There’s no denying the importance of engaging your customers one on one. However, that doesn’t mean you should toss webcasts, webinars and online seminars out the window. There’s value in engaging your market on a mass level as well.
It’s still a good way to connect to your customers. But crucial to that is finding the webcasting tool that’s right for your business. As companies add webcasting to their roster of communication services, it’s important that you do the same. If you’re new at this, you might be wondering what makes for a good webcasting tool. Here are a few tips to help you along:
Evaluate the Plan Details
Some services offer pay per use plans you can pay for on a monthly or annual basis. These also offers the number of maximum attendees you can have in a single call or event. If you plan on holding large events, you’ll want to check on the limitations. You wouldn’t want to choose a system that’s going to limit your audience.
Assess Webcasting Features
Not all webcasting systems are equal. That’s why it’s best to take a look at the features for each system or brand. Does the system have most—if not all—of the essential features? Some might pack along a ton of extras and while it might be tempting to go for that option, you’ll want to…
Check Ease of Use
If you have ever made the mistake of buying a tool, certain and sure your team could use it, only to find out that it’s a nightmare to use—slow, clunky and clumsy—you know how important it is to check for ease of use before you commit to anything. Some of the best webcasting services, BlueJeans, for example, excite users in the market because of the easy-to-use platform that doesn’t short-change on essential features.
Go for Free Trials
Free trials count. They provide you with the chance to explore an app or program to your heart’s content—or at least until the trial period lasts. For some, that’s a month. For others, a week and a half. However long the trials take, though, it’s often enough to give you an idea of how good—or bad—an option it is.
Ask Your Team
Don’t forget to get feedback from your team. Better yet, have them go on a free trial of the options you have on your shortlist. Bring in a couple of key members and ask them to give those options a try. That should give you enough data to help you determine which ones will work well for your team and business in the long run.
Go for Custom Branding
The PGI suggest looking for tools that offer advanced custom branding features so you could put in branding elements, from your registration pages and invitations to all the rest of your materials. It’s why more and more companies are moving away from default settings. With customization features, you have more control over the livestreaming experience for your consumers.
Look at Upgrade Options
Many systems also offer upgrade options. You might not need those now, but at least you know the company offers them in case you start planning for your company’s growth and expansion. You’ll want a system that offers you that sort of flexibility if and when it’s time to make the switch to a bigger network.
Consider the Costs
That’s one of the most important things you’ll want to check out, says Streaming Media. This is where cloud-based solutions win, hands-down. They’re cost effective and are easy to deploy on a mass level. If you want a flexible solution that’s also cost-effective, you’ll want to consider making the switch to cloud now.
Make the Switch
As video consumption grows, you can expect systems and platforms to come up with features that make it easier to store, share and create video content. If you aren’t using a system that’s compatible with all that, you could get locked out of the market. That’s going to be a downward spiral from there. Remember what happened to Nokia? At one time, the company was worth billions.
But instead of pushing for growth and innovation, they opted to rest on their laurels. They thought the work was done. Nothing could have been further from the truth. If you must take a lesson on growth, look at Amazon and how the company continues to succeed every year. That’s the kind of growth you want in your company. And for that growth to happen, you’ll need the right tools to help you along the way. If you still haven’t made the switch to video conferencing, you’ll want to do it now. Otherwise, it’s just a ticking clock from here to low ROI and a dismal bottom line.
Featured Picture via Pixabay
