The most important goal of every marketer is to reach the right audience, but this is at the same time the most serious challenge of promoting content or products. If you’re a blogger, the practice of driving traffic may even involve organizing webinars, either like a panel discussion for readers or a training workshop for employees. In fact, every distribution even you can think of is highly welcomed.
Webinars are in fact online meetings and conferences organized for training purposes, named after traditional seminars. The same as real-time meetings, webinars are used to exchange opinions, collect the best ideas, and to collaborate. The difference, as you can guess, is that webinars are held online, and participants use local or mobile devices to join in.
Organizing webinars for users is one of the most interactive practices for sharing experience, and allowing the business to grow in a natural way. The secret is that communication is made easy, and users are allowed to chat and send content instantly.
Google+ Hangouts
Google+ Hangouts is a revolutionary chat/video calls asset embedded in the Google+ platform, accessible also for Gmail, Google Chat, and Google+ Profile. All it takes is a regular Google+ account, which you can easily create for free.
Different from the conventional webinar platforms, Google Hangout offers a variety of collaborative features, including presentations, meeting, workshops, and much more. So far, the team didn’t introduce a feature that will charge your participants for the hangout service, but they are apparently working on the case.
The biggest benefit is that users get to hang out in ways different than classical video/voice calling, as they are enabled to share screenshots, files, and so on.
A specific feature called Hangouts on Air is included for organizing live broadcasted webinars that can be shared with a lot of people, where hangouts can be recorded and posted on any video platform.
The drawback of the system is that users are not required to register for the webinar or to pay for it, which limits your marketing capacity, and makes your webinar look less professional.
Webinars OnAir
The difference to Google+ Hangouts is almost unnoticeable, as the platform was built on top of it and in order to maintain the ease of using this product even when more users are involved.
As expected, it has few additional features such as tracking audiences with a retargeting pixel, or promoting products, making offers, attracting leads, or saving the webinar automatically on YouTube.
WebinarJam
WebinarJam is also Hangouts-based but enriched with marketing features that can make your webinars appear more professional.
Using WebinarJam, you will also be able to handle registrations, share files and screenshots, and use the very same platform to interact with the participants. What is impressive for marketers are the built-in custom landing pages, where participants will register, and the organizer will receive notifications, organize quizzes or pools, and promote their offers during sessions.
Note that WebinarJam will also record the sessions, and it will be up to you to decide whether you want to make them public or keep them to yourself.
StealthSeminar
StealthSeminar is another popular and simple webinar tool that balances recorded with automated and hybrid webinars and removes human intervention for running amazing online meetings.
It contains a variety of advanced moderation features, thanks to which you will remain in control of all conversations. What is also good about this software is that you can integrate it with AWeber, MailChimp, and many similar email service providers. As a marketer, you will also get to place unlimited CTAs (calls to action), and schedule them automatically. StealthSeminar is also great in terms of reporting, split testing, and performance analytics.
Skype
We all know Skype – the world’s most famous video calling app which can also be used for professional conferencing. Skype is also a free tool, which is why many businesses decide to organize workshops and meetings with it.
GoToWebinar
GoToWebinar is an addition for GoToMeeting users which they can apply to share files and organize collaboration events. Let’s say it is a specific version of the system designed for webinars, and catered carefully to the needs of product/service providers.
At the same time, this is one of the market’s most reliable and intuitive platform which displays nicely in any screen to enhance the perfect user experience. The most attractive feature is the ‘pass the control’ one, thanks to which you can manage participation using your keyboard, mouse, or touchpad. Sharing is enabled on this platform too.
Another reason why we believe you should consider GoToWebinar is that it makes training incredibly easy. Signup and registration are very streamlined, and polls and live surveys can be organized in less than no time. Basically, GoToWebinar has every training feature providers can possibly imagine.
Cisco WebEx
Cisco WebEx will ring a bell for many users, as it is a member of the large Cisco remote collaboration family. More particularly, it is an Event Center product you can put in action to organize webinars and many other events.
