With the webinar market projected to hit $800 million soon, it's no surprise that marketers are looking for the best way to leverage this powerful solution. As the demand for webinars is on the rise, so is the number of software tools available that offer them as a service. However, not all webinar software is created equal.
If you want to make the most of your webinars, you'll want to choose carefully. To help with your decision, here are the three best webinar software programs to market and sell your products or services.
What Makes a Great Webinar Software for Marketing?
As explained in our webinar guide, webinars can have multiple purposes. They can provide helpful content to a target audience or facilitate remote discussions. When it comes to marketing efforts, you'll need software that can offer a specific suite of features you can use to your advantage.
Webinar software for marketing should include lead generation and registration features, such as customizable landing pages to collect registrations and automated email sending to confirm and remind attendees of your event. These tools should have branding capabilities, so you can ensure that your webinars are always aligned with your corporate identity. If your webinar is part of a larger marketing strategy, you'll also want easy integration with other components, such as your CRM or email marketing software.
Analytics and tracking are additional key components for marketing webinars, enabling you to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns. Some tools enable you to track who registered, attended, or interacted with your event—data you can use in future marketing endeavors to tailor your content to your audience's preferences.
Finally, keep an eye on usage limits. Every software has limits concerning the number of participants in a given webinar and how long your events can be streamed. Depending on the size of your marketing campaign, your webinar may need to accommodate hundreds or even thousands of attendees.
1. WebinarJam
First up, we have WebinarJam. While it may not cover all the features you can think of, it's just perfect for marketing and selling. Why? Because most marketers use webinars to convert leads into customers, and WebinarJam takes care of that in the simplest way possible.
There are also urgency and scarcity functions that help get people off the fence. For example, countdowns ensure people know when an offer is about to vanish. You can create stunning presentations with PowerPoint and Keynote and use custom branding to further enhance your events. And if you want to sell the webinar itself, you can even set up payment collection upon registration.
Finally, WebinarJam also owns EverWebinar, which turns webinars into automated marketing machines. EverWebinar is included from the second plan of WebinarJam onward, or you can just purchase EverWebinar if you are not planning to run live webinars(. With its built-in tools like a chat simulator and dynamic attendee counter for your automated webinars, it's easy to create webinars that look like they are live while they are not. That way, people can join your events from anywhere in the world and at their best time. If you have yet to learn about pre-recorded webinars, make sure to read our article on the topic.
Marketing and Sales Features
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The features are perfectly tuned for selling products and services. From integrated email marketing features to direct sales incentives in the webinar, you won't miss a thing. Also, there is no comparable software that makes automated webinars look so live.
Flexibility
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If you just want to host on-demand/automated webinars, you can buy EverWebinar only. It will save you money, and you won't be limited in the number of participants you can have. If you also want to host live webinars, you can purchase both with WebinarJam.
Unlimited Webinars
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WebinarJam allows you to run as many live webinars as you need. The only limitation comes in the form of maximum attendees, which range from 100 to 5,000 depending on the plan you purchase.
Integrated Filters
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Prevent spam, vulgar language, and inappropriate content in your webinar chat with the help of integrated filters.
Attendee Spotlight
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A cool feature that allows you to call out individual attendees and interact with them. It's the virtual version of bringing someone up on stage at your event.
Panic Button
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Avoid potential technical issues with WebinarJam's panic button. In case of a malfunction, you can quickly reboot your presentation in a new live room.
Pros
Time Limitation
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Depending on the plan you choose, live webinars can only be between 1-4 hours long. For most marketers, this is enough, but longer events are simply impossible.
First Plan Lacks Features
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To host live webinars and automated webinars, you need to purchase the second plan because the first one does not include EverWebinar.
No Breakout Rooms
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Live breakout rooms are missing from the features. They enable you to split a live session into smaller groups and merge everyone back into the main session at any time.
Cons
2. ClickMeeting
Striking a perfect balance between features, scalability, and pricing, ClickMeeting is another excellent option for marketing webinars. It offers advanced analytics tools and real-time surveys to help you understand your audience better. Unlike WebinarJam, ClickMeeting also has a mobile app, making it easier to manage events on the go.
