Webcast Myths

There are a number of misconceptions about webcast preparation and deployment. Recent surveys debunk these.

Don't do webcasting in the summer or December: It's true you'll get fewer registrations and log-ins, BUT, the people who do attend will be very interested...just the audience you want.

People will spend more time watching a recording than in a live webcast: Not true. The latest surveys say people will spend 47 minutes on a live webcast and only 32 minutes watching a recording. That's because "live" is considered more dynamic and people are willing to wait for their chance to ask a question or hear responses to other questions. In terms of recordings, make the investment to pay for proper editing so that only highlights are captured.

Give people a lot of advance warning and promote months ahead of time: On the surface, that makes sense because you want to give people a chance to put the webcast in their calendar. But promotion too far in advance means people will forget and have time to remove the webcast from their calendar in favour of other priority items that come up. Almost half of all webcast registrations take place just a few days away, up to 20 per cent will register the day of the webcast and (believe it or not) up to 15 per cent will try to register after the event is over! (Get that archive up as soon as you can!). Save your big promotion for just 3 or 4 days ahead of the live event.