WebEx is considered to be an all-in-one training center for teaching and learning, with a plethora of unique tools such as performance tracking, tests, polls, quizzes, surveys, etc. Sharing is not excluded here either.
Adobe Connect
When it comes to Adobe Connect, we’re almost certain there is no user out there who doesn’t know it. The secret of this product is that it doesn’t only organize successful webinars, but it makes them look impressively beautiful and professional.
Hosting the meeting will take less than no time, especially if you’re using the advanced version of the product designed for interactive meetings between the host and the participants.
MegaMeeting
MegaMeeting will also work for large online events, be it a seminar, promotion, online training, or product demonstration. It is completely compliant with every browser, and can thereof be used on every device.
ReadyTalk
ReadyTalk is a suite of different tools necessary for web conferencing, be it a video or an audio one. Its most specific feature is Mobile conferencing, thanks to which you can organize events for decentralized teams, and record and archive all of your sessions.
AnyMeeting
AnyMeeting intends to improve the webinar experience and makes for one of the most suitable web conferencing apps for small companies.
Large calls and extended participation lists are still possible, as the same screen/file sharing and video calling features apply for every meeting. Often considered a training asset, Any Meeting organizes presentations, quizzes, polls, or follow-up tests for more than 1000 participants.
The management features are just outstanding and cover all webinar needs until completion. There, you can fund presentation/file sharing, custom registration forms, recording, and follow-up emails for the participants. The most notable benefit is the ability to charge for participation and sell tickets using the seamless PayPal integration.
Finally, AnyMeeting can be the best enterprise-grade training asset you’ll ever have the chance to use because it includes a couple of unique Meeting options (Meeting Pro, for instance) which improve the webinar experience and include more participants than you initially planned to include.
OnStream Media
OnStream Media is a suite rather than a single solution and covers webcasting and media hosting next to traditional webinar organization. The product is designed for enterprises, and able to handle an incredible volume of data and to scale dramatically when needed.
ClickWebinar
The ClickMeeting team introduced another tool called ClickWebinar, which soon turned into users’ favorite and best-priced webinar solution for collaboration and remote training.
omNovia
More than a webinar tool, omNovia is an out-of-the-box presentation system known by the impeccable quality of its online events.
iLinc
iLinc specializes in collaboration and web conferencing services and therefore offers products which can help you make the most of distributed and mobile collaboration.
Blackboard Collaborate
Blackboard Collaborate is another webinar platform that focuses on training and education, and one that deserves attention for its special K-12, health service, education, government, and business resources.
Brainshark
Brainshark is specifically designed to ease sales teams in need of effective training and onboarding. The ultimate goal of the platform is to help new teams conduct sales effectively, using as well a kit of content marketing tools.
Zoom
A popular choice is also Zoom, known by its extremely interactive seminars and meeting. Both its audio and video meet the highest HD quality standards.
Zoom is great also because it allows users to share the screen of their mobile devices, be those tablets or smartphones. Users like how the screen can be divided into two parts to show the basic, starting screen and the panelists at the same time.
Webinar tools serve a variety of purposes: you can use them to train your staff, teach a course, trigger a public discussion, or run a simple workshop for your team. The common name for all these events is a webinar, as it encompasses various online events that unite participants from multiple locations.
Looking for the right webinar software is a challenging experience, as you have to make sure each program corresponds to your needs and has updated features participants won’t find cumbersome to use. What is extremely important is to ‘open the gate’ for participants to join via different channels, paying special attention to mobile access.
Seminars, and webinars, in particular, are a great way to promote your online business, grow, and share experience and knowledge will all interested parties. For the good or the bad, we live in an era where information flows seamlessly and freely, and we simply can’t skip joining the process. The need to save money and time has simply imposed webinars in our workflows, and we should make the most of them.
You may also like:
Top Premium WordPress Themes To Consider in 2016
A/B Testing for your WordPress website – tools and resources
Advanced Techniques For Building Modern WordPress Themes
The post DiscoverTop notch software for webinars appeared first on ThemeFuse.