Webinar Tools Review : The Good, Bad & The Ugly
The number one question I get asked, when it comes to webinars is ” What webinar tools do you use and recommend?”
We were talking last time about the different types of webinars you can run, which are live, automated and hybrid.
It’s important to select which type of webinar you want to run before investing in any webinar software. You must get clear on your strategy before hiring technology to implement that strategy.
But assuming you’ve got that far, which webinar software should you use?
If you’ve been running webinars for a long time, you might have begun with GoToWebinar. Ten years ago, GoToWebinar was the most robust, most reliable way to run a live webinar. Many big internet marketers used it, and I used it too for a while.
While GoToWebinar was reliable, the integrations were sadly lacking. You couldn’t trigger marketing automation when somebody attended, stayed for so many minutes, or saw your sales pitch. The platform was robust for live webinar delivery, but that was about it.
After that one of my clients, who ran a training business, bought WebinarJam. They ran live webinars to large audiences and occasional automated webinars.
The nice thing about WebinarJam is the CRM integrations are good, and the in-webinar promotion tools are slick. I have seen WebinarJam webinars convert really well. (Although your webinar conversion rate is about much more than your chosen tool!)
Webinar Tools Are Getting Much Better
But from a marketers perspective, the functionality in WebinarJam is mostly good.
We ran into performance issues however when WebinarJam upgraded their back end to ‘WebinarJam 2.0’. One day we had 400 attendees on a live webinar when the software crashed and chucked everyone off. I cannot begin to describe the stress this caused!
This was back in 2018, and these issues seem to now be resolved. But it left a bad taste. So I can’t really recommend WebinarJam based on these experiences.
(Having said that, I know multiple people now who are using it fine, and at scale, with absolutely no issues).
My client at the time jumped ship off WebinarJam, and moved to Demio. Demio is very simple to use, robust and reliable. You can do hybrid and automated webinars, but the options are more limited. I also think it’s expensive for the functionality you get.
Still, I know a few businesses that swear by Demio and use it successfully. So it’s a valid option depending on your strategy. If ‘easy to use’ is your main criteria, you should consider it.
Some Of My Favourite Webinar Tools…
Talking about ‘easy to use’, I’ve had clients in the past use Zoom Webinars because they use Zoom for meetings and want the familiar presentation interface. (Which is a terrible way to buy software.)
In my opinion Zoom Webinars is expensive, the integrations are lacking or non-existent, and the in-webinar functionality lags behind other providers.
My go-to recommendation for webinar software, especially if you plan to run automated webinars, is Stealth Seminar. The integrations and functionality are in my opinion, the best.
It’s a complicated bit of kit, but the support team at Stealth will help create your webinar for you.
The new kid on the block (and the tool I have the least experience with), is Easy Webinar. I’ve heard good things. The integrations seem good, and you can run live hybrid and automated webinars. But I haven’t personally used Easy Webinar yet, so that’s as far as my recommendation can go.
(Easy Webinar started life as a WordPress plug-in, so people sometimes assume you need WordPress to use it. This is no longer the case, it’s a standalone platform).
That broadly summarises my current experience with the available webinar platforms. Like anyone’s experience, it is partial. So I’d like to open the floor and ask: what webinar tools have you used? What were the CRM integrations like? What kinds of webinars have you been running? (Live / hybrid / automated).
