What is an Automated Webinar? (Everything you need to know about it)

When we talk about hosting a webinar, two options come in our mind: either we can come live or we can record it for the viewers to watch later. The second option is known as the automated webinar. So before we move on to discussing it in detail, let’s get through the basic definition of an automated webinar.

An Automated Webinar

In the simplest words, we can say that an automated webinar is one that is pre-recorded. You do not have to come “live” for people to see it. You can get it recorded and then play it for the viewers whenever you want. Thus, it is referred to as “automated”. 

Pros and Cons of an Automated Webinar

Now that you know the basic definition of an automated webinar, let’s have a look at its pros and cons so that you can have a better idea about its benefits and drawbacks. So let’s get started.

Why Automated Webinar? (Pros)

You do not have to record again and again: 

This is the basic advantage of automated webinars. Once recorded, you can use them over and over again. It saves a lot of time and energy, and you can use it again and again for as much time as you want. On the contrary, live recording takes so much of your time and energy, as you have to come in front of the camera each time, and if the graphics are also involved, you have to synchronize that too and manage the whole thing every single time. 

So we can say that with automated webinars, you can get evergreen content that has a long-term utility. 

• Gives you free time for other productive activities:

Most of the small business owners are doing it all by themselves. Automated webinars can save a lot of their time which they can use for other productive activities. 

• Can be viewed anytime:

You can view the automated webinars anytime you want, whether it is day or night and around the year. This is beneficial for a lot of people who couldn’t attend the live webinar due to any certain reason (like a busy schedule or some urgency). They can watch it anytime later whenever they are free. Also, if we talk about different countries, each one has a different time zone so if you are targeting an audience from around the globe, it is always beneficial to record automated webinars so that they can view them without any inconvenience. 

• You can make it perfect 

Most people are not comfortable with live webinars. The reason can either be the fear of public speaking or just thinking that anything might not just screw up. Everyone wants their company’s presentation to be perfect and flawless. This might not be feasible to achieve in the case of the live webinar where there are chances that things might not as perfect as thought. So for such people, automated webinars can be the best option.

In automated webinars, you can edit the videos and choose the best shots to make them as impressive as possible. This also has a long-term good reputation of the company and business, so it must be considered when recording a webinar. 

• This can be a reoccurring source of revenue

As we all know that a lot of companies charge for their webinars, the automated ones can generate automated income for your company. Each time someone watches it, you get a good sum amount which can be a great source of revenue for your business. 

• You can make new webinars anytime you want

Just because these are evergreen and you can use them over and over again doesn’t mean that you cannot make new webinars for your company. Rather, you can produce new ones anytime you want! This is just like a YouTube channel in which you keep on uploading new content and there is no limit to it. 

As time goes by, you can get even better-automated webinars as your expertise grows in that field. Also, if you have an email list, you can mail your new ones to people who have already liked your webinars. 

So these were all the pros or benefits of the automated webinars, but as we know, that everything comes with drawbacks too, so here we have compiled a list of drawbacks of automated webinars as well so that you can have a clear idea of what it is all about. So let’s have a look at the drawbacks of automated webinars!

Drawbacks of Automated Webinars (Cons):

• Artificial Urgency

A highly effective way of attracting people to your automated webinar is by creating a sense of urgency. Different firms do this by telling people that the webinar is only available to a certain number of individuals and until a specific time. By creating an illusion of shortage, it tempts the audience to decide on availing the opportunity before it expires. You must have seen different ads where a certain program is advertised followed by creating urgency so that you can maximize your benefit. 

Understandably, this tactic can be used to sell the webinar quickly even if the sense of urgency created is completely false. 

Such urgency is hard to create in an automated webinar. Although it is not impossible. Some could make a case that the viewers are kept to a minimum in a certain program so that the questions can be answered after the session but it is a hard sell! People could get suspicious that this is being done to gather the maximum audience when the same webinar will be offered later. That is why it is hard to collect an audience for an automated webinar as compared to a live session.

• Limited interaction with the viewers

One of the greatest setbacks of the automated webinar is the limited interaction with the viewers. The level of interaction between the speaker and audience is just not the same as that in a live session. Just think about it, during a live session you can always the speaker a question that you might have. This is not possible in the automated webinar. Even if an effort was made to make answer the questions during the webinar, it would defeat its purpose.

This drawback is kind of a big one too since many people who are attending the lecture are hoping to ask the speaker questions directly as he is usually a figure of authority.

Apart from that, someone might just get confused during the webinar and will not have any way of clarification. Even the people who are genuinely interested might not attend the seminar because it is automated.

• It takes a lot of Effort

All webinars required a lot of effort. The main difference between an automated webinar and a live session is that during a live session, you can take the questions directly. Even if there is difficulty understanding, you answer the questions directly and offer clarifications along the way to help your viewers understand better.

In automated webinars, you have to deliver the session in the best possible way so that no room is left for doubt and there is no need for questions. You have to anticipate the questions that may arise and answer them in advance. That is a lot of hard work.

Although, once you are done with your first session, you can take feedback from the viewers to make changes and improve the product. Nonetheless, this requires a lot of work and is a tiring process.

• If it is not good, there is no point in doing it

Just like we explained before that automated webinars don’t have much room for mistakes, it almost has to be perfect. The viewers expect much higher quality in pre-recorded programs compared to the live sessions. A flawless delivery is expected. 

Even a small mistake of a word is not tolerated. Imagine that even if you screw up a small line, you will have to do it again. You might have to go through multiple takes before perfecting even a line. Even though the mistake is small, it means that it has to be redone. This means that you have to almost memorize the script before delivering it. This could be a bit frustrating. 

If you decide to roll with small mistakes, it might lead your viewers to believe that you don’t care about the audience. Even if you offer an automated webinar for free, viewers have still taken out time to watch it. Naturally, the bar is set higher for an automated webinar compared to a live session.

• You can’t use the reference of time-sensitive events:

While recording the automated webinars, you have to be very careful as you cannot use the reference of the time-sensitive events. The reason is that if you have to use these automated webinars for a long time, chances are that these events become outdated, and thus, the webinar becomes useless for you. 

A simple example of this can be mentioning a certain regulation in your automated webinar. If the regulation gets modified after a short period, your webinar will look outdated and can confuse people. Thus, you have to be very careful while using such references. 

• They may seem to be less valuable

We know that automated webinars are available 24/7 and people can get access anytime they won’t, but all these aspects may result in having an idea of the webinar is not so valuable. There can be two main reasons for this.

First, the lack of engagement, in the automated webinar, can give an impression that you were not too concerned about the viewers. Especially for those who have just attended a live webinar where they could interact directly and get their queries answered, the automated webinars won’t be much of interest. 

Secondly, it is the human psyche that something available 24.7 might not be of much value as a thing that is available for a short duration of time. People will take out time from their busy schedule for a live webinar, however, for an automated one, they might not show that much of a concern.

The Final Words:

We know that everything comes with both pros and cons so we have defined a whole complete aspect of automated webinars for you so that you can have a clear idea of what it is all about. Just know that automated webinars are great if you are a perfectionist and do not want any flaws in your webinar. Also, they are great if you are a camera-shy person and do not want a live conversation with the viewers.

Furthermore, if you want to generate good revenue from the webinars, automated ones are a good option as you can get a reoccurring revenue out of it. However, some of the cons of automated webinars are that it lacks interaction with the audience and you may not get as many viewers as in the live webinars. It is now up to you to choose the automated webinar or the live one depending on your choices and circumstances.

Just make sure you keep all the pros and cons in mind so that you can make a good decision for your company, business, or organization. 

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