Webinars
, which are online meetings and seminars, are becoming increasingly important as a means for companies to attract customers via the web. In the modern era of the coronavirus pandemic, face-to-face sales are often declined by customers, so webinars are extremely useful as a form of contactless communication.
However, even if you are actually planning to hold a webinar, many people may not know what tools to use. Therefore, in this article, we will introduce the distribution method of webinars, the advantages and disadvantages, and tools to make the webinar successful. We will also explain how to choose a webinar tool, so please refer to it.
What is a webinar?
First, I will explain the overview of the webinar. A webinar is a seminar held on the web, and participants can participate from any location of their choice. In today’s world where there are increasing risks and concerns about face-to-face sales, webinars are positioned as one of the important
marketing
methods to attract customers, as companies can reduce venue costs and participants can participate from any location. It is being
Webinars are also used not only to attract customers, but also for employee training and induction ceremonies. It is increasingly being used for large-scale employee training, and with Zoom, one of the webinar tools, it is possible to hold webinars with up to 10,000 participants at a time.
There are two types of webinar distribution methods.
When it comes to webinars, there are two types of distribution methods.
- Real-time delivery
- Recorded distribution
Here, we will explain the delivery methods for the two webinars mentioned above.
Real-time delivery
Real-time streaming is a common delivery method for webinars. A webinar that takes place in real time, with clearly defined time periods, and is sometimes called a live broadcast.
In real-time distribution, we will communicate with users using the questionnaire function, chat function, etc. that are functions of the webinar tool. Therefore, it can be said that the advantage is that there is two-way communication rather than one-sided distribution from the host side.
However, real-time streaming cannot be re-done, so there is no room for major mistakes. Please keep in mind that the distribution environment, communication speed, webinar structure, participant management, etc. need to be thoroughly managed, and it requires a lot more effort than recorded distribution.
Recorded distribution
Recorded distribution is a webinar that is held in the form of recording videos based on a predetermined theme and distributing them to users. Also called
archive
distribution. Participants are considered to have participated in the webinar simply by watching the video sent to them, so they are no more restricted by time than real-time streaming. Additionally, since the distributed videos can be watched over and over again, organizers can say that this is an efficient way to educate users.
On the other hand, it is not possible to track whether all users are actually watching the distributed videos. Since it is only possible to unilaterally check whether the webinar has been viewed by email or LINE after it has been distributed, it may be difficult to gauge the motivation and sensitivity of the participants compared to real-time distribution.
Taking these into account, we recommend that you consider the delivery method depending on the effort, human resources, and content involved in hosting the webinar.
Advantages of webinars
So far, we have provided an overview of the webinar. Here are two benefits of holding a webinar.
Let’s look at each in turn.
not tied to location
The biggest advantage of holding a webinar is that you are not tied to a location. Before webinars became popular, participants had the disadvantage that if a seminar was held far away, they would not be able to attend even if they wanted to.
However, by holding the event in a webinar format, people can easily participate even if the event is held far away, making it easier for companies to attract customers. This makes it possible to reach a wider range of people than before, which in turn leads to increased sales. For companies looking for ways to increase sales from the web in the future, why not consider giving webinars a priority?
Cutting costs such as facility costs
Next, with webinars, you can hold seminars from your own office, which has the advantage of cutting costs such as facility costs. When holding seminars offline, if the venue has a capacity of more than a few hundred people, facility costs alone can cost millions of yen, and even if the seminar was able to attract customers, there was a strong possibility of incurring a loss. .
However, with webinars, you can cut all of the above costs, making it relatively easy to make a profit.
Disadvantages of webinars
Earlier, I explained the benefits of webinars. However, webinars also have two disadvantages:
- Both the distribution side and the user side need to be careful about the distribution environment.
- Difficult to tell if participants are serious
Let’s look at each in turn.
Both the distribution side and the user side need to be careful about the distribution environment.
