6 Things Your Webinar Provider Won't Tell You

Looking for the best webinar platform for your business can be a difficult task.

As an Account Manager, I’m aware that you’re often bombarded by lists of specs, pushy sales pitches and flashy presentations.  Most of the time, you just want somebody to be honest and tell you if their platform can do what you need it to.  So, I thought I’d do you a solid and tell you about some of the things that most webinar providers won’t mention.  

When a competitor is a better fit

The first, and most important point to note here is that not every platform is perfect for every type of event.  Just one example of this is that some platforms perform really well for small meetings, but collapse under the strain of a bigger audience.  Others are excellent for one to many marketing events, but don’t work well for two way verbal communication.  

Webinar platforms are sometimes guilty of trying to get the sale, and not being honest with a client about whether their solution is correct for the client requirement.  This always ends badly, with a client who feels as though they have been mislead, and a webinar provider looking like their solution doesn’t work – when really it just wasn’t meant for that type of event.  

When they have a cheaper package that would suit you

While all webinar providers would love to get you to spend lots of money on their product, it doesn’t mean that their most expensive solution is the one that you need.  Yes, they may offer a bells and whistles managed package for up to 10,000 attendees, but all you need is something that will allow you to create a webinar at a moment's notice for 50 of your customers.

At WorkCast we offer packages that range from basic self-service to fully managed webinars ran by our team.  We want you to be confident in what you do, yet have the autonomy to deliver events without us if that’s what you want.  That’s why, when we think you’re ready, we will suggest a move from a managed service to monitored or even self-service.

Equally, if we know that what you want to do is complicated and too much for self-service, then we will recommend a managed service.

When your idea just isn’t going to work

I love telling people that what they want to do is feasible and easy for us to do.  Luckily, most times it is, so I get to tell people that a lot. (yay!)

However, there are times when the picture in your head just isn’t going to work in real life (still talking webinars here).  This is not me speaking negatively against you being creative with your events. The negative side is when your webinar provider fails to tell you that it’s not going to work no matter which platform you use.

This is a bad experience for everyone, and will end in your event looking nothing like you expected, or worse, failing completely.  

What actually looks good.

I suppose what looks good is a matter of opinion, isn’t it?  That said, we see lots of online events every day, so we get a handle on which event formats work and which ones don’t look so good or get great engagement.  

Of course, you’re free to choose the format that you prefer and we won’t force our opinions on you… but if you would like some best practice advice then we’re always happy to give it!

Internal communications are really difficult

That probably sounds like a bit of a cop out, but any event where you have multiple people logging in to view an event from the same location throws up issues that you probably never imagined existed.  This is a regular issue in our sector, and not a one that is going to go away any time soon.

The bottom line is that delivering webinars for internal comms is doable, and at WorkCast we do it really well, but you do have a lot more to think about. We are here as experts to work with your IT departments, put failovers in place and advise you on how best to deliver this type of event  - but don’t let your webinar provider tell you that this type of event is no different to any other.

When you’re not using everything that your package offers

Starting to deliver webinars takes a lot of time and resource at first, so it’s natural that you won’t necessarily use everything that your package offers at first.  This is less work for your webinar provider… so why would they hassle you to make use of the extra features?

At WorkCast you are given a dedicated Account Manager with your licence, who will do regular reviews and make sure that you’ve got the opportunity to make use of the extras included in your licence like branded channels, advanced reporting and CRM and MA integration.  We want you to realize the value of the WorkCast platform to your business and continue working with us!

I hope that the points I have raised here have given you the information that you need to ask the right questions and make an informed decision when choosing your webinar provider.