Setting Your Webinar Technology Budget

Webinar technology first appeared on the scene in the early 1990s as an innovative business tool. The software was originally designed to deliver only limited audio streams with little to no interactivity associated with them. In 1993, progressive rock band "Severe Tire Damage" offered the first ever live webinar stream of a professional rock show using the forerunners of today's online video technologies. The resulting viral video clip went on to become the basis for the hit movie "A History of Guys" and it has since become a staple of Internet marketing.

In the last several years, more organizations are beginning to use webinars as the primary way to reach their audience. With webinar software, you are given a remote viewer that lets you see, hear and interact with your audience much like a traditional meeting does. However, unlike traditional meetings, webinars do not require any travel or meeting space, allowing smaller organizations to hold meetings anywhere in the world where there is Internet access. Webinars are also less expensive when compared to traveling to a single location to present information.

Webinars require good integration with the other technologies your organization uses in order to be successful. Without good integrations, your webinar may result in poor attendance and a lack of return on investment. Poor attendance may result in low revenue since you may not be able to capture or convert any of your audience members who were unable or unwilling to participate. Lack of conversion can mean that you will not receive the sales returns that you expected. It is important to note that integration is not exclusive to technology, but rather the culture and technical skills of your organization.

In order to integrate your webinar into your overall marketing plan, you must first determine your budget. Your budget should allow for the creation of a profitable webinar based on your audience size and technical skills. There are three basic options for budgets; absolute minimum, mid-range and targeted. Each option has its own benefits and drawbacks so understanding each must be carefully considered.

Absolute minimum budget: For an absolute budget, you can expect to purchase webinar software and hardware that will enable you to conduct basic presentations. With this level of functionality, you may be able to build a basic presentation that will get you some good exposure on the market before you invest in more robust technologies. A good option for a mid-sized budget is to use automated solutions that will automate the design, hosting and execution of your webinar. You will only need to invest in staff or outsourcing if you have very technical skills or a highly developed business.

Mid-range budget: As a medium budget, you are likely to cover the cost of webinar integrations and hosting, but you may also want to consider other features to improve your product or service. Consider possible sales opportunities, or new features that you can incorporate into your product or service. Invest in features that you are confident in and are likely to quickly monetize. For this option you should have very good technical skills, as most providers require a presentation to be live.

Targeted budget: As the middle budget, you are likely to cover the costs of webinar integrations and hosting. However, you will also want to consider additional services that will allow you to capture leads and convert them into customers. If you are targeting a very specific group of people, you may want to use leakages or optin pages. Consider any cons of leakages and cons of using open pages; both have their pros and cons depending on the audience. You should also have solid technical skills so that you can build successful leakages and optin pages.

Regardless of your initial budget, there are several options available for your business. Webinar automation is an option that is not too expensive and can scale up to more advanced integrations with your business' data, and even automate tasks like follow-up and follow-ups. However, you will likely only be able to afford a medium starting budget of around $500, which will allow you to have some basic functionality for your online business. For more detailed information on how to set up and use webinar automation, as well as how you can save money while still receiving high-quality results, visit the Webinar Academy today!