First of all, no matter which webinar tool you use, both the broadcaster and the user need to be careful about the delivery environment. You must be careful not only about the Wi-Fi environment but also whether there is any risk of noise occurring in the surrounding area. In particular, if the Wi-Fi environment on the broadcasting side is poor, there may be a delay before voices reach the participants, and there is a risk that the participants may feel extremely stressed.
Create a Wi-Fi environment with stable upstream and downstream speeds, and create a streaming environment that is completely free of ambient noise.
Difficult to tell if participants are serious
As you get used to webinars, you will gradually understand how to communicate with participants. However, there are many cases where it is difficult to know when to communicate at the beginning of the broadcast, or where the broadcaster ends up only speaking one-sidedly. In these situations, it is not possible to determine participants’ motivation for the webinar.
Also, since you don’t get to see the other person’s complexion face-to-face, there is the disadvantage that it is difficult to convey the other person’s seriousness through a screen. Therefore, try to keep participants’ motivation above a certain level by holding breakout sessions with small groups.
How to choose a webinar tool
In recent years, webinars have been gaining attention, and many webinar tools have come into existence. Among them, you may not know what kind of webinar tool to choose. There are three main things to keep in mind when choosing a webinar tool.
- running cost
- Necessary functions
- Support system
I will explain each in turn.
running cost
First, let’s check the running costs. Webinar tools are broadly divided into two types: monthly billing systems and pay-as-you-go systems. For companies that hold frequent webinars, a monthly billing system is recommended, as running costs may be higher than expected with a pay-as-you-go system.
On the other hand, for companies that hold webinars every other month, a monthly billing system will require more running costs than necessary. Therefore, choose a webinar tool that suits your company’s frequency and number of participants.
Necessary functions
Next, it is important to check the required functions. For webinars with a large number of participants, be sure to check whether the webinar has a breakout session feature that allows small group discussions or a chat feature.
Also, in the case of recorded distribution, it is important to check whether the recording function is installed.
Support system
Finally, there’s the support system. If you’re hosting a webinar for the first time, you may be overwhelmed with how your webinar should flow. However, there is also a concern that if you are unable to fully utilize the essential webinar tools, you may not be able to run the webinar at all.
Therefore, be sure to check what kind of support you can receive from the webinar tool at all times. If you are still unsure, we recommend choosing a webinar tool that also provides lectures on how to use it.
3 tools to successfully organize a webinar
So far, we have explained how to choose a webinar tool. Here are three tools you can use to create a successful webinar.
- Zoom
- Cocripo
- LiveOn
Let’s look at each in turn.
Zoom
Zoom
is the most popular webinar tool. It is equipped with breakout sessions that allow small groups of participants to have group discussions, recording functions, whiteboard functions, and more. Therefore, our strength is that we can support both real-time and recorded distribution.
In addition, in addition to the paid license for Zoom meetings (starting from 2,000 yen per month), it is possible to hold webinars with up to 500 participants for 10,700 yen per month. Therefore, it is a good idea to use Zoom even if you want to reduce running costs.
Cocripo
Cocripo
is a webinar tool that allows participants to participate even if it is not installed on their devices. It covers basic functions such as a chat function, and also has a survey function, so it has the advantage of being able to understand the motivation of participants.
The free plan allows up to 3 people to participate, so it is recommended as a trial for those who want to start holding webinars.
However, the next-level business plan requires a running cost of 30,000 yen per month and allows up to 100 participants, so it may not be suitable for companies that want to keep costs as low as possible.
LiveOn
LiveOn
is a tool used as a web conferencing service and can also be used for webinars. You can use it unlimitedly for a monthly fee of 3,000 yen, so it is recommended for companies that have frequent internal meetings and companies that want to reduce running costs for webinars.
It is also equipped with a recording distribution function, so it can support both real-time distribution and recorded distribution.
summary
In this article, we introduced an overview of webinars and the tools to make them successful. Webinars have the advantage of cutting facility costs and allowing participants to participate even if they are far away. Therefore, it can be said that it is easier to make a profit compared to offline seminars.
When choosing a webinar tool, it is important to check the running costs and required functions. Why not start by trying out all the webinar tools explained in this article and determining which ones are easy to use for your company?