With their whiteboard tool, you can draw on-screen and clarify your points. You can add polls and surveys to increase engagement during Q&A sessions as well. Branding is another easy thing to do with ClickMeeting, as you can customize the login and event registration pages as you wish. Add your logo and colors to solidify your brand in attendees' minds, and customize your invitations to make them personal and easier to identify.
Powerful Automation Features
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With ClickMeeting's automated webinars, you can create a timeline of events before, during, and after your webinar. For example, you can add surveys and CTAs to a pre-recorded webinar and decide when they should appear.
Real-time Chat Translation
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ClickMeeting allows the use of live chat translation, so you can easily extend your webinars outside of English-speaking countries.
Issuing of Certificates
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If your webinar is an educational event, you can issue certificates of attendance to participants. The certificates are sent automatically after the event ends.
Source Tracking
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Marketers with multiple marketing channels promoting an event will appreciate ClickMeeting's source tracking. It allows you to see where your attendees are coming from and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Pros
Fewer Integrations
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ClickMeeting has fewer integrations with third-party apps and services compared to other webinar software.
Less Flexibility
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Automated webinars can only be unlocked by upgrading the plan and cannot be purchased separately.
Gets Expensive
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Clickmeeting costs about twice as much as WebinarJam for the same number of attendees. However, you should also take into account that more features are offered overall.
Cons
3. LiveWebinar
The third-best webinar software for marketers is LiveWebinar. It's a powerful tool that allows you to host large events with up to 1,000+ attendees. Its intuitive interface and interactive features like polls and live chat make it ideal for engaging your audience in real-time. Easy browser access not only makes it easier for participants to join but also lets you embed your webinar into any website or blog.
In terms of flexibility, LiveWebinar might just be the most flexible webinar platform out there. You only pay for what you need in terms of features, and there are generous limits in terms of the number of attendees you can host. Built-in registration forms, custom emails, and detailed analytics are some of the other features that make it a great choice for marketers.
Also, with LiveWebinar, you can leverage the power of on-demand replay to reach more people. You can also record and download sessions for future analysis or archival purposes. And with its brandable interface, you can customize the attendee experience to match your company identity.
Unlimited Event Duration
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Unlike other webinar software, LiveWebinar doesn't limit the duration of events. You can hold webinars that last as long as you want, with no restrictions on time or the number of sessions. However, if you choose to record sessions, the recordings are limited, depending on your plan.
Cheap and Flexible Pricing
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LiveWebinar is incredibly affordable for what it offers. On top of that, it offers you the possibility to upgrade certain features without switching the entire plan. For example, if you only need to host more attendees, you only pay more for that.
Join from Smart TVs
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Besides mobile and desktop devices, participants can join your webinar from their smart TVs. It's an even more immersive experience for attendees.
Pros
Limited Automated Webinars
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Some marketers have different automated webinars running at the same time. However, LiveWebinar limits this to 3 individual ones for the basic plan and allows a maximum of 5 for higher plans.
No Source Tracking
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There is no source tracking available for the base plan. Adding a Google, Facebook, or other Pixel is only available for Business Plans and above.
Cons
How to Choose the Right Webinar Software
Choosing the perfect webinar software for your marketing can be tricky. But with the insights gained from this article, you should now have a good understanding of what to look for and which software suits you best. Each option has its unique features and benefits that make it stand out from the rest.
For instance, if you're primarily using automated webinars for lead generation and sales, Everwebinar will have you covered with everything you’ll ever need, and you can even make your webinars appear as if they were live. If your webinars are only or mostly live, you can go with WebinarJam.
On the other hand, if you're looking to host sessions that take up to 6 hours with more available features for your live sessions and you are willing to pay more for that, then ClickMeeting will do its best for you. Lastly, if you are on a tight budget and don’t require many different versions of automated webinars to run simultaneously or you plan to host extremely long live webinars taking more than 6 hours, then LiveWebinar will be your best option.
Consider what is important to you and narrow down your choices. To compare several tools directly with each other, be sure to use our Comparison Tool.
Overall, webinars have continuously grown in popularity over the years, and they're now a key part of the marketing toolbox for many companies. With the right webinar software, you can easily create engaging experiences for your audience that drive real results for your business. Choose one of the three providers we've highlighted, and you're on your way to hosting webinars that both market and sell your offerings with a splash of finesse and a track record of success.
