Top 10 Best Webinar Software

Selecting the Best Webinar Software

Each webinar software has its own strengths and weaknesses, so before selecting webinar software it is important that you ask yourself a few questions regarding how you will use the software and what are your specific needs.

If you feel that your targeted audience is not the most technical bunch of people, you may want to consider using one that does not require download and complicated installation of software and extensions.

If you find a service where video and sound problems can occur which require the user to make menu-based adjustments for their particular computer platform, this may be a good one to avoid if you feel the technical knowhow of the end-user is lacking.

Also consider that different packages are designed to handle different numbers of participants, so if you anticipate hosting a large viewing audience, be certain that there will be enough web seats for them all or you could lose momentum right off of the blocks.

Also, consider the software interface and whether it may be too complicated for your viewers. Simpler and automated is always better because, in the internet age, people have become fickle and will quickly turn away from something that is too much of a headache to deal with.

What do you need in a webinar software?

Ask yourself these questions when selecting webinar software:

To help you with answering these questions, we have surveyed the webinar landscape for you and will review the most popular and effective webinar packages on the market today.

Special attention in these reviews was paid to the unique features of each package, its hosting volume, and any transformative features built-in which allow for porting clips or transcripts to other marketing venues.

Top 10 Best Webinar Software

1: WebinarJam

WebinarJam is probably one of the easiest webinar packages to use and has a very intuitive interface. It is an ideal solution for people who seek to sell a service or product by webinar marketing.

Notable features/advantages

WebinarJam produced by Genesis Digital as a marketing tool does several things very well. We consider it the best software for live sales of products or service packages during webinar sessions because WebinarJam:

Key Features:

WebinarJam employs several established and new web technologies including Flash, WebRTC, RTMP, and HLS for flawless integration with all popular browsers.

The software also has several table stakes features and will support multiple presenters, HD video streaming, and has an appealing customer interface along with an easy to use dashboard for the presenter.

With WebinarJam, you can live stream directly to your YouTube channel along with streamed live chat, but it also offers to moderate features to intercept inappropriate comments or off-topic comments, allows you to highlight comments to focus the attention of your other viewers, and as a private communications channel to speak with the other moderators in your presentation group.

You can present popups for product purchase links or special limited offers, set up a survey for your audience and collect real-time data, embed and share a video, and use whiteboard functions for screen interaction to highlight aspects of what you are selling.

This software is ideal for consulting services, coaching tutorials, product promotions, and hosting question and answer sessions for your fanbase or sales team.

Although WebinarJam will accommodate any size company, larger enterprise-level companies may prefer to use a more formal web conference style of format.

PROS

CONS

Pricing:

WebinarJam offers three service packages that are tailored to different levels of presenters and offer different broadcast capacity and features. They are as follows:

Basic:

Professional:

Enterprise:

2: EverWebinar

EverWebinar is another webinar product by Genesis Digital but differs from WebinarJam in several important ways. This software is intended for evergreen webinar presentations.

An evergreen webinar is a form of automated and auto-presented webinar format that is typically used to present topics that are more timeless in their subject matter. Many presenters find evergreen webinars to be extremely helpful adjuncts to their regular live webinar presentations.

The reason for this is primarily that coming up with new and timely content is a constant challenge and you will find that you occasionally run out of material.

Think of live webinars as having to write comedy for a nightly live show every day and evergreen webinars as repeat performances of basic content that is not trend-bound and will be of general interest to attendees year after year.

A few things to keep in mind if you intend to use a webinar later as an evergreen webinar is to avoid time-dependent statements and cultural references that can become dated.

For example, avoid things like saying “…when we first launched this product line 6 months ago in 2017…” or saying things like “…we are so much better than our competition, who thinks they are all that and a bag of chips…” (these types of issues will immediately date your presentations and viewers will avoid them thinking they contain dated and irrelevant information).

Evergreen webinars are used for a variety of purposes including educational tutorials, teaching, and training webinars, and to deliver advice on a variety of subject matter which will help to establish your personal or company brand image as an expert source of information. These types of webinars can also be used to bolster good customer service for your company by acting as instructional aids for your clients.

For example, you could post an evergreen seminar about how to properly string a tennis racquet, how to separate image layers and reintegrate them in Adobe Photoshop, how to effectively pack for a trip to make things easy for airport security, what kind of things should go in a bug-out bag, how to keep your new puppy from urinating on the rug, the in’s and out’s of home winemaking, how to properly make espresso, and just about any topic, you can conjure up.

Evergreen webinars can be delivered in two presentation formats, as a pre-recorded webinar presented at a fixed time (called an automated webinar) or as an on-demand webinar that allows for users with scheduling conflicts to benefit from the presented information therein.

On-demand evergreen webinars sound an awful lot like YouTube instructional videos; however, they are actually something quite different for several reasons.

Evergreen webinars managed by EverWebinar have automation features that are not available with simple, pre-loaded streaming content.

The program will respond to viewers during the presentation and can be programmed to maintain viewer counts, enroll viewers for email reminders about upcoming webinars, present pop-ups and calls-to-action that provide sales offers to viewers, and engage viewers in real-time chat if you or a moderator is present (there are no AI chatbots yet, but we’re sure that’s coming eventually).

