Today, more and more people are starting to take advantage of webinars for marketing and training. They’re not only quick and inexpensive but also extremely efficient. Who would have thought that using personal devices such as desktop computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones for online meetings – which wasn’t possible just a decade or two ago – would become a regular thing?
And it’s not difficult to see why people have chosen to take this ever-improving technological route. Just take a look at some of the reasons why you might need to host or join a webinar:
- For teaching or enrolling in an online course
- For hosting online events (ideal for participants in distributed locations)
- For panel discussions and knowledge sharing
- For training people (i.e., employees)
- For running workshops
Truly, a webinar does wonders for both businesses and individuals for various purposes. And as a result, webinar providers have also increased by a tenfold. With that said, here’s a compilation containing 10 of the most commonly used webinar services available in the market. Each one has its strong point, especially when you try to look at it based on your specific need.
GoToWebinar
From the creators of popular screen sharing and meeting service GoToMeeting comes GoToWebinar, which is basically the webinar counterpart of the oft-used application. Because it is designed to suit bigger audiences, it offers a full-service registration function so that you can keep track of your attendees and generate reports out of the information you’ve gathered, among other key features.
Livestorm
Livestorm works within your browser; meaning you don’t need to download anything. Packed with a clean, professional interface that is mainly composed of powerful analytics and reporting tabs and easy to navigate webinar settings, the smooth setup and logic make the service a really tight option. The customization options are also equally exciting.
RingCentral
Top cloud phone service provider RingCentral was also able to come up with a webinar solution to round up its robust communications suite for business. Users can take advantage of a seamless webinar experience, available for up to 10,000 attendees and 500 presenters during a live session across many devices.
Skype For Business
Many people use Skype for online meetings, but what many people don’t know is that for a meager fee, the solution can be extended to accommodate a bigger number of participants. Since a lot of people are already familiar with the Skype interface, they can easily host or join webinars and enjoy other familiar Skype functions at the same time.
Join.me
Initially a software that needed to be installed on your machine, Join.me now offers browser-based capabilities (while remaining as powerful as the installed version). More advanced features such as window sharing, presenter swapping, meeting lock, and more.
BigMarker
If you need a solution specific to webinar marketing, then you should take note of BigMarker. It helps businesses create more engaging webinars through good design options, reporting, and built-in marketing tools. I
Adobe Connect
Say you’ve prepared your slides, uploaded the needed documents, and successfully shared them during the event – everything went smooth. So, what happens then? Webinars or online training usually go like this. Once the event ends, you won’t be able to pick up from where you left. You have to repeat the entire process if you want to hold another webinar.
Google Hangouts
As you might have guessed, this service is particularly useful for heavy users of applications on the Google platform since it’s the easiest to integrate with the said services. While not entirely marketed as a webinar service, people have found ways to use it for this purpose.
Zoom
While it is known for video conferencing, Zoom also offers a reliable webinar hosting service. Although it offers a lot less than the maximum participants allowed by its contemporaries, it still remains unique in that it allows the webinar to be broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube. And because the product is known globally for its reliability when it comes to video, you can expect that your webinar broadcast will be crystal-clear, no matter how video-heavy it is.
AnyMeeting
Out of all the webinar solutions available on the market today, AnyMeeting is perhaps one of the more straightforward options. Boasting of having hosted over 2 million webinars, the company prides itself on allowing users to spend more time focusing on their audience and content rather than learning how to get their web events up and running. Suffice to say, it offers a great way for marketers to get acquainted with new webinar software.
Webinars are truly a great way to engage audiences. There are a lot of options available out there, but in the end, the choice for a software or service will ultimately boil down to which provider will make the best fit for your current requirements and goals for the business.
Can you think of other similarly outstanding services that didn’t make this list? Please take a moment to share it in the comments section below.
Klaris Chua is an online content specialist who frequently participates in conversations about unified communications and collaboration. After several years in broadcast and print media, she decided to jump into the digital world because she found the unique and fast-paced environment too enticing to pass up. Connect with her on LinkedIn or Twitter.