Difference Between Live Webinar And On-Demand Webinar

Webinar is a very popular tool in the industry; most organizations and businesses opt for webinars to reach their audience. If you want to host a webinar you not just have to decide about the webinar platform or webinar services but also have to decide what format of the webinar you want to opt for. You can either choose a live webinar or you can go for automated webinars. Live webinars are hosted in real-time while automated webinars are pre-recorded. 

If you can’t decide which webinar format can suit your organization below are some differences between live and automated webinars that will help you in deciding your webinar format. 

Live Webinar VS On-Demand Webinar 

Here are some of the differences between live and on-demand webinars: 

1. Cost 

The first difference between on-demand and live webinars is the cost of hosting a webinar. When we talk from the cost point of view on-demand webinars are like a one-time investment, organizers can invest in good quality equipment and record the webinar once which makes these webinars more affordable. Whereas live webinars are costly, organizers will need equipment and professional webinar services every time they want to host a webinar. This means organizers will be paying each time they want to host a webinar. When it comes to cost, automated webinars are

better and the cost is one of the major differences between automated and live webinars. 

2. Engagement 

Engagement is another factor of difference between on-demand and live webinars. With a live webinar, the chance of engagement is better. When an organizer is hosting a live webinar they can interact with attendees in a better way. They can host live polls, have question and answer sessions, etc and the audience can ask raw questions and interact with organizers effectively. When it comes to automated webinars they are also engaging but not like webinars there is no live host that can answer all the questions that attendees have. Direct conversations are very limited in the case of automated webinars. 

3. Content Lifespan 

The next difference between live and automated webinars is the span of the content. If you are hosting the automated webinar you should know that it offers evergreen content. The lifespan of automated webinars is longer or we can say it is evergreen but when it comes to live webinars that is not the case the lifespan of the live webinar is usually shorter because they are not recorded it gets challenging for event organizers to increase the lifespan of the live webinar. If you are looking to create evergreen content automated webinar is the perfect option for you otherwise you can opt for live video webinar streaming services. 

4. Revenue Generation 

The next point of difference between live and on-demand webinars is the revenue. If you are hosting a live webinar you will have to limit the number of attendees that can take part in the webinar so that the presenter or the host of the webinar can engage with attendees and this will limit the revenue of the webinar. But when it comes to on-demand webinars there is no limit on the number of attendees, organizers can share their automated webinar with as many people as they want, and they can reach a wider audience which can result in more revenue generation. 

5. Interaction 

The next factor on our list is interaction. Interaction during the live webinar is better and more effective if you want to interact with your audience personally and you want to engage your audience effectively you should opt for live webinars. But with on-demand webinars the chances of interaction is very limited, attendees don’t have any direct communication or interaction with the speaker or the host of the webinar because these are pre-recorded, and they can’t ask questions or get live answers. 

6. Technical Glitch 

When it comes to technical glitches the chances of glitches are more in the case of the live webinar. Live webinars are happening in real time over the internet so there is more possibility of technical glitches. Your internet connection can degrade the quality of your webinar or your camera or audio device might sometimes cause an issue. Whereas there is no such thing when it comes to the automated webinar. Automated webinars are less prone to technical glitches as they are pre-recorded and if there is any technical glitch with an audio or video device it can be rectified during the recording. 

7. Conversion Ratio 

The next difference between live and automated webinars is the conversion rate. When it comes to conversion rate, live webinars usually have more conversion rates in comparison to automated webinars. Because during a live webinar audience can engage with the host or the speaker can ask questions etc and as a result, audiences tend to convert more during live webinars. 

On-demand webinars have less conversion rate because they are less personal, attendees might not feel well connected, and sometimes they don’t get the solution to all their problems so if you want to convert more audience you should always prefer opting for live webinars. 

8. Look & Feel 

Another point of difference between live and automated webinars is the look and feel. The look and feel of the automated webinar can be better customized in comparison to a live webinar. Because automated webinars are pre-recorded webinars organizers can decide the look and feel and change it according to the requirements they can edit it however they want but when it comes to live webinars once the look of the webinar is decided it can’t be changed in between the webinar session. 

The Bottom Line 

By the end of this blog, we are sure you know what is the difference between live and automated webinars and what can suit your business or organization. But that’s not it, the scope of the webinar is wide. You can also go for the streaming webinar which means the webinar live stream. Better to use live stream your webinar to reach more audiences. You can find the best webinar services for small businesses for doing that.