The bottom line of all these features is viewer engagement, which makes the attendees feel less like anonymous lurkers and more like acknowledged participants, which boosts, repeat viewership, sales volumes, and increased brand recognition.

Key Features:

PROS

CONS

Pricing:

Genesis Digital offers three pricing plans with different included features to fit any sized budget. They even offer an initial price on any of the following packages of $1 for the first 14 days.

Installment Plan:

Annual Plan:

Biennial Plan:

3: Zoho Meeting

Zoho Meeting is a secure webinar videoconferencing platform by the Zoho Corporation that is marketed as a more affordable alternative to Zoom (reviewed below). The package is very easy to use and is scalable, so it is quite functional for small or large businesses.

The best aspects of the Zoho Meeting are its simplicity in setting up team collaboration meetings, demonstrating applications, webinars, and in providing a remote basic support platform for clients or your field sales team.

PROS

CONS

Pricing:

As we said above, Zoho Meeting is marketed as an affordable webinar alternative, and it is very reasonably priced.

Zoho is offered in five different packages with all features of the application available, but the differences in pricing are based on attendee volume.

Meeting:

The following are webinar packages with different attendee limits and total cloud storage of 25 recordings. An optional add-on ($192/year) can be purchased to increase your cloud storage limits for either the Meeting or Webinar packages.

The following features apply to all Webinar packages offered by Zoho:

Webinar-25: 25 attendees, $15/month billed annually

Webinar-50: 50 attendees, $23/month billed annually

Webinar-100: 100 attendees, $31/month billed annually

Webinar-250: 250 attendees, $63/month billed annually

4: Demio

Demio is a very popular webinar and conferencing package that is promoted as a smart webinar application. The application has a robust set of analytics for tracking and conversion pixels can easily be added to any registration page, webinar live room, or follow-up thank you page.

Demio also employs automation features such as rule settings, for example, link-forwarding the recorded webinar version to attendees who joined late. Rule settings also allow for audience segmentation based on viewer responses.

It is an ideal application for beginners in webinar delivery and streamlines many flexibility options compared with that of other, similar webinar software packages.

PROS

CONS

Pricing:

Demio offers a 14-day free trial to try it out (under the Growth package) and three packages for different level users. If you require larger room sizes, these can be negotiated.

Starter:

Growth:

Business:

5: LiveWebinar

LiveWebinar differs from the other webinar packages on our list as it is entirely cloud-based. There is no required software or extensions to download and LiveWebinar will work on all current browsers.

The package has over 50 different features including setting up surveys and collection of polling data, whiteboard screen features, live broadcasting options straight to social media, as well as encrypted data transmission.

The customization features are extremely flexible and you can tailor the viewing and interaction experience of your attendees to just about whatever you want.

PROS

CONS

Pricing:

LiveWebinar offers several packages for different needs, but the first level is free. If you subscribe for an annual package, you can get a 20% discount.

Free:

Pro:

Business:

Custom:

Enterprise:

If you have needs that cannot be met by any of the packages above, LiveWebinar will work out a deal with you for just the right set of features to suit you.

6: GetResponse

GetResponse is more of a marketing approach program rather than a strict webinar package, although the program is webinar-based.

It is a comprehensive package that incorporates many tools such as custom email list generation and list segmentation features, auto-responders, and other marketing automation functions.

The program guides new marketers on how to best use the package by developing landing pages, posting Facebook advertisements, conducting webinars, and has an automated conversion funnel feature to manage leads, webinars, and sales.

With GetResponse, you can schedule entire webinar campaigns, send event reminders to your subscribers, and share events via social media.

The program also allows you to build email lists through a registration feature and will send out automated replies to new registrants. These features are emphasized because the company has been around for 20 years and began in email marketing.

PROS

CONS

Pricing:

GetResponse offers discounts for long-term enrollment commitments. If you pay for a year, you receive an 18% discount, for two years, a 30% discount. Tiered service plans are based on email list sizes.

List sizes (price/month):

7: EasyWebinar

EasyWebinar is a combination webinar product that has a variety of tools to run live or evergreen webinars. As a single do-it-all package, it is quite flexible and has enough features to serve as a substitute for the WebinarJam/EverWebinar tools listed above, although not having as many features as the other two combined.

Using 128-bit encryption, EasyWebinar is very secure. There is no lag in HD streaming so Q&A sessions online seem about as close to being in person as you can get.

Chats are real-time, up to four presenters can be assigned per event, there are screen-sharing features, webinars are automatically recorded, attendees can be swapped out as presenters, and a host of other features too numerous to mention here.

PROS

CONS

Pricing:

Pricing plans for EasyWebinar are 25% discounted if you pay on an annual basis.

Standard:

Pro:

Enterprise:

Additional scalable packages can be constructed upon request to an upper limit of six million attendees per event.

8: Webex

Webex by Cisco is a video conferencing package intended for enterprise-level customers. It has a full suite of features including video and phone conferencing and screen sharing.

