Businesses save time and money by conducting Webinars

Businesses Save Time, Money Conducting Seminars Via the Web

By Justine Bayod-Espoz
Special to BeTuitive Marketing

Webinar, a cross between the words web (World Wide Web) and seminar, is becoming an evermore present part of todays business vocabulary. Webinars are, as the name would lead you to believe, seminars conducted over the web, and their popularity is increasing as more and more companies are opting to educate or present to their employees, clients and prospects via their PC rather than with the more costly, traditional seminar.

According to a study conducted by the Wainhouse Research Group, the conferencing market is expected to grow by 22 percent to $9.8 billion by 2006. Included in the all encompassing term conferencing are webinars, which are predicted to have the highest growth rate at 42 percent.

This forecasted growth should come as no surprise when one takes into account the results of a PR Canada reader survey that asked people about their opinions on webinars. Only seven percent of readers called webinars a waste of time, while 83 percent of those surveyed gave webinars a high rating in convenience, 66 percent in time-effectiveness and 61 percent in cost-effectiveness.

Traditional seminars are no longer drawing as many attendees as they did in the past. Budget cuts and increased workloads mean that clients and employees have neither the time nor money to attend them. Seminar sponsoring companies are also less willing to spend large amounts of money planning seminars across the country in an attempt to reach different sectors of their customer base. Webinars have become the convenient option for both parties.

Webinars Inner Workings

The only equipment needed for a webinar is a computer and telephone. Webinars combine audio, accessed by dialing a preset phone number, with online visual and interactive components. The bulk of the presentation is generally a Power Point presentation accompanied by a chat option that the audience uses to type comments and questions to which the presenter can respond in real-time. Optional features include speaker photos or video streaming, audience polling, file transferring, web tours, application/desktop sharing and more.

Presenter and audience can transmit and receive information from the comfort of their own office. There is generally no cost to anyone that views the webinar, including the phone call for the audio portion, and many audience members attend the webinar over their lunch break so as not to use time already scheduled for other activities.

Presenters also have the option of recording their webinars. This allows for it to be played on-demand at a later date and time. Many companies choose to archive their webinars on their website so that prospects, clients or employees that missed the live session can view it at a later time that better suits them.

Why Webinars are More Effective

Lets face it, the Web is our modern day window to the world, and webinars are the best way to reach a global public. With a webinar, complex and pertinent information can be passed on to anyone, anywhere, at almost real-time. Geography is no longer a barrier.

Webinars are perfect for small to midsized companies that dont have a travel budget. However, webinars are also very useful for larger companies. One example is Avotus Corporation, a communications management company whose clients are Fortune 500 companies. For Avotus, webinars provide a fairly low cost opportunity to reach a large and geographically dispersed group of clients and prospects in a fairly inexpensive way.

Jo Martel, Director of Marketing at Avotus, views webinars as invaluable to lead generation, but also notes that theyre useful in other ways. For most of our webinars, I have been located in Canada and have served as the host/moderator, while our primary presenter was in California. As long as you have an internet and phone connection, you can participate or present.

Jo also notes that Avotus has tried very hard to make the topics timely and relevant. Webinars are the best way for a company to keep their customers and employees informed and up-to-date, a service that Avotus realizes its contacts appreciate. We have gotten very favorable reviews on all of our webinars, explains Jo, who now has webinars on an almost monthly basis.

Finding the Right Web Host

A simple search for a web conferencing service provider will turn up dozens of companies. The key to finding the company for you is shopping around. Find out which company offers the features that interest you at the price that fits your budget.

In order to make your webinar as widely accessible and successful as possible, you should always make sure that the service provider does not require that attendees download any special software. A person is much less likely to participate if he or she has to download or install something.

There are many extra features to keep in mind that may assist in making your webinar more powerful. These include, online audience polling, branded registration and reporting pages, activity reports and operator assistance. Packages that include these features and are competitively priced are usually the best bang for your buck.

Regardless of how much you are willing to spend, make sure you find a host that addresses your needs and provides as much assistance as you require. Your webinar is a reflection of your company, and your service provider should be more than happy to help you deliver as flawless a presentation as possible.

About the Author

Justine Bayod-Espoz is a contributor to BeTuitive Marketing LLC. A graduate of Smith College, with a BA in English and Spanish Language and Literature, Justine has written articles for various publications in both languages. She has worked in PR and Marketing, as a translator and as a journalist for the Spain-based publication, Hot English Magazine.