Webinars are an ideal way to deliver information to a large group of people simultaneously. They’re also great for introducing your audience to products and services that will help them put any advice given in your webinar into action, but it’s important that webinars maintain a high level of quality. Lately, a trend of automated and continuous webinars has been discovered. What this means is that the pre-recorded webinars are presented to a selection of different audiences. There’s nothing wrong with pre-recording your webinar, in fact, it’s something we recommend you do. But you need to make sure that when you pre-record your webinar you are aware of any potential dangers.
The Cons of “Fake” Live Webinars
Don’t try to fool your audience
If you’re showing a pre-recorded webinar to an audience, chances are they know it’s pre-recorded. There’s a certain quality to a live call that doesn’t carry over to a pre-recorded webinar. So if you were to advertise your webinar as live, you simply played a pre-recorded version of your webinar, you could make your audience feel cheated. This will obviously make people mistrust you and lose faith in any product you have to offer.
A pre-recorded webinar can feel like a sales pitch
When you present a live webinar, you can adapt and change your audience and make it all feel natural. You will be open to questions and able to interact with particular members of your audience. Sure, a pre-recorded webinar can offer the same rich information, but it won’t be tailored to meet the expectations of a particular audience. In this sense, it is possible that part of your audience feels alienated, which in turn can affect your sales conversions.
People don’t like to feel alone.
If your pre-recorded webinar has been viewed by multiple people over a certain period of time, you’ll no doubt see your audience decline over time. In such cases, it is possible that in some cases only one person will attend your webinar. If he realizes that he is the only person present, he will most likely simply walk away or quickly lose interest. In this case, it is important that your audience does not feel alone.
no live interaction
Webinars offer a great opportunity to boost conversions by allowing the person hosting the webinar to easily interact with their audience. This is lost with pre-recorded webinars, as there is no way to tailor the webinar to suit everyone.
People don’t feel the sense of urgency
If people know that a webinar is pre-recorded, it will give them the opportunity to postpone listening to it. In some cases, the webinar may never be heard. A live call will ensure that your audience not only feels the urgency, but is also fully invested in what you have to say.
The advantages of pre-recorded webinars
You save time
Recordings of a webinar can provide benefits. For example, a pre-recorded webinar means you don’t have to be present at every webinar, freeing up your time to focus on other important areas. If implemented correctly, it can also help streamline your sales process. Make sure you have answers to the most frequently asked questions within your webinar. Also include basic information and the products or services being offered, this will ensure your sales process runs smoothly.
You will be able to create the perfect webinar
Hosting a live webinar can have its drawbacks, and one of them is that it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever run the perfect webinar online. You could forget what you were saying or there could be a technological glitch. While neither would jeopardize the overall webinar, it obviously won’t be perfect. However, thanks to technological advances, you can simply edit your webinar to remove any mishaps and ensure the best parts are displayed for all to see. You can also make modifications when necessary.
An automated webinar can drive better conversions than a website alone
Although there are some drawbacks to pre-recorded webinars, it’s better to have a webinar than nothing at all. A website may have the copy to make your sale, but nothing comes close to a webinar when it engages an audience. A webinar has the potential to turn a cold lead into a sale by being able to offer a series of answers and solutions to any questions they may have had.
You Can Sell Your Products 24/7/365
Being able to schedule your webinars for a time that suits your audience means time zone limitations and personal schedules are a thing of the past. In this sense, you could be earning money while you sleep.
You can add people to your sales funnel automatically
A person’s email address can be a great asset to those selling online, but acquiring them can sometimes be challenging. If people have enjoyed your presentations in the past, then the task becomes a bit easier. However, if you’re looking to reach a new audience, then it pays to have something to offer in return. An automated webinar that offers rich and relevant information is a great way to secure that all-important email address.
It can be a bit difficult to know how to overcome the disadvantage of the technology, but still implement its positive features. One solution is to employ the use of automated webinar software that has a built-in chat feature. Evergreen Business System is a favorite among users due to its many features, including a chat service.
Using such software can ensure that you stay connected with your audience even though the webinar is pre-recorded. You can let them know that the webinar is pre-recorded, so there is no expectation that it will be live. You can also let them know that you can answer any questions through the chat feature. Another positive feature of the Evergreen Business System is the list of people’s names, thus reassuring all attendees that they are not alone.
When it comes to scheduling, let an automated system maintainer take over. This will save you time, and automating such tasks has no direct impact on your audience. Just make sure you instill human interaction into your webinars so they don’t feel like they’re part of the system.