This software package is primarily a communications product, but it can be adapted to webinars use. For example, the software can host up to 40000 attendees, has a mobile app version for on-the-go accessibility, and possesses webinar features that will handle a maximum of 3000 viewers.

The interface is simple and uncluttered and the setup of features such as live chat, Q&A sessions, surveys, and collection of polling results, invitations with corporate branding, and basic data analytics is easy. All webinar sessions can also be recorded and ported to evergreen webinars.

PROS

CONS

Pricing:

Cisco offers four different tiers of service and the lowest one is free. If paying annually, the first four months of service is also free.

Free:

Starter:

Plus:

Business:

9: Zoom

Zoom by Zoom Video Communications has a load of great video conferencing features, even in the basic webinar package which is free. Meetings of under 40 minutes in length with less than 100 viewers can be held at no cost.

Larger meetings are covered under scaled packages that are intended for larger businesses. However, Zoom is primarily a video conferencing tool that can assist in marketing efforts but is not intended as designed for webinar-based sales.

The software entails prime video streaming features including screen sharing and on-screen annotations, group and private chat channels, recording features, and administrative controls. It is a very effective tool for teaching and communication and conferences are linked through a subdomain URL for each company.

PROS

CONS

Pricing:

Free:

Pro:

Business:

Enterprise:

10: ClickMeeting

ClickMeeting is a webinar service platform with a very easy-to-use, simple interface that is ideal for budding web entrepreneurs all the way up to medium-sized businesses. Setting up an event for your customers or your team is a guided process, with instructions provided at each step.

The interface does not require additional software and works through all current browsers. The administration dashboard tracks and provides an overview of all past and scheduled events.

In this overview, you can see numbers of attendees, review data analytics for past events, and use these data to adjust your communications strategy. You can even set up agenda-based waiting rooms for attendees who show up early so you have the opportunity to convey information to pique and secure their interests and maintain audience engagement.

For example, you can share presenter bios, upcoming webinar topic points, provide links to files attendees will need, and a variety of other options. During an event, videos or audios can be embedded for presentation, there are whiteboard features and a host of other flexible cueing effects that can be added.

PROS

CONS

Pricing:

If you choose to pay annually, all pricing plans receive a 20% discount. The pricing plans offered by ClickMeeting may be hard to navigate, as the options and combinations are many.

We will attempt to summarize a few example combinations for you here. Please see their corporate website (linked above) for specifics regarding your particular needs.

Free Trial:

Live:

Automated:

Enterprise:

The Enterprise plan is completely customizable. Contact the ClickMeeting sales team to select the options that work best for your business and develop a content delivery solution for you.

FAQ’s

What is a webinar?

A webinar is where you conduct a seminar over the internet to groups of people interested in a subject you present to them. It is essentially an online class, where participants are free to interact with the presenter, ask questions, make comments, and become part of a community of learners.

Participants submit their questions and comments live through a chat window. The presenter can respond in real-time by either texting replies or a much easier approach is commenting live during the broadcast and addressing the comments that have been posted.

In many ways, a webinar resembles a live radio show where instead of listeners calling in, they send their comments or requests by text.

Webinar software also allows for the show to be recorded, so that people who wish to see it but were unable to participate live may benefit from the information and discussion presented, but at a more convenient time for viewing.

Many people use webinar software to present to present information, for marketing their products, to provide better customer support through their corporate website, or for contact with field sales representatives to develop rapport and provide advice on how to improve their sales or marketing strategies.

Webinars can be used in concert with other social media avenues to boost corporate sales and represents the future of marketing, whether on a small or a large scale.

Why do I need it?

If you have a business that you intend to grow, webinars are an information conduit through which you can achieve this purpose. There are a variety of applications of webinar sessions that can be employed to expand your marketing base and yield greater profit margins.

As a video marketing tool, webinars allow businesses to reach greater numbers of customers in a cost-effective, low overhead manner, which has a measurable impact on profit margins and growth.

Approximately 75% of internet traffic now consists of online streaming videos either delivered live or posted prerecorded.

Brief clips of your webinars can be used for training videos or educational tools which enhance all of your other marketing efforts. These short clips can also be uploaded to online video sharing websites or embedded in blog posts in different targeted venues.

Further, webinars and extracted clips from those recorded sessions can be used to enhance search engine optimization so that interested customers will find your company website or product resellers and boost your sales volume.

Transcripts from your webinar sessions can also be posted to blog sites, as well as screen capture stills, and these portions of your webinar presentations can additionally be produced in printed form as PDFs for distribution through websites, through your storefronts, or those of your corporate partners.

Modern marketing techniques necessitate the development of brand recognition, but also the development of web personality-based recognition of knowledgeable authorities.

With webinars, you can establish yourself as a net.personality with recognized expertise in a particular niche area and use this momentum to gain a following through the employment of social media outlets.

The overall outcome of this approach is to increase brand awareness, whether that brand is a marketed product or you yourself as a knowledgeable and qualified source of information.

Through these means, you can boost lead generation and generate greater sales, expand your customer base, and provide the brand recognition that serves as a foundation from which you can release new product lines or services after having established your reputation as an internet personality.

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