Podcasts vs. Webinars: Which to Choose

Communication with the audience is a very important part of business, whether you are a huge enterprise or a small company. Communication allows you to be on the same page with the audience, share experiences and receive first-hand feedback. In addition, do not forget about educational goals, and for this the main tools are podcasts and webinars. Each of them has its own differences and scope of application, which makes it quite difficult to choose the perfect option. In this article, we will compare both approaches in detail, as well as show ways on how to combine them with email marketing.

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Webinar vs. podcast: What’s the difference?

Before making your choice, you should thoroughly understand what webinars and podcasts are. We will analyze both options in terms of different criteria so that you have a complete picture.

Overall differences

Webinars

Webinars are full-fledged live video streams. The primary difference between a podcast and a webinar is that during webinars, the presenter can answer questions from the audience that they ask via online chat. Webinars are also not inferior in popularity and are in high demand in business, since 95% of enterprises believe webinars are an important part of their marketing strategy. And this is not surprising, since 2% to 5% of those present at the webinar will use the services of a business or buy its product, which is characterized by quite impressive sales if the webinar was presented to the right audience.

Pros

• Interaