The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Best Webinar Software for Your Small Business
Webinars are key to digital marketing and sales:
As the move to digital channels accelerates, using good webinars remain core to the marketing, education and sales cycle.
In a supplementary survey to the benchmarks report, nearly all marketers (99%) cite webinars as key to their plans, with three-quarters (72%) saying webinars have a direct impact on pipeline and revenue.
Due in part to benefits such as audience insights, engagement data, and buying signals webinars generate, marketers say the majority of sales teams (66%) prioritize leads that come from webinars, making them the top digital channel for 89% of respondents in creating qualified sales leads.
The webinar is a time-honored marketing technique that gives you a great opportunity to demonstrate the value of your product and services. But planning, promoting, and presenting a webinar is no means an easy feat.
Introduction: What is a Webinar and Why Should You Use One?
The term webinar is a combination of the words “web” and “meeting”. It is a type of online seminar that uses live streaming to bring people together on the internet.
The webinar software provides the platform for you to host your own webinar event. You can use it to give presentations, share information and make announcements. There are many different types of webinars, so you can choose which one best suits your business needs.
Webinars are beneficial for both presenters and attendees because they allow people from all over the world to attend an event without having to be physically in one location.
In addition, they help get teams connected and collaborating across different time zones and as such are becoming valuable tools to provide training solutions online.
The greatest benefit of webinar software is that it combines elements of conferencing with a powerful marketing tool.
Simply put, webinar software helps you conduct interactive live online events that can also be recorded for review by participants after they are hosted.
These are solutions that give businesses the opportunity to provide engaging, flexible, and interactive experiences beyond conference calls.
Some webinars are simple product walkthroughs, while others are broadcasts meant to entertain or inform a large audience.
Administrators will likely want these large broadcasts recorded and maintained, either for later use or to distribute among a wider audience.
Oftentimes, webinars are saved and uploaded to a website for simple access. If you want the content of your webinar to be accessible after the event, consider a webinar tool that has recording capabilities.
Even for the smallest webinar, it could be helpful to review content at a later date.
In this article I am going to briefly talk about some of the things that you should consider before making your decision and give my opinion on which webinar software I think is best for most people.
How to Choose the Right Webinar Software For Your Needs
When it comes to webinar software, there are a lot of options that you can choose from. So how do you know which one is the best for your needs?
There are a lot of things that you need to take into account when choosing the right webinar software for your needs. These include:
- The number of attendees and the size of your company. If you have more than 1000 employees, then you should look for webinar software that has a large capacity. If not, then any will do.
- The type of event or presentation that you want to host. For example, if it's just an online seminar then any will do but if it's an online conference then you should look for something with advanced features like screen sharing and video conferencing.
The Best Webinars You'll Find on The Market:
Livestorm - is a video engagement platform that helps you manage meetings, webinars and virtual events from start to finish. It saves you time by giving you the ability to broadcast and record in one place, share presentations, and coordinate with participants from any location.
Livestorm is simple to use, so you can focus on your message instead of the technology.
In summary, Livestorm is a complete video communication platform that makes it easy for teams to plan, promote, and analyze online events.
Livestorm is browser-based and can be launched from any mobile, desktop, or tablet computer.
There’s no need to download any apps. Everything works inside a browser, in real-time. Marketing Agencies, Customer Success, Sales, and HR teams use Livestorm to create engaging online events.
Livestorm is highly adaptable and can easily create any online event and is great for when you have multiple people collaborating on a presentation and you can easily invite any of your peers to join you on screen.
Data and insights collected from sessions can be viewed in Livestorm’s dashboard or in your CMS which can be connected to your account.
This lets you keep an eye on visits, registrations and attendees so teams can improve and optimize your strategies.
Riverside - Riverside Managed Services is a webinar software for capturing speakers in the quality your audience deserve. This webinar management software is scalable and provides a suite of professional services to manage your live events, from registration to video storage. They provide unparalleled video management, as well as white glove support, so you can spend less time worrying about managing your live stream and more time connecting with your audience.
Riverside is committed to delivering the best webinar experience.
A webinar is the most engaging and effective marketing tool. But the quality of a webinar can make or break you.
Riverside is a webinar software that gives you the perfect balance - high-quality audio and video, with low-cost hosting. You can use it for anything from lead generation to customer support.
#3 Zoom Webinar Platform
Zoom - the only webinar software that is designed specifically for meeting broadcasts. It's the perfect tool for hosting live events and webinars, content marketing, sales enablement, online training and more.
Zoom's intuitive platform makes it easy to share your message live with anyone, anywhere at anytime.
