Webinars come in two forms: live and evergreen. While both of them make great marketing tools, it’s a matter of choosing the best format for your needs.
So, if you’re torn between the two, then make sure to read this comparison between personalized live presentations and profitable evergreen webinars.
Definition
As the name suggests, live webinars are streamed on a real-time basis. It’s similar to attending a seminar or conference, as you need to watch or listen to the presentation at a specified time.
An evergreen webinar is the opposite, as this video is prepared beforehand. That way, clients get to stream this video at their desired day or time.
Benefits
Both webinar forms have their unique advantages.
Live Webinars
Live webinars, for one, come with a personal touch. Since it’s streamed in real-time, you get to establish rapport with your audiences.
For example, you can give a shout-out to new attendees, and perhaps compliment them about their get-up. Since you get to make some friendly discourse, you get to establish a better business relationship.
Live webinars also come with a Q&A portion at the end, so you get to answer queries in real-time. This will help you spark the audience’s interest – something that’s essential for marketing.
Exclusivity is another thing that sets live webinars apart from evergreen presentations. It’s often a one-time deal that comes with a limited number of slots. Through this, you could capitalize on the fear of missing out – a strategy that’s sure to work to your advantage.
Evergreen Webinars
Since evergreen webinars can be recorded ahead of time, it allows you to polish your presentation. You don’t have to worry about tech difficulties and other hiccups that come with live webinars.
You can also record this at the time that’s most favorable to you. As such, this format is great for presenters who want their presentations to be spotless.
Evergreen webinars are also great if you wish to expand your reach. If you want to appeal to international viewers, then this is the way to go. After all, they could replay your presentation at the time that’s best for them.
This also goes for local viewers who may have missed your video due to work or other time constraints.
As they are pre-recorded, you get to use your evergreen webinars repeatedly! That said, it can help you save money and a great deal of time, too.
You need not create a script and record your presentation every so often – yet you stand to get the same number of clients like the ones who did.
Most importantly, evergreen webinars can help simplify the marketing process. Here, you can add a call to action to help you sell or promote your products and services.
As such, you can make passive income with profitable evergreen webinars. There’s not much effort needed, too, as the presentation is always ready for viewing.
Drawbacks
While live and evergreen webinars have their own merits, they do come with some disadvantages as well.
Live Webinars
With live webinars, there’s a high probability of errors. You can lose your internet connection or suffer from several technical problems. Your child can walk in and ruin your presentation.
While you can always bounce back from this, they’re enough to disrupt your otherwise perfect delivery.
Another element unique to live webinars is the time factor. You need to be right on track, or else you will run out of time for the presentation. You may end up not completing your lecture, which could be a turn off for many viewers.
Since live webinars are only available at a specific time, attendance is an issue, too. People from the other half of the world may be asleep at that time, while some may be at work during your time slot. That means you stand to lose a handful of potential conversions.
Add to that, you might lose some sleep, too. This is especially the case if you’re broadcasting to the opposite half of the globe.
There’s also the issue of potential host burnout. It can be quite taxing to host a live webinar, as you need to entertain the guests and troubleshoot issues along the way. If the host is not up for it, the presentation may be in potential jeopardy.
Evergreen Webinars
Since this presentation is pre-recorded, it lacks some human touch. You really can’t interact with your clients, which is vital for good marketing.
Should your viewers need to ask a question, they have to wait for your reply. This could be a turn-off since many consumers expect to be answered immediately.
If you are a people person, you might find it awkward to deliver a topic without the audience’s inputs. This could lead to a boring, robotic performance that may drive the viewers out of the webinar.
Evergreen webinars also don’t have that ‘fear of missing out’ factor that comes with live recordings. This lack of urgency may hamper your marketing strategies, which is why it’s essential to put a call to action in the end.
That said, you have to be very careful when making evergreen webinars. You can’t make any time-sensitive references, or else it will be obvious that it’s a pre-recorded event.
The Verdict
If you like a personalized approach to marketing, then you’re better off with a live webinar. As this provides a sense of urgency, it’s a great way to promote your products and services. It also provides an air of exclusivity, which could heighten the customers’ purchase desire even more.
However, if you want a perfect presentation you can run repeatedly, go for profitable evergreen webinars. Here, you can place a call to action to help you grow your email list or generate sales. They’re also perfect for increasing your reach since they’re not time-sensitive.
As such, you get to market to international clients and those who could not stream the presentation in the first place. And now that you already have knowledge about what is a live webinar and what is an automated webinar or commonly known as an evergreen webinar, you can now decide which type is best for your business.
Since both webinars have their own set of pros and cons, the choice is entirely up to you. It’s all about selecting a format that meets your needs, goals, and desired outcomes.