If you are a small business owner or even a blogger looking to educate or communicate your skills and products online then there is no better marketing tactic than doing a webinar.

Video marketing combined with improved search engine rankings and visibility are two of the most popular reasons for the explosion in webinars.

You can ask your website visitors to register their interest for the webinar or even send email invites to the people on your mailing list. Some people even charge attendees for webinars.

Once you decide the topic, duration and content of the webinar, the all important decision is to select the best webinar platform.

Here are 4 webinar platforms you can try and choose from:

ClickMeeting

If you are looking for a complete webinar platform from registration page to sending custom invitations then you should take a look at ClickMeeting. You can integrate your CRM (Client Relationship Management), CMS (Content Management System) and even your email auto responders.

Key Features:

  • Full service attendee registration
  • Webinar rebranding
  • Waiting room with agenda
  • Polls & Surveys
  • Webinar recording
  • Integration with many platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Calendar, YouTube, Slack, DropBox, GetResponse, Office360, Outlook, Salesforce and HubSpot
  • HD recording
  • Multiple presenters based on plan
  • Browser based and no setup or software required
  • Reliable, secure and offers full redundancy
  • Enterprise solutions that can be custom made based on requirements
  • 30 days free trial
  • Pricing based on number of attendees; starts at $25 per month for 25 attendees and goes to $55 for 100 attendees

Google + Hangouts

All you need is a Google account to use Google + Hangouts. While this is not a premium webinar platform it has some handy features. Take a note of some of the restrictions too.

Key Features:

  • Allows up to 10 people to participate in a single call
  • Can auto record and publish to YouTube
  • You can live stream straight to your website or YouTube channel
  • Everyone can participate in the conversation (might not be what you want in a webinar)
  • Free to use

Skype

One of the world’s most popular video conferencing and calling apps. Most people have Skype and know how to use it which is a plus.

Key Features:

  • Allows up to 25 people to participate in a single call
  • File sharing and screen sharing features
  • Skype to skype calls are free

Cisco WebEx

Cisco WebEx is part of the Cisco family of products that help manage collaborative and remote work. This is a higher end product that is scalable but not for small businesses on a tight budget.

Key Features:

  • Track registrations
  • Lead generation tools
  • Polls and chats
  • High quality video and audio
  • Professional webinar production and planning
  • Price starts at $79 per month for up to 100 attendees

Takeaway and Conclusion

Thanks to the internet finding the right webinar tool is not that hard. There are so many reviews, comments and feedback but sometimes the not so obvious tend to get missed. For instance, user experience and ease of use of a particular webinar tool is so very important to consider. Many small businesses look at cost and quality alone and forget the user experience component. If you invested in a tool and your employees are finding it hard to use then either they will abandon it or find another alternative making you look unprofessional and wasting your time and money. So keep things simple and find a solution that is not clunky, ugly or hard to use. Ideally, try a few tools before you set your mind on the best webinar tool for you.