Forget the hassle of setting up a meeting room, emailing invites, and getting everyone on the same page.
Their webinar tools will turn your laptop into a live broadcast studio, allowing you to engage with your audience while they watch.
From small-scale presentations to large-scale webinars, let Zoom Webinar make your next event unforgettable.
#4 WebinarJam Broadcast
WebinarJam - Easily setup, manage, and run webinars with live offer displays.
Webinarjam is a suite of visual tools that make it easy to run your webinars to be successful and generate revenue.
Do you think an event can't be live without an offer?
The age of the old-fashioned "static webinar" is over.
Webinarjam is a revolutionary live webinar software that converts your webinars into full-fledged money-making events with live offer displays.
#5 Demio
Demio - is your no-download, high-impact webinar solution.
With Demio, you'll be able to lead a live interactive session with your audience without any downloads. And you'll also be able to share your screen with them, add slideshows for visual content, and more.
Here's what makes Demio better than the competition:
- No downloads.
- Viewer can talk and ask questions through chat, or send a Q&A on the screen to help with group conversations.
- Slideshows are hosted and synchronized in real time with the presenter so they never miss a beat.
- Live, real-time questions and answers from your audience.
- Record a video call to the presenter.
- Viewable on desktop and mobile devices.
Demio a webinar experience unlike any other. The team has created the first live platform to deliver interactive webinars with a personalized experience.
#6 Zoho Meeting Webinar
Zoho Meeting - With Zoho, you can set up and conduct your webinars with a just few clicks.
Connect with the world and inspire them to take the next step in your business.
Share what's new, showcase the best practices, and let them have an interactive experience.
All without paying any extra cost!
If you're running a digital business, online webinars are the best way to connect with your global audience.
Use Zoho Meeting to conduct online webinars and reach out to new audiences, collaborate with your team in real time, and share information in a more effective way.
It's perfect for sales, marketing, customer success, HR teams, and more!
#7 ClickMeeting: Webinar & Meeting App
ClickMeeting - With ClickMeeting, you can create, manage & host your webinars easily and effortlessly.
You get the most beautiful and easy to use interface for your events.
Your attendees get a rich and interactive experience. It's all about connecting people with the information they need, when they need it.
This webinar software for hosting and managing live events is the best solution for your online business.
It's the most powerful & easy to use, with the ability to add interactive content like polls, quizzes, evaluations & surveys.
With more than 1 million registered users and almost a decade of experience, you can rest assured knowing ClickMeeting has you covered.
What Are The Best Features That Make A Great Webiner?
As explained earlier a webinar is an online event where someone talks about a topic and the audience listens.
The best features that make a great webiner are the ability to communicate with people, the ability to give advice, and the ability to be confident in what they say.
A great webinar speaker will have all three of these qualities present at all times.
What are the advantages of webinars?
A webinar is also defined technically as a presentation or seminar that is delivered via the internet.
Webinars are also known by many as online lectures, webcasts, and virtual presentations.
Webinars can be used for advertising or marketing purposes, teaching, training and for product demonstrations.
Webinars allow you to connect with your audience in a more interactive way by providing them with the opportunity to ask you questions and provide feedback during the presentation.
Webinars are also a great way to get your message out because they are easily shared on social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Plus, they can be recorded so they can be viewed at any time by an unlimited number of people!
Do I need to be an expert to host a webinar?
No, you don’t have to be an expert to host a webinar. All you need is the right tools and a plan.
A webinar is just like any other event where you are the host and people will attend to listen to your presentation. But instead of being in-person, it is a virtual event that takes place online.
There are many tools out there that can help with hosting webinars. You can use some of them for free or at a low cost while others might require a monthly subscription fee or one-time payment.
Webinar Thought Leadership
Webinars are also an excellent opportunity to establish an individual or a company as a thought leader in a space.
Hosting webinars on a given topic allows a speaker to broadcast their own thoughts or research on a given topic without the hassle of finding or hosting an event.
Thought pieces delivered through webinars are often recorded by the speaker and posted afterwards so others can download it.
This can further cement status as a thought leader, since a message can be heard long after the initial recording.
Marketing Webinar softwares can bring about awareness to a business, organization, or even idea.
The whole point of webinar software is dissemination of information.
The content itself can range from life-changingly valuable to casual yet thought-provoking.
Businesses have been growing and scaling fast just by using webinar software to get their employees or spokespeople in front of large audiences to build initial interest in a product or service.
How To Get More Registrations For Webinar
A common question you definitely have in mind is "once I’ve got my webinar all planned out, how do I get people to sign up for it?"
