Webinar Comparison: Live versus On-Demand

Most of the time, when you hold a webinar it is going to be live. In fact, thatŐs pretty much the definition of a webinar – a live presentation that has attendees and a presenter. But there may be some instances where it makes more sense to record the webinar in advance without an audience present and then make it available on demand. In this article, we will explore the benefits and disadvantages of both of these styles of webinars. 

Live Webinars

Live webinars are obviously the standard. Hosting a live webinar has a number of advantages including being able to instantly give information to your audience. This is important if they are working on something time sensitive or that would benefit them financially (such as when your information will help them improve their business). 

In addition, when you host a live webinar, you can answer questions that your attendees have. This is obviously impossible in any sort of conventional sense when you do an on-demand webinar. Sometimes, an attendee will not understand a concept or idea that you present and answering their question will clear up their confusion. 

Also, live webinars allow you to charge money. On-demand webinars can also be downloaded for a fee, but people are definitely willing to pay more for a live webinar. Generally, when someone pays the ticket price for the live webinar, you can then allow them to download the recording for free. 

On-Demand Webinars

Webinars that are on-demand can also be advantageous. The disadvantage of holding a live webinar is that people who want to attend have to actually be available on the day and during the time that it is going on. Having an on-demand webinar can allow busy people to download it or view it at their leisure, which many will be able to appreciate. 

Webinars on-demand also have the advantage of the do-over. Sometimes, no matter how well you prepare, something can be completely wrong. Technical issues can bring down a webinar and more than one presenter has reviewed their webinar recording and found that there was no audio or some other problem that made the webinar unusable. 

Finally, webinars on demand can be filmed in segments. If you have an extremely busy schedule you will appreciate this feature. Sometimes, you are just too busy to host a webinar for three hours, not to mention all of the prep time. An on-demand webinar can solve this problem. 
