content in an organized manner, whether watching a recorded video or scrolling through slides.
The file-sharing feature works best when it's intuitive and straightforward. People expect web conferencing tools to have good file-sharing capabilities so look for software with drag-and-drop functionality and other advanced features that allow you to share content in a format that resonates with your audience members.
Polls And Surveys
Online events are a great way to collect feedback from participants. By including polls and surveys in your webinars, you can get valuable insights into the thoughts and opinions of your audience members.
Webinar software with polling and survey features makes it easy to gather this information. The features allow you to ask questions to your attendees and get real-time feedback. This information can be used to improve future events or to generate leads.
Polls and surveys are also a great way to keep people engaged during a live event. They help break up the monotony of a long webinar and provide valuable insights for presenters and organizers.
Analytics Tools And Reporting
The most effective webinars include effective analytics and reporting features. These features allow you to see how your event performs and adjust it accordingly.
It's also ideal if the software includes real-time statistics showing presenters and organizers which parts of their presentations resonate with the audience best. This gives them a chance to make changes on the fly to improve engagement. Webinar tools should also provide an overview of attendee activity, such as who watched the webinar, who attended, and who joined using a specific device or connection type.
Number Of Webinars You Can Create
If you need to create unlimited webinars, it's essential to look for online event software that allows you to create an unlimited number of webinars.
As you start creating more webinars, it's best if the platform allows you to upload content in advance so it can be accessed right away when each webinar starts. This is especially useful if the presenter goes over the allotted time or runs into technical difficulties. In such cases, having preset content that one can fall back onto is important.
The more presenters and organizers need to do before a live event starts, the bigger chance they'll run into unexpected problems, which might lead them to miss important timelines. Choosing software that allows you to set up everything in advance takes care of this problem.
Number Of Presenters
Sometimes, having multiple presenters on a webinar can be helpful. This allows for different perspectives and a more engaging discussion.
If this is something you're interested in, look for software that allows for an unlimited number of presenters. This will give you the ability to have as many presenters as you want without worrying about compatibility issues. Also, make sure that the software you choose includes a chat feature so presenters can communicate with each other easily.
Screen Sharing Abilities
Webinar software with screen-sharing abilities is a must-have for presenters. This feature allows presenters to share their screens with the audience. This is a great way to show people how to do something or give a demonstration.
It's also helpful for presenters who want to show their audience a PowerPoint presentation or another type of document. Screen sharing capabilities help keep people engaged and make it easy for them to follow along.
Video And Audio Quality
HD video quality is a must-have for any webinar software. This ensures that your presentations look professional and that your audience can see everything clearly.
It's also important to consider the audio quality of the webinars you're creating. Poor audio quality can be very distracting and make it difficult for people to follow along. It might be a good idea to ensure that the software you choose includes features to enable noise cancellation if needed.
Conclusion
Webinars allow you to reach a target audience faster and more effectively than ever before. The right tools will allow you to scale your business, without having to spend time to understand the technical aspects of how the webinar system works.
The best webinar software platforms include various features that help make both live and recorded events more engaging and successful. Make sure to consider the needs of both presenters and organizers, as well as the value provided to participants, when making a final decision.