At least once during the last 4 months, most of us have communicated via online platforms with their colleagues or friends. The importance of these kinds of software has been valued and yes, we’re all grateful for their existence during the whole remote working situation.
Webinars
Webinars are live online meetings that connect people from all over the world (for free). They’re very used because of their importance in real-time information sharing and understanding things better.
There are a lot of features a webinar is made of, like Chat, Screen sharing, recording, etc. These features are always helpful whether you want to attach a link to a topic youβre discussing, or recording the whole meeting to send it to someone who couldnβt be present at that time.
Hereβs a list of advantages and disadvantages of Webinars:
Advantages
– They are FREE
They are mostly free to organise and attend, but there are also other platforms that have low costs. Well, a visit on a conference abroad would cost you more, thatβs for sure.
– Anyone with the appropriate link can participate
Webinars allow you to create a personal and unique URL, which you can copy and share with anyone you would like to join the online meeting. You can share it on different platforms.
– Theyβre location and device friendly
Everyone from anywhere can join a webinar. This is the most important and amazing thing to consider, when you want to communicate or train multiple people at the same time. Webinars are also useful for remote vacancies where you can interview, test and train people regardless their location!
– Provide brand value and trust towards the customers
Webinars are professional online meetings and everyone can use their cameras and microphones to communicate. Customers love finding who stands behind a wonderful platform.
– Increase brand awareness
– Real-time interaction with many people at the same time
Disadvantages of webinars
– Technical issues
The main problem that might occur before or during a webinar is the slow internet speed, no microphone available, not working camera, etc.
– Inappropriate environment
Have you ever been on a live meeting and you cat started meowing and aiming for your attention like never before? Yes, thatβs an environmental issue example.
– Too many attendees and no flexible solutions
Well, if youβre having a webinar with over 100 people and theyβre all asking different questions, you will absolutely need someone (or more) to handle at least the messages on the chat box, while you explain other topics.
This is exactly how Publer attended their greatest webinar in collaboration with AppSumo. Click here to watch it.
Podcasts
Podcasts on the other hand are only audio programs, which are downloadable and you can listen to them whenever you want.
Podcasts are famous because theyβre only focused on one topic and itβs amazing how much information you can get about everything (depending on the topic). Startup companies love using podcasts to showcase their main features, tools and explain their future roadmap of services and events.
A couple of facts about Podcasts:
– They donβt have a limited length
They can be from 1 minute (we would say second, but is there really somebody who can publish a podcast that short?) to the length they want. The longest podcast in the world was held by Mike Russell in 2016. It lasted for 36 hours and it was watched by thousands of people.
– Any topic can be discussed
Whether you are a freelancer, agency, startup team member, artist, television figure, it just doesnβt matter and thereβs no restriction.
Advantages of Podcasts
– Convenient
No costs on hosting a podcast and making it as long as you want. People can easily get information by just listening to them and not spending money on meetings, traffic, etc.
– Theyβre a smart social media strategy
We already that Twitter started supporting Audio files lately, so Podcasts work amazingly well on them. No extra efforts, just drag and drop the audio podcast and youβve got yourself a Tweet. Click here to learn more about audio tweets.
– Easy downloadable and listenable everywhere
Stuck in traffic? Well, you might as well treat yourself with an interesting podcast which provides enough information about your favorite topic.
Disadvantages of Podcasts
– Copyright
All you can hear is someone speaking about a specific topic and thereβs a huge possibility you donβt even know who is the one doing the talking. Sounds like a tricky little business, if youβre thinking of doing one yourself. Despite the fact you mind mention your product or whatever a lot of times, you are still risked to be interfered by someone who can simply cut and trim some parts.
– Not always compatible
Podcasts might come in the form of an inaccessible type or the desired target could happen to have hearing-disabilities. Your podcasts then have to be written, because being that those are audio files, you canβt add subtitles to them.
Xhesika Tufa
