Live Webinar vs Automated Webinar: Which to choose?

Live webinar or automated: which to choose? Hmm… If you ask me, I would say at the Usain Bolt speed that both are thrilling to use and the best in their own ways.

Because, on one side of the coin, you have interaction-driving live webinars whose output is purely revenue generation. 

While, on the other side, is autopilot-riding automated webinars fostering greater replay value and lesser network glitches. 

Therefore, which one to choose depends completely on your use case. But, if you are here to just skim the post and not focus on driving results from your webinars, then this guide is of no relevance to you.

What is a live webinar?

Live webinar is a technology that lets creators host webinar sessions or any video content on live or in real-time using the internet or web.

To put it in simple words, in a live webinar, everything you see around is live, the presenter, webcam, chats, quizzes, polls, fun, joy, everything happening around you is live (at the tick of the clock).  

The prime reason for opting for live webinars is to boost real-time interactions and foster deeper engagements between the presenter and viewers. 

Benefits Of Live Webinars

• Limited Resources
• Convenient
• Affordable
• Easy to Record
• Live Q&A Sessions & Polls
• Live Demos
• Improved Efficiency
• Fun-filled Features

So when to use a live webinar?

Whenever there is

• Real-time training
• Internal project meeting
• Online interviews
• Product launch announcements
• Community events

Now that we saw what a live webinar is, we’ll shift next to,

What are automated webinars?

Automated webinars are videos that are automated or pre-recorded by creators and then broadcast to a larger audience group at a particular time or on an on-demand basis.

The surprise element of automated webinars is that interaction features like polls, quizzes, and surveys can be automated too. Here, the prime reason to use an automated webinar is to make your content visible to larger audiences.

Benefits Of Automated Webinars

• Flexible
• Scalable
• Improved Income
• HD-quality Video
• Saves Time
• Content Repurposing
• One-time Recording Cose
• Improved Engagements

So, when to use an automated webinar?

Whenever there is a

• Training demanded priorly
• Video content to be repeatedly hosted
• Need to host content to audiences in different time zones
• Marketing need

In addition to these two, there are other types of webinars like on-demand webinars and evergreen webinars that are preferred for certain use cases. Well, I am not going to focus on those now, we will come afresh with these included sometime later.

Alright, champs! By now you would have got the slightest idea of how beneficial live and automated webinars can be for your business. Now, it is time to see their perks and pitfalls.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Live Webinars

When you see in the digital world, live webinars have become the preferred mode for many content creators as it brings a sense of closeness and boosts interactions instantly.

But it is not always rosy, as they also have their set of pitfalls, which we will see below.

What are the benefits of using Live Webinars?

Below are some of the real points that prove how beneficial it can be to professional creators.

• Fosters direct connection between host and audiences
• Gets audiences to their seats by bringing in interactive elements on live
• Presenters can resolve customer issues or queries right away
• Promotes engagement and raises the bar for lead generation

What are the demerits of using Live Webinars?

Here are some of the demerits that users can face when opting for this type of webinar.

• Needs prior planning of content as everything is live
• Presenters can face issues related to network conditions or software bugs
• Time to gather audiences for a presentation can be tiresome
• Some of the audiences may not be able to take part because of time-constraint zones
• Some live webinar platforms do not give options to record the session

Now, let us look on,

Advantages & Disadvantages of Automated Webinars

Webinar automation can turn out to be beneficial if users expect convenience and content consistency. So now, let us see the real perks and the downfalls of automated webinars.

What are the benefits of using an automated webinar platform?

Below are some of the merits of using an automated webinar:

• Attendees can tune in to webinars at their flexible schedules. Whether you are a night owl or an early bird, you can access content anytime.
• Content can be streamed without any glitches or network instability.
• Automated webinars can be accessed by audiences residing in different time zones.

Now, it is time to see,

What are the demerits of using an automated webinar?

Just like how a coin has two sides, the hurdles of them include:

• Participants cannot be able to resolve their queries and issues instantly
• Content needs to be updated on a regular basis
• A pre-recorded webinar can bring down the sense of closeness than a live interaction
• There is more required from the presenter’s end

Now that we have seen the basic definition of the two types of webinars, their benefits, and when they can be used. Our next section details the major differences between them.

Live Webinar vs Automated: How are they different?

Let us see a quick head-on-head comparison of both the types of webinar. This evaluation will help creators to decide on which to use for their upcoming event.

Attribute	Live Webinar	Automated Webinar
Engagement & Retention	High chances for engagements	Limited community-building potential
Live Interactions	Possible with live Q&A, quizzes, polls	Few interaction capabilities can be automated
Technicalities	Susceptible to network glitches	Stable network as content is pre-recorded
Host Availability	Need creator’s presence	Not required as content is automated
Host Timing	Live events can happen only at scheduled time	Can watch content at user’s flexibility
Replay	Users missing live events will miss out sessions	High replay value, users can watch at their convenience
Resources	Need to have a check on webcam, mic, presenter, and network condition during presentation	Need to finalize on requirements prior to webinar automation
Conversation Rates	Has higher conversation ratio as queries are addressed in real-time	Lower conversation rates

Saw the quick differences between the two types of webinar services. In the section below, we will see where you can use the two.

When can you opt for live webinars?

Here are reasons to choose for live webinars:

• Live stands as the best choice if creators are focusing on creating a sense of closeness with their audiences by forming an active stage for fostering interactions.
• If hosts wishes to form a personal connection by addressing their names
• If hosts wants to know the feedback of their webinar sessions
• If creators or brands need to promote their new launches or reveal on product discounts
• If presenters are willing to raise their credibility bars
• Lastly, if presenters are willing to build a stronger audience community

When can you opt for automated webinars?

Simply go ahead with webinar automation if you have your views that come under the following:

• Want your webinars to reach a larger audience group irrespective of time zones
• Need to craft video content that can be viewed as per the user’s flexibility
• Want to give your viewers options to record sessions for future perusal
• You only have limited resources and a time frame for creating a session
• You are creating a webinar for education or training purposes

By now, you got hold of the differences between the two, their pluses, and minuses. So, automatically the next question that you might think of is,

Which is better for your business: Live Webinars vs Automated Webinars

To answer in a jiff, both work well and draw revenue in their own style. Just like how one is a hot cup of coffee drawing the user’s attention to the seat via live sessions, the other is a scorching sun that is to stay in the minds of viewers for a very long time.

Therefore, now it is left to you to choose which webinar type based on your business needs, as we have detailed the benefits of both in this post.
Plus, if you have decided on the mode and are searching for the best webinar platform in the market, check out our blog that’s drawing user’s attention. In case you are devoid of time, get started with OnTheFly .

Concluding Notes!

In a nutshell, we have covered the what, why, when, and where concepts of both live and automated webinars. Therefore, it is up to you now to experiment with various factors and decide which webinar model stands well for your business requirements.
In case you are still doubtful about which to use, ring our experts who will guide you on this path and explain the merits of using OnTheFly for your content creation and delivery.