You have witnessed and read about the power of webinars, and you’ve concluded that they can be of tremendous benefit to your small business.
This is because webinars serve as a platform to interact with your customers, which allows you to build trust and establish your brand.
Also, webinars can showcase your products and services, and get your audience excited about them.
However, the sheer number of available solutions can be overwhelming, and this can make choosing the best platform for your business challenging.
In this article, we will go through what makes a good webinar platform and provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to choose the best solution for your small business.
What Are the Features a Good Webinar Platform Should Have
Before you shop for a webinar platform, you need to know how to identify a platform with the set of features you need to create successful webinars. Below are some features you should look out for:
Ease of use and mobile-friendliness: a good webinar platform should be easy to set up and use with no technical knowledge. It should be intuitive and the user onboarding experience should be seamless. It should also be mobile-friendly. We live in a mobile-first world, and your audience will expect to be able to access your webinars on their mobile phones.
Customization options: brand customization will help you project a professional image to your audience. You should be able to add your company logos and colors, use custom backgrounds, and customize emails.
Sharing, polling, and recording functionality: the platform should make it easy to record and share your webinars. Recording your webinars makes it easy for your audience to access them on their own time and Polls help you get feedback from your audience.
Email marketing: most platforms have email marketing functionality that allows you to send out invitations. However, a quality platform will also allow you to integrate your existing email marketing software and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software if you prefer to use your own software tools.
Customer support: is there a library of instructional videos and other helpful resources? We are not all tech savants, and if you encounter any issues, you will need help. Look out for 24hour customer support, an up-to-date library of instructional guides, and a thriving community of other users of the platform.
How to Choose the Perfect Webinar Platform for Your Needs
You are now familiar with the essential features of a good webinar platform, but how will you identify a platform with the perfect set of features for your unique needs? The step-by-step guide below will show you how:
Step 1: Define what you want to achieve
You need to figure out what you hope to gain for your business out of running a webinar. With clearly defined objectives, you will be able to identify the type of functionality you need in a webinar platform.
You could be interested in webinars for a number of reasons, some of which are:
- To generate new leads for your business
- To build brand awareness
- To generate sales through product demonstrations
- To hold online meetings and events
- To run an online course
Take the time to understand what you want before moving to the research stage.
Step 2: Do your research and narrow down your options
There are many software review sites and online resources that will provide you with all the information you need to evaluate your options. This is the stage where you compare the features of the many available webinar platforms and identify the platforms that have the right feature sets for your needs.
If your needs are simple or you only need a webinar platform for online meetings, then a simple app without bloated features should be adequate for your needs.
However, if you need fully functional software, then you should check out platforms that allow integration of third-party tools, let you share and record your webinars, and come with all the bells and whistles you will need.
Step 3: Take the time to test your options
This is the stage where the value of free trials comes to the fore. Use free trials to test the webinar platforms on your shortlist and evaluate how effectively each platform enables you to accomplish your business objectives.
Step 4: Make a decision
After you’ve done your due diligence, the final step will be to make a choice. Your final choice will be influenced by your budget, the essential features you need, and your experience with each platform during the testing stage.
Conclusion
Choosing the right webinar platform can be an intimidating process, fortunately, this article exists to help you identify the best platform that enables you to generate new leads and build impactful relationships with your customers.
Tell us in the comments below if you’ve ever considered running a webinar, and for what reason!
Sylvain Bailly is a blogger and digital entrepreneur passionate about learning and teaching ways to make money online, his blog SmartExpertSecrets.com is designed to bring financial and location freedom. Connect with him on Linkedin
Webinar stock photo by RoBird/Shutterstock