That’s a really important question.
So in this section, I will show you how to 3X your registrations without doing any extra work.
Let’s dive in.
Like you, I use webinars to grow my business.
And I know how annoying it can feel to create a compelling GOOD webinar, only for really few people to actually register.
When this first happened to me, I blamed WEBINARS for sucking.
Because when I used to declare that “webinars suck,” I did REALLY stupid stuff in the heat of the moment…
I would scrap my ENTIRE webinar and film a new one – just because registrations were low!
And I did that month after month…Until I discovered a NEW approach that was WAY easier.
I’m about to share that EASY new approach with you, so that you don’t have to bash your head against a wall like I did.
Here it is…
To get 1000s of people to sign up for your webinar, you’ve got to optimize the part of your funnel that’s responsible for getting registrations…
Your registration page!
Duh! Who would have thought…right?
But when it comes to optimization, there are two things I’ve found to have the BIGGEST impact on conversion…
So it’s a MUST to deploy the following 2 strategies + implement the powerful copywriting hacks that I’m about to share.
Because this will boost your registrations like crazy…
1. Title your webinar VERY intentionally.
Your title is hands-down the most important part of your registration page because it will attract or repel people immediately.
A great title will clearly tell your audience that they’re gonna achieve the goal they want most by attending your webinar…so it should be outcome-driven and specific.
For example, it could be called “How to 2X Your Website Traffic with Pinterest in 30 Days or Less.”
If you’re anything like me, you might wanna see more title examples.
And use THOSE formulas to create a webinar title that GRABS the attention of the *right* prospects immediately.
2. Sell with the Bullet Points
Like your title, your bullet points deliver the promise of your webinar. They should ALWAYS be specific and based on an outcome.
Make sure your bullet points really spell out WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOUR REGISTRANT.
‘Cuz ultimately, they only care about themselves + what they’re gonna get.
Some of your bullet points could be…
Disruptive, meaning they interrupt a pattern or are contrary to some popular belief
Curiosity-provoking, hooking them in to want to learn more
Reminding a prospect of the pain they’re in, and introduces a solution
…And it’s best to keep it to 3-5 bullet points total.
This way, people can quickly skim and see the exact things that are most important to them.
Here’s a few examples of specific and outcome-driven bullet points:
You will learn 3 things we used to increase conversions on our order page by 40% (swipe our exact template for YOUR order page, and see what happens)!
You’ll discover a unique 4-step formula for attracting motivated prospects who know the value of what you’re offering, and are predisposed to trust you.
Of course, make sure you actually deliver on the promises you make so that people respect you as an authority–even if they don’t buy immediately.
Conclusion: Choose The Best Webinar Software To Get Results That Matter
Choosing the right webinar software is not an easy task. There are many factors that need to be considered before you make your final decision.
You need to take into consideration what your needs are, the features that you want, and how much you are willing to spend.
The better the software, the more expensive it will be. But in my opinion, it is worth spending a little more for a good product that will help you achieve your goals than buying something cheap and regretting it later on.
In this article we briefly talked about some of the things that you should consider before making your decision and give my opinion on which webinar software I think is best for most small businesses and online entrepreneurs.
Alternative Webinar Software & Platforms
1. EverWebinar
EverWebinar is one of the most powerful webinar tool available today. With EverWebinar, your audience can engage with you as if they were sitting right next to you. You always have complete control over every aspect of your webinars - including who sees what when.
2. Google Hangouts Meet
Google hangouts meet is a free video conferencing application that works across platforms. It is simple to use and does not require any special hardware to set up. All you need to do is download the app and connect to a meeting room with people who want to join. Once connected, everyone can talk at once with the press of a button.
3. Skype
Skype is a popular platform for video calling and messaging. It’s free to use and offers many features including group calls, voice and video messages, chat, and file transfers.
4. GoToMeeting
GotoMeeting is a cloud-based service that lets you create online meetings and conferences. It includes a variety of tools for hosting and managing events, such as audio recording, screen sharing, whiteboards, polls, surveys, and notes. It’s easy to use and requires no downloads or installations.
5. WebEx
Webex is a web based application that is free for personal use. It is compatible with most operating systems and browsers. It is user friendly and easy to use.
6. FaceTime
FaceTime is a video calling application that uses Apple’s iMessage protocol. It is a cross-platform program that supports both Mac OS X and iOS devices. It’s fast and reliable.
7. Join.me
Join.me is a web-based application that is free to use. It provides users with unlimited conference calls and a 30-day trial period.