In fact, 47% of webinar views are on-demand (replay), and 5 of 10 viewers watch the replay of the webinar. Many potential viewers may not be able to attend live webinars due to their busy schedules. In this case, automated webinars allow viewers to watch, rewind, and rewatch the webinar content at their convenience. In fact, when you put your webinar on autopilot, it helps maximize your content reach and doubles the viewers.
In this guide, we will explore what automated webinars are, how they work, their pros and cons, best use cases, key features to consider when choosing an automated webinar platform, and more.
What is an Automated Webinar?
An automated webinar is a pre-recorded video presentation that delivers content to an audience across different time zones. It operates automatically, and neither you nor your audience is in the room live, but it still simulates a live webinar experience. In fact, this format eliminates the need for hosts and audience to be present in real-time and enables a more diverse range of individuals to engage with the topic at hand.
While the main content is pre-recorded, automated webinars include interactive elements such as live polling, pre-scheduled Q&A sessions, and more to increase audience engagement and provide them a sense of live event experience. An automated webinar runs on a scheduled time or on-demand, allowing viewers to watch the recorded session and access its information at their convenience and own pace.
How Does an Automated Webinar Work?
The webinar host or speaker delivers a live presentation in an engaging way via a live video conferencing platform, which is recorded by default. It is then scheduled to run at a specific time, which is what we refer to as an automated webinar.
Once the recording is ready, some portions of the live presentation are edited later and uploaded to the automated webinar software. The host sets an automated webinar as a recurring schedule (every Tuesday or Thursday) or on demand, depending on the requirements.
The recorded webinar is then marketed to the target audience. The link is sent to them via email or WhatsApp so that they can access the pre-recorded content at their convenience and engage with it.
Once a viewer is done watching the session, the automated webinar platform automatically generates and sends them a follow-up email with a thank-you message, a summary of key points, or additional information. If someone misses or leaves the recording in the middle, a reminder email is also created and sent to them.
Pros and Cons of an Automated Webinar
Pros | Cons | |
1 | Once recorded and set up, automated webinars can be run multiple times without the host’s actual presence | Since the audience is watching a recorded webinar, they are unable to engage with the speaker live and ask any questions that may arise in real-time |
2 | Regardless of time zone, they can be delivered to thousands of attendees at once | It becomes difficult for hosts to build personal relationships and trust with the audience, because there is no opportunity for live interaction |
3 | Automated webinars serve as evergreen content that helps continuously attract and convert leads | Over time, the content in webinars becomes outdated if it is not updated regularly |
4 | It can be repurposed into a blog post, social media post, or podcast, as well as used for a paid campaign that will generate ongoing leads | The host doesn’t get to keep the audience energized and motivated because the session is not live |
5 | It opens up newer markets and allows you to reach a global audience, which further expands your audience base | There is no live host, so if a pre-recorded presentation is not engaging, the audience is more likely to abandon the session if not executed well. |
6 | Automated webinars are cost-effective for organizations because they eliminate the need to host frequent live events, cutting down all the expenses associated with them | |
7 | Multiple automated webinars can be created, targeting different segments of the audience, tailoring content to their specific needs and interests |
Use Cases For Automated Webinars
1. Online Courses and Training Programs
Automated webinars are ideal for delivering standardized online training and certification courses. The instructor doesn’t need to conduct separate training tutorials to train students who cannot attend the live class or hold repeated sessions for each new batch of students.
When tutors host live training sessions, they can reach thousands of learners at once. However, if tutors record sessions and put them on autopilot, they can reach millions of learners across different time zones.
Leveraging automated webinars, professional trainers can create mini certification courses or a series of pre-recorded sessions, reach global learners, and allow them to learn at their own pace, re-watch lessons, and engage with the material on their schedule.
Example
A freelance digital marketing expert can create an online certification program that covers topics like SEO, social media marketing, content creation, paid advertising, email marketing, and more. Each topic will be covered in a separate session, which will incorporate case studies and real-world examples to provide students with practical experience.
For each topic, the practical assignments will be provided to students to complete. The automated webinar platform will track their progress and provide students with digital certificates upon completion of all modules and assignments.
2. Product Demonstration and Features Spotlights
If businesses want to showcase their products or services and highlight their unique features to potential customers, then an automated webinar is the best way to go.
A polished, professional, and educational pre-recorded presentation will be great for providing customers with in-depth information about the product and walking them through its key benefits. Customers from different time zones can watch the demo and understand the potential of the product.
Example
A tech company records the live session of their new product launch, where they demonstrate its features and reinforce its key points to attract customers. This recording is used as an automated webinar, allowing potential customers to watch it at their convenience.
It guides the audience through the product’s functionality, best use cases, and unique value propositions. At the end of the video, a call-to-action (CTA) is placed to encourage viewers to take the next step, such as booking a live demo or purchasing the product.
3. Lead Generation
The best and popular use case of automated webinars is ongoing lead creation. It allows businesses to create a powerful presentation about their product or service that not only educates potential customers about the problem but also presents their solution. It can also showcase testimonials and include a clear call to action, like buy the product, sign up for a live demo, and book a consultation.
Putting webinars on autopilot helps organizations build an evergreen sales funnel that continually attracts and nurtures leads, converting them into customers even while they sleep. Since the webinar runs on autopilot, it consistently delivers your marketing message and positions your product or service as an ultimate solution to their problem, which helps generate qualified leads.
Example
A B2B SaaS company builds a powerful project management software for enterprises and creates an in-depth video on it that illustrates the problem, shows how the software provides the best solution, displays its unique features, and demonstrates how it helps achieve better results.
Once the editing part of the video is done, it is promoted to target B2B enterprises and made ready for viewing on demand. In order to generate significant leads, a brief success story or quote from a real customer is included. At the end of the video, a call to action is placed, such as a free 7-day sign-up or a free live demo with Agile experts.
4. Onboarding New Employees
Automated webinars are an extremely effective practice to onboard new staff. You don’t need to hold frequent live sessions to onboard new employees and explain to them about the company’s processes, culture, etc.
You can create a pre-recorded webinar that walks new employees through the company’s mission, values, and HR policies, as well as introducing the team and a walkthrough on vital tools for daily work
By automating essential onboarding training, employers can save plenty of time, speed up their hiring process, and quickly familiarize new employees with the company and its procedures.
Example
An organization can design a pre-recorded presentation and use it as an automated webinar to onboard new employees and give them a uniform onboarding experience. It would cover company value, its culture, HR policies, basic tools, and processes. New hires are given a link to the session, which they can view at their convenience, and by the end of it, they complete a few quizzes to ensure they understand every detail.
5. Common Customer Inquiries
The e-commerce sector, travel industry, SaaS companies, and many other sectors frequently receive a set of questions that prospects are eager to know more about. In such circumstances, companies can create videos that present customers with the answers to these FAQs. These videos can be used as automated webinars, providing in-depth solutions to the customer’s common inquiries, saving the organization’s customer service representatives a significant amount of time.
Example
E-commerce companies often receive some common questions from their prospects and customers. So, they create a video that addresses common questions, including shipping policies, returns policies, payment methods, and more.
Similarly, travel companies also get a lot of questions around booking processes, visa requirements, cancellation or refund policy, and more. So, they can create a video on customers’ common inquiries and repurpose it into an automated webinar.
6. Employee Training and Development
Automated webinars are ideal for delivering ongoing training, compliance updates, emerging software tutorials, and professional development courses to employees. This actually saves a lot of costs for the organizations as venue rental, per-live trainer fees, logistics, and more.
Instead of hosting frequent in-person training sessions, companies can record all these modules and make them available for on-demand, which will help save significant costs associated with physical training programs. This will be especially useful for businesses with a globally dispersed workforce.
Example
An international company creates a series of pre-recorded training modules to support employee skill development, covering key topics such as global compliance, communication, time management, and more. Employees can access them at any time, gain their expertise at their own pace, and each module will include a short task to reinforce learning.
Key Features to Consider When Choosing an Automated Webinar Platform
The right automated webinar software is critical to accomplishing your ultimate webinar aim and providing the audience with an enjoyable viewing experience. As it not only delivers content efficiently but also at a large scale.
Picking the right software is a smart decision that will give you a sense of reward for all your efforts. In order to get the most out of your investment, you must know the features when choosing an automated webinar platform.
1. Branding & Customization
The automated webinar platform should have a branding & customization feature as it enables you to fully personalize your webinar room, landing page, and registration pages to align with your company’s unique style and brand identity.
This feature allows you to add your brand logo, colour, font, and theme so you can tailor the webinar environment with your distinct brand personality and enhance the brand recall.
2. HD Video Quality Support
If you want to give your audience a crisp, clear, and immersive viewing experience, ensure that the webinar software supports high-definition video, whether 720p, 1080p, or even 4K. The integration of HD video support guarantees that the viewing experience of a playback video will be visually stunning.
Poor video quality can disappoint your audience and leave a poor impression of your brand, so make sure the platform you choose supports high-resolution video.
3. Engagement Tools
Even though the webinar is pre-recorded, the automated webinar platform should offer engagement tools such as live chat (with a moderator), real-time poll, survey, and Q&A, to simulate the live experience and keep attendees engaged.
With this feature, you can captivate viewers and maintain their interest in the session, encouraging them to stay until the pre-recorded webinar ends.
Final Thoughts
An automated webinar is all about using pre-recorded content and making it available for on-demand or at a scheduled time, to maximize reach and continue to generate potential leads. This webinar module overcomes geographic and time zone barriers and allows you to make your webinar sessions available to a global audience around the clock.
Whether you are a small business, a large corporation, or a freelance professional, an automated webinar can broaden your audience base and expand its reach. This webinar format significantly reduces expenses that would otherwise be spent on repeated live presentations.
In fact, automated webinars have become an indispensable tool in today’s digital landscape because they not only help you deliver evergreen content but also nurture qualified leads 24/7, provide adequate training to the staff, and drive business sales.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, using the live chat feature available on the platform, the host can interact with the audience in real-time, address their questions, and share important links, which will create a dynamic and engaging experience for viewers.
To maximize the automated webinar reach, the organization can
- Build an email campaign and send personalized emails to their existing customers
- Share engaging posts and videos on all the popular social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube
- Utilize paid advertising such as Google ads, Facebook ads, Instagram ads, and LinkedIn ads to reach out to specific demographics and the interests of people
- Collaborate with their industry’s influencers who have a shared audience
- Build a landing page and optimize it for SEO to improve its visibility on Google’s SERP
- Spread the word about it in the relevant online community and forum groups
