Live vs. Pre-Recorded Webinars

When conducting a webinar, you have two choices: broadcast it live or pre-record it. Every strategy has benefits and cons, so consider your goals to choose the most effective one.

Webinars are a great option for engaging the audience and demonstrating your expertise. Among so many choices, there is a question of whether it is better to choose a live or pre-recorded webinar session.

This article examines the benefits and negative aspects of these two approaches. It provides a wealth of informative knowledge that may guide you in the right direction.

What is a Webinar?

The live webinars include interviews, seminars, and panel discussions conducted virtually and broadcast in real-time for the present audience. The setting will provide a unique opportunity for active involvement as the audience sees and hears everything occurring.

What is a Pre-Recorded Webinar?

Now that you understand live webinars, let’s explore another option: pre-recorded webinars;

The webinars recorded in advance are meant to be run in a well-planned way. The webinar can be recorded in advance, scheduled for a specific time, or made accessible on demand. If you are not favourable to live webinars, you have a better look at the advantages of the pre-recorded ones.

Live vs Pre-recorded Webinar Distinctions

The most apparent difference between a live and pre-recorded webinar is the host’s actions. In a webinar, the host conducts the live presentation, while the audience can still interact with them during the session.

However, a pre-recorded webinar is a video that can either be an unedited past live event recording or a unique recording done for re-use purposes.

Both webinar formats are excellent for sharing information with your audience and increasing sales. Your preference between a live or a recorded session may vary according to your marketing goals; however, including both forms in your marketing strategy can be advantageous.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Recorded Webinars

Pros

 Let you adjust for better outcomes

You can remove mistakes from pre-recorded webinars or repeat parts where the audio or video didn’t work well. Alternatively, you can improve your webinar by adding nice transitions, effects, and filters. But make sure to spend the right amount of time doing not just endlessly editing it.

It is ideal for those afraid of talking to people in public.

Live webinars could be torture for those with issues talking in public, so pre-recorded webinars may be an affordable option. Without having to get worried about speaking with a group of people watching you, that’s how you can feel more at ease.

Cons

 Limited audience interaction

As pre-recorded webinars give you a more controlled setting, you may miss the collaborative part of a live webinar where you interact with the audience. Your content can help attract customers, but this doesn’t mean you will get an immediate reaction from the audience.

Pros and Cons of Live Webinars

Pros

Creates a personal bond

Live webinars are a very convenient tool for building personal contact with your target group. Authenticity makes customers trust your brand; talking with them in real time is one way to establish that brand. You can also see how your viewers react during the webinar.

Use the Q&A interaction as a method of engagement.

Many people sign up for live webinars to communicate with the host face-to-face. A Q&A session is a perfect opportunity to fulfil that requirement. It allows you to personalize your content based on the feedback you get by answering your audience’s questions, making the interaction more enjoyable for you and your audience.

Cons

Unexpected interruptions

Many live webinars feature funny and interesting moments between the host and the audience. Unexpected troubles, such as technical issues, could also occur. Moreover, pets and family members can bring distractions that often cause unwanted online attraction!

The Best Ways to Make Pre-recorded Webinars Successful

The current content draws in new clients by influencing their purchase decisions. To this end, you should develop the best techniques for making high-quality pre-recorded webinars.

1. Be Transparent

Mention whether a webinar is live or has been recorded. Firstly, make the presentation outline clear and specific to help people who signed up know what to expect.

2. Edit for Perfection

If you automate a recorded webinar, remove monotonous or irrelevant segments from the recording. This keeps the webinar brief and clear, which is crucial for keeping the audience interested to the very end.

3. Provide Rewards as an Incentive to Induce Full Participation

A typical issue with webinars is that people log off before completion. To keep your attendees actively engaged until the end, offer unique gifts, promotional codes, or actions after the session.

Give the “value stacking” technique a shot. This involves showing a CTA and offering a limited-time discount or promo code for those participating until the end.

The Ultimate Methods for Making Live Webinars

1. Make Advance Arrangements

For a live webinar, identify your primary objective and adhere to it. Practice your presentation repeatedly to obtain a smooth and pause-free presentation. In case of technical problems or if the host cannot make it, the webinar must have an alternative way of proceeding to minimize disruption.

You can also load your materials into the presentation in advance and do some practice runs before you go live. Use webinar tools like emails to remind all the people who signed up for the event about it.

2. Stay Active Throughout

Keep up with your audience when doing a live webinar so they don’t lose interest. Many platforms have convenient methods of interacting with viewers, for example –

• CTA’s
• Q&A sessions
• Chats
• Polls and surveys

Remove participants who have no more interest or those who came not by invitation. Keep an eye on the chat rooms to ensure the discussions are relevant to the webinar’s topic.

3. Check-in After

Shortly after your webinar finishes, immediately follow up with an email to everyone who has participated, expressing your sincere gratitude. Furthermore, email those who didn’t attend and invite them to the next webinar. Giving a special offer or discount in the email could be beneficial to get them to click over to your links.

Feedback surveys are the only way to determine your audience’s thoughts, so include them in your thank-you email. The more you keep in touch with your attendees after the webinar, the higher your chance of them purchasing from you.

Which is preferable – live webinars or pre-recorded ones?

The crucial question is not which is superior but how their respective values can complement each other. More important here is how you can maximize your live webinars by recording them and using them instead of pre-recorded ones.

Doing this makes it simple to share the on-demand webinar.

• In blog posts
• Such ads increase their click-through rate.
• On YouTube
• Through email

Also, you or your team member can run the previously live pre-recorded webinar online to answer the questions and provide feedback on the chat without interrupting the video.

You can also email them to improve communication even further! Whatever you decide, you will undoubtedly be able to carry it out.