On-Demand Webinars Step-by-Step Guide | All You Need to Know

Are you considering hosting live webinars? Great! 

But don’t stop there. 

Consider making on-demand webinars as well. They can boost your revenue and reachwith your audience much more than live webinars can – with a fraction of the effort and costs involved.

If you're already planning to record a live webinar, you're in luck. Converting it into an on-demand webinar is a breeze, especially with certain tools that we will discuss in this article. 

But what exactly is an on-demand webinar? What are their benefits? And how do you make one?

Read on to find out. 

What is an on-demand webinar?

An on-demand webinar is a pre-recorded online seminar that people can view at any time. Unlike live webinars, which you’d schedule for specific dates and times, people can access on-demand webinars 24/7, allowing attendees to watch the content at their own pace. 

You can host these webinars on websites, blogs, or specialized platforms and may require registration to access the content. 

On-demand vs live webinars

Here are the key differences between on-demand webinars and live webinars: 

Live Webinars

• Scheduling: Scheduled at a specific time and date.
• Level of audience engagement: Can be more engaging due to live interaction.
• Reliability: Depends on live streaming quality and stability.
• Personalization: Can be more personalized through live responses and adjustments.
• Level of preparation: Requires more preparation for live presentations and handling real-time issues.
• Level of interaction: High interaction, thanks to real-time Q&A, polls, and discussions.
• Attendance: Live webinars may have lower attendance rates as some people won’t be able to attend them at the given time slot. 
• Cost: Live webinars may incur higher costs due to the need for ongoing preparation and coordination for each event. 

On-demand webinars

• Scheduling: Accessible at any time; no fixed schedule.
• Level of audience engagement: Engagement can be lower due to a lack of live interaction.
• Reliability: Generally more reliable as content is pre-recorded.
• Personalization: Less personalized; content is fixed once recorded. 
• Level of preparation: Requires less preparation
• Level of interaction: Limited, as the speaker/host won’t be communicating with the audience. 
• Attendance: On-demand webinars often have higher attendance because registrants can access the content at their own convenience. 
• Cost: On-demand webinars can be more cost-effective as they require a one-time investment for recording and can then be used repeatedly. 

Why should you create on-demand webinars? 

Here’s why you might want to consider creating on-demand webinars:

They last longer and have better reach

On-demand webinars have a longer content lifespan. Audiences can view them anytime, even after years of filming the content. And as it’s available for a longer period of time, more people, even those of other time zones, can watch it. 

Cost-effective lead generation

Creating on-demand webinars will give you huge returns; they’re a marketing gift that keeps on giving. Once you record an on-demand webinar, the content can be viewed by people even years down the line. 

Now, let's compare them with live webinars. Each live session incurs fresh costs. Think about hiring speakers, for instance. They often charge more for live appearances, whereas you can pre-record on-demand webinars at everyone’s convenience, often at a lower cost.

And lastly, they’re more cost-effective than in-person seminars, as these can involve paying for venues, catering, hotel booking, and more. 

Content repurposing

There’s no need to overthink it if you’ve been fretting over choosing between a live and an on-demand webinar. You can just repurpose a live webinar into an on-demand one! 

It’ll require some editing from your side, but Riverside’s text-based editor should make this easy. 

You can also repurpose the webinar into blog posts, infographics, or social media content. This way, you can integrate these webinars into your broader content marketing strategy. 

Analytics

Because on-demand webinars are made available for a longer period of time, they collect more data from the people who watch them. This extended data collection gives you a better insight into viewer behavior. 

Some useful metrics include how long people have watched your content, at what points they paused or rewatched, or whether they’ve skipped certain sections. 

How to create and host an on-demand webinar: 14 Steps

Here’s a step-by-step guide to hosting an on-demand webinar: 

Step 1: Define the objective for your webinar and figure out your audience

First things first: what's your ultimate aim? Whether it's drumming up leads, boosting customer engagement, or showcasing a product, having a clear goal is crucial.

Now, think about who you're speaking to. Your audience is key. You also want to come up with a topic that resonates with them and aligns with your goal.

For instance, imagine you're a software company launching a webinar that explains the new features added to the latest version of your product. Your goal is to educate users on these features and familiarize them with the latest version. You also hope that this will help cut down on future support queries.

So, who's the target audience? Most likely your existing users who are eager to explore these new features. You’ll want to keep them in mind as you craft your content. 

Step 2: Plan and structure the podcast

Next, outline the webinar and prepare the script. You’ll want to create interesting content that has engaging slides, videos, graphics, and other multimedia elements. 

Here’s a standard template that you can use:

1. Introduction (Duration: 5-10 minutes)

• Welcome and introduction: Briefly introduce the webinar topic and speakers.
• Agenda overview: Provide a quick overview of the topics that’ll be covered.
• Instructions for viewers: Explain how viewers can access resources or submit questions if applicable.

2. Main Content (Duration: 20-40 minutes)

• Detailed Presentation: Dive into the main content of the webinar. This can be a mix of lectures, demonstrations, or case studies. 
• Interactive Elements: Use polls, quizzes, or interactive graphics to keep the audience engaged. 
• Real-world Examples: Use case studies or real-life scenarios to illustrate points.

3. Q&A Session (Duration: 10-15 minutes)

• For on-demand webinars, the Q&A session is (obviously) a pre-recorded version and contains the most frequently asked questions. 

4. Conclusion (Duration: 5 minutes)

• Summary: Recap the key points covered in the webinar.
• Call to Action: Provide viewers with a clear next step, whether it's signing up for more information, accessing additional resources, or contacting your organization.

Step 3: Choose on demand webinar software

You’ll ideally need two platforms to create on-demand webinars – one for hosting the webinar and the other for recording the webinar. 

Why get a separate platform for recording? 

Because despite these platforms having their own recording features, the video quality they produce is often not ideal. 

WebinarNinja, BigMarker, and ClickMeeting are platforms that allow you to host the webinar on their site.  If you want to guarantee that your video is of pristine quality, it’s better to look for a third-party recorder. 

A great recording webinar solution is Riverside. It can record video in 4K and audio in 48 kHz lossless WAV. It also has excellent AI transcriptions, with the ability to caption in over 100 languages, giving you the chance to share your information with a more global audience. 

You can host a live webinar on the platform with up to 1000 attendees. These members can also join you on the virtual stage through live call-ins. Plus, the platform has live and multistreaming to various platforms like Facebook, Twitch, LinkedIn, etc. 

You might also want a platform that has good analytics, one that can figure out data like the average view duration, engagement rate, geographical location, how many times a viewer rewound a particular section, etc. 

Step 4: Equipment

Other than the basic requirement of high-speed internet and a decent laptop, you’ll need a camera, headphones, a microphone, and good lighting. 

Your laptop’s built-in camera and microphone might do the job, but it’ll likely do it poorly. 

Make sure you have a strong internet connection and check if your equipment is working properly. Test your audio and video before the webinar to avoid technical glitches. 

Step 5: Conduct the webinar

Choose a quiet place that’s well-lit for the recording. 

While recording the webinar, it’s fine if you make mistakes here and there; you can use Riverside’s text-based editing to get rid of these sections. 

If you plan to use Riverside, you can also take advantage of the Media board feature to upload audio and video clips live from the studio during recording. This will save you time during the post-production process. 

Riverside also has a special feature for recording presentation slides. You can upload your slides to our platform before the meeting and then present them during the webinar. We’ll capture your presentation in up to 4K, as a separate recording, available once the webinar is done. 

Step 6: Edit and enhance the recording

Make the recording upload ready by editing it. You will need to cut out portions of the video, adjust audio levels, and add graphics and animations. 

Riverside is great for this. The text-based editor lets you remove a section of the video by deleting the corresponding text in the transcript. This makes the editing process incredibly easy, accurate, and fast. 

Our platform’s editor also comes with tools for audio-fine tuning. You can remove background noise and normalize your audio levels with just the click of a few buttons. We also have a Magic Tool for automatically removing silences. 

Step 7: Creating the webinar

It’s time to create your webinar. First, you’ll need to upload the webinar recording to an on-demand hosting platform of your choice.

Then you’ll need to set up the webinar’s availability. There are two options here: 

• Just-in-time scheduling: This is how most on-demand webinars are scheduled. When your customer registers for the webinar, they immediately get to access it (just-in-time!).
• Recurring schedule: Sometimes, people are too busy to view the webinar just-in-time. So you’ll want the webinar run at different time slots during the day/week so that people can attend the webinar at a slot most convenient to them. 

Finally, add the various interactions, like polls, handouts, special offers, at different timestamps of the webinar. 

Step 8: Create a landing page

If you want to attract people to your webinar, you’ll need to create a landing page that’ll make people excited to join it. 

Here’s a breakdown of how to create a good landing page: 

Choose a landing page builder like Wix, Unbounce, or Leadpages. These platforms have templates and drag-and-drop editors to create landing pages easily.

Craft a compelling headline that will clearly communicate the value of the webinar. An example for a digital marketing webinar topic could be "Discover the Future: Unveil 2023's Top Digital Marketing Trends That Will Skyrocket Your Business!"

Write clear and concise copy. It should describe what the webinar covers, who it’s for, and what attendees can hope to learn by the end of it. Use bullet points to make the information easy to skim through. 

Use engaging visuals. For instance, you can add a teaser video of the webinar. Such a clip will make people more likely to want to watch the whole video. 

To create the teaser, you can cut out any portion of the webinar that’s brimming with valuable insights. Riverside Magic Clips is a great tool for this. It uses advanced AI to scan through your video and extract the most interesting parts automatically. 

Add social proof signals. This can include testimonials, the credentials of speakers, praise for your company, etc. 

Create a clear Call-to-Action (CTA) that stands out prominently on the page. Use action-oriented language like “Register Now,” “Access the Webinar,” “Download Today,” etc. 

Keep the registration form simple. Only ask for essential information like name and email address. 

Make sure the webinar is responsive on mobile. You want to make sure your audience can register from any device they’re on.

Optimize the landing page for better SEO visibility. Include relevant keywords in your content to improve search engine visibility. 

Conduct A/B testing. Change certain elements like headlines, CTAs, copy, and images to see which versions increase registrations. 

Step 9: Promote your Webinar 

Spending all this time on making the webinar is no good if there isn’t anyone to watch it. So it’s a good idea to spend time promoting your webinar on social media platforms. Also take advantage of your email list and inform your die-hard followers about your newly created webinar. 

You can use our Magic Clips feature, where Ai is used to smartly select the most engaging snippets from your webinar. Then, share these clips on social media or via email to spark curiosity and draw viewers to the full webinar. 

Step 10: Engage with Your Audience

Now that you’ve done 12 steps, is it time to rest? Unfortunately no! You’ll want to engage with people who have watched your webinar. Keeping in contact with your customers is a good way to build long-term trust and loyalty. 

Here are some effective strategies:

• Send a personalized thank you to attendees for having viewed your webinar. 
• Request feedback. Ask for opinions on the webinar’s content, presentation style, and what topics they’d like to see in future webinars. 
• If attendees asked specific questions or showed particular interest in a topic, send them personalized content or direct answers to build a more personal engagement. 
• Offer exclusive deals or discounts to incentivize future engagement. These could include special deals or discounts on your products or services.
  
  

Step 11: Repurpose content

You can also repurpose the filmed webinar into blog posts and social media to maximize the value of the podcast. 

Bonus: 5 Ideas for creating on-demand webinars

Here are some different webinar ideas that can serve as inspiration for your first webinar. 

Educational Webinar

An educational webinar can inform your audience about a hot topic that they’ve been dying to learn about. 

Product demonstrations

If your organization offers a product or service, create webinars that demonstrate how to use these effectively, highlighting features and benefits.

Expert interviews

Get a thought leader or an expert who can shed some extra light on your niche. Ideally, this expert should have a good fan following, as their attending your webinar will likely convert them into fans of your brand. 

Panel discussions

Instead of one guest, create a webinar that has multiple expert guests discussing a topic (with all these guests hopefully having their own unique fan following!)

How-to Webinar

Provide step-by-step instructions on how to use a complex product or service. 

FAQs on On-demand Webinars

Can you do on-demand webinars with Zoom?

Yes, you can do on-demand webinars with Zoom. All you need for making an on-demand webinar is a recorded video, and Zoom records in MP4 and M4A video formats. 

To create an on-demand webinar on Zoom, start a Zoom meeting and record the webinar. Once done, you can find the recordings saved on your computer (in the Documents folder on both Mac and Windows). You can upload these to a hosting site of your choice. 

Unfortunately, Zoom is not ideal as an on-demand webinar platform for two main reasons. Poor internet can affect the recording quality in Zoom and, secondly, recordings cap at 1080p. 

If these issues are bothersome to you, then you may want to check out Riverside. It records videos locally and uploads them to the cloud simultaneously. This way, your recording quality remains 100% pristine, even in 4K, a resolution that Riverside is capable of recording in. 

Can you watch a webinar later?

Yes, you can watch a webinar later but only if the hosts have made it available for later viewing. Some of these webinars will be available for free, others will be behind a paywall – it depends on the host.

How do I sell on-demand webinars? 

To sell on-demand webinars, follow these steps:

Step 1: Choose a suitable platform: Select a webinar platform. Good options include Riverside, WebinarJam, EverWebinar, and Demio. 

Step 2: Create quality content. Make sure it’s engaging, informative, and professionally produced. 

1. Create a webinar landing page with good copy that will entice readers to purchase the webinar. 
2. Price your webinar appropriately. 
3. Market your webinar using social media, email marketing, and/or content marketing. 

How much does it cost to do an on-demand webinar?

The cost of creating an on-demand webinar will depend on the following factors: 

Platform fees: Each webinar platform will have its own pricing fee. Many of these platforms come with a free version, but as is usual with anything free, there’ll be limitations. 

For instance, the limitation of Zoom’s free version is that it only supports 40 minutes per meeting. 

‍Production costs: If you want your webinar to be of high production value, then you’ll have to shell out extra on equipment, like a camera, headphones, and microphone. 

If you want your webinar to be of exceptional production value but you lack the skills to execute this, then consider hiring professionals – for instance, a professional editor to do high-end editing. 

(Though for most webinars, basic editing is enough, and Riverside’s text-based editor is excellent at this. )‍

Marketing and Promotion: Looking to share your webinar far and wide? Then you’ll want to spend on advertising, email marketing tools, and social media promotion.