7 Types Of Webinars For Businesses

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a 360 degree change to the way we operate now.  Considering safety and maintaining a secure distance while wearing a mask have become an essential part of living in the ‘new normal’. The pandemic has even made it mandatory for certain businesses to reconsider the way they carry out their business practices and day to day operations. This is especially true in the case of enterprises that involved a person to person interaction, such as coaching classes, counselling services, children’s activity classes such as art and craft, singing, music, phonics, language classes etc, human resource related services or departments within organisations, fitnesses and health businesses such as yoga, Pilates, etc. and several other business sectors. These business domains can no longer operate as they usually did, but thanks to the boon of technology there is an alternate way for these businesses to operate. One such highly effective way is through webinars for businesses. 

What Is A Webinar?

Webinar essentially means a seminar session held over the internet. The word is derived by joining two words- “Web” and “Seminar”. A webinar refers to a web-based conference which is either conducted live or presented pre-recorded. Since a webinar is held online, anyone with appropriate equipment and an access to the webinar can attend it from anywhere using the internet.

Effectiveness Of Webinars

Webinars are just the appropriate solution for several businesses to operate during and even after the lockdown while heeding to the social distancing norms. There are several applications and platforms in the market which can be downloaded for businesses to host their webinars. Some popular apps include Google’s Hangouts Meet, Microsoft Teams and Zoom Cloud Meetings. These apps are easy to navigate and have already proven to be effective. If figures and data are to be considered, video conferencing apps for webinars have seen the highest jump, witnessing a 45% spike in downloading by and for businesses in a week itself during the lockdown. This exponential growth within a week is attributed to the increased usage of the video conferencing apps to facilitate webinars for business.

Some of the businesses that can opt for webinars for conducting business operations on a day to day basis include- 

• Coaching classes
• Tuitions
• Cooking classes
• Drawing, art and craft classes
• Language classes
• Yoga and fitness classes
• Clothing stores
• Plastic ware businesses
• Financial services
• Counselling services such as business counselling, mental health counselling, beauty and fashion counselling, etc.

These are just some of the businesses named that can benefit from webinars for business, every business can look for opportunities to conduct webinars to engage with their customers. 

Benefits Of Webinars

Now that we know what they are and how their need as well as demand has risen, we can definitely use webinars for business to benefit the businesses, just as several businesses have already begun to do so. 

• Helps Adhere To Social Distancing

Webinars are the perfect solution for several business enterprises especially in the current situation of crisis where maintaining a social distance is crucial. 

• Helps Connect To A Larger Global Audience

Webinars for business help the entrepreneurs reach out to customers and provide their services while being geographically dispersed. The global reach of webinars to audiences across the world is an added advantage. Additionally, the number of people that can attend a webinar far exceeds the number that can physically be present for it. 

• Webinars Are Convenient

Webinars make it easy and convenient for the business along with those attending the webinar to be a part of it from their current location itself. Additionally, webinars are relatively easy to login to and attend rather than travelling in person for the same meeting to be held in person. It saves on time, fuel, resources and is thus convenient.

• Webinars Are Flexible

Webinars can be arranged at a time suitable for everyone. Also, webinars can be attended from anywhere and if they are pre-recorded, which is one of the several types of webinars, they can be viewed as per the audience’s convenience, making it a flexible and adaptable option.

• Webinars Are Cost Effective

Webinars save up on a lot of time and money. Imagine arranging meetings in person, where efforts and resources are spent on arranging it, all of these costs are saved due to webinars. 

• Webinars Provide Faster ROI

The rate of return (ROI) on webinars is comparatively faster thus helping bring in the cash flow to the business to keep it running. Webinars usually charge a registration fee and these alone can help generate certain income apart from the leads it may convert, therefore providing a faster ROI.

• They Promote Engagement

Webinars for business help to generate customer engagement even if they do not conduct any sales activity or generate an income via the webinar. 

• Help Generate Sales Lead

A webinar is a sure shot way to identify the niche audience interested in the particular business sector and even though the webinar might not be aimed at selling via the platform, it generates sales leads which help the business significantly. 

• Helps Build Brand Value

A webinar is a great option to create and promote a brand. It helps create a brand value within a short period of time while reaching out to a wide audience.

These are just some of the several benefits of webinars from which businesses can benefit. To take advantage of the various benefits of webinars for business, the only requirement is to get an online starter pack that will create a digital identity for businesses and allow it to connect with potential customers while engaging with existing clients.

Types Of Webinars

There are several types of webinars, each one having subtle differences, thus making them suitable for a variety of different business sectors. The common types of webinars are discussed and elaborated on here.

• e-Learning

The most commonly used and popular type of webinars is an e-learning webinar, which is also referred to as continuing education delivery. This widely used form of webinars has bought classrooms into the homes of millions of children and enabled distance learning. These sessions can either be live or on-demand and a popular choice for several coaching classes, schools, and extracurricular activity classes.

• Employee Training

Another popular category in types of webinars is employee training webinars. These are highly effective as they can provide training to employees in different branches of the organisation spread across various locations across the country or even the globe. This is especially helpful for franchise business models. Additionally, webinars can help with personal training too.

• Product Demonstration

With a large number of people turning to online platforms and mediums for their shopping needs and the number of digital buyers expected to grow to over 2.14 billion by 2021, online product demonstration is expected to gain popularity too.  Providing product demonstration via webinars helps seal the deal, along with creating positive customer satisfaction experience.

• Lead Generation

In these times of maintaining a social distance it is difficult for businesses to approach new potential customers directly. Through webinars where the business provides in-depth knowledge and information on topics in which they have experience and expertise, thereby acquiring new contacts, termed as lead generation. The lead generation webinars can also serve as an example for the credibility and ability of the business to demonstrate to the potential clients.

• Customer Onboarding

Once a customer has chosen the service or products from a particular business, the enterprise can give a demo for the product or service along with sharing other details about the business deal, through an onboarding webinar. A customer onboarding webinar provides great value of investment to the customers. It is also an effective and easy method for the business to provide their after sale services to the customers.

• Customer Retention

Nowadays businesses do not just run on providing a particular service one time or selling a specific product. The after sales service provided by the business is also equally vital. Through the medium of webinars, businesses can afford an opportunity to keep their clients informed about important company or product announcements. These webinars help make the clients feel valued, thereby aiding in customer retention and nurturing.

• Corporate Communications

Since virtual workspaces are becoming increasingly common, especially in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, the next logical step is to conduct all corporate communications via webinars. Large organisations can also conduct their annual general meeting (AGM) through a webinar, thereby connecting to all its shareholders across the globe simultaneously. 

So, the various types of webinars can help businesses right from educating and demonstrating their product  to customers, to generating leads, getting them onboard as customers, communicating with them and keeping them engaged and informed in order to retain them. The entire business cycle can thus be carried out via webinars. 

Apart from those mentioned above, there are several other types of webinars too, such as those that help with branding and reputation management, webinars providing association membership content, webinars for panelist discussions, etc. 

All businesses can tap into the potential of webinars to benefit their business, provided they have an online presence or are willing to take part of their business activity online. Businesses can always seek the assistance of deAsra Foundation to explore the vast potential of webinars for their business.