As we are going ahead in the modern era, we can witness the digital revolution. More and more businesses, marketers, industries, and organizations, irrespective of their sector, are leveraging digital technology to connect, share, and collaborate with the world. One such digital revolution is a webinar.
Webinars have become extremely popular in a very short time. They are very easy to use, due to which they have become an impressive marketing tool. Webinars are a great way to reach out to your existing attendees and attract new ones. Webinars play a pivotal role in the growth of your business.
Because of their tremendous advantages, webinars have become the need of most businesses and organizations for marketing their products, building brand awareness, and lead generation. Therefore, we can say the future of webinars looks bright and they are here to stay forever.
Here, in this blog, we will talk about the future of webinars. So, let us get started.
Before moving toward the history of the webinar, let us have a quick brief about the history of the webinar.
History of Webinar:
According to some resources, the history of webinars goes back three decades ago. It was the 1980s when the internet was in its initial phase. But in 1996 the first public web conference was held because of the efforts of Microsoft on the occasion of the launch of NetMeeting. Later in 1996, the WebexMeeting center was developed, which was renamed Webex.
Over the past two decades, several new webinar platforms emerged. Now there is a boom of webinar platforms and video conferencing software in the market, for example, Mixhubb, Zoom, GoToMeeting, and MicrosoftTeams.
With the advancement of technology, these platforms have come up with several new features to make the webinar’s journey smooth.
After Covid19, everything has gone digital; webinars, online conferences, and events are pervasive. Due to the digital revolution, webinars have changed the way the world used to work earlier. Due to several features offered by the webinar platform, webinars have become more interactive and engaging than earlier. Webinars have evolved from boring PowerPoint presentations to highly interactive and engaging high-tech events.
Webinars can be hosted for online education, workshops, employee training, and marketing and sales. Depending upon your requirement and budget, you can find a lot of software in the market. Some of those offer dynamic technologically advanced features but are a little expensive for those who are low on budget. Some are cost-effective webinar platforms, yet they offer the latest technologically advanced features.
What is the Future of Webinars?
To reach anyone, anywhere, and at any time, webinars and other online platforms have become everyone’s favorite. According to most researchers, webinars will gain more popularity, and their market is expected to grow further in the coming years. Technology has made it convenient to add videos, images, audio, graphs, and graphics to online presentations to keep attendees hooked. Webinars will become more engaging and interactive with the advancement of webinar platforms. Following are some ways to move ahead
- Huge transition to mobile platforms: With the emergence of the 5G network and new-generation technology, the reach of the internet has become increasingly widespread. Due to this, most webinar software is coming up with apps specially designed for accessing online events or webinars on mobile platforms.
- Ultra High-Quality video: Attendees can view the webinar information in the form of rich infographics or short videos during presentations of much higher quality. Modern classrooms are well equipped with instruments like LED screens so that relevant content can be shared with the students.
- Automation of webinar software: Automation of webinar platforms, has become life saviors for moderators because it saves them from sending bulk invitations, reminders, and follow-ups to the targeted audiences.
- Webinar platform integrates with other channels: Due to the integration of webinar software with a social media platform, it has become much easier to share live-stream webinars on these platforms.
What are the features of the webinar?
Today, webinars are number one, among other digital tools for effective marketing, growing business, and distance learning. However, it is very difficult to change the communication of face-to-face meetings. But the webinar platform can replicate your personal conference experience and bring your online event closer to reality as much as possible. With technological refinements, features of webinars are also evolving.
- Webinar supports multi-user real-time audio and video conferencing (attendees can see and listen to several speakers)
- Slide show
- Whiteboard
- Text chat
- Streaming and recording
- Remote desktop management
- Document collaboration
- Content sharing
- Voting and polls
Future webinar platforms might offer other features like attendee pre-registration, calendar invitations, digital signage options, and integration with legacy endpoints. Moreover, despite offering several advanced features, the webinar platform should offer a simple setup and should be feasible for attendees.
User case of a webinar:
Selling of information, product, and services: You can webinars to showcase your product and services to potential targeted audiences. Moreover, you can use the best webinar platform for business, using a webinar or online conferences, you can inform your existing attendees about your new launch.
Educational webinar: Educational webinars became very popular during the Covid19. It was the best solution for remote education. Webinars are a great way to teach a small group of students as well as a perfect option for teaching a specialized department with a large group of students.
Business Conferences: You can host a webinar for sharing information with your colleagues. Before the pandemic hit the world, it was quite expensive to travel for attending business meetings or conferences. But with webinars, you can save your travel expenses, as well as your traveling time. Within a few clicks, you are available for real-time conversation with your valuable stakeholders and other colleagues.
Expand your audience base: Create a webinar about anything you like, such as about your business and share it on social media. It will let you reach more audiences and will expand your audience base. Furthermore, you can create an informational webinar and share it with your connections on social media platforms to get likes, shares, and comments.
Unique Ideas: Share a few useful, unique, and creative ideas with your audience. You can also share your experience and journey of struggle to motivate audiences. It will help attendees to keep their morale high and you will gain new followers.
With today’s growing technology, we don’t know where webinars will end up. But for now, they continue to be a great tool for marketing, training, product launches, workshops, exhibitions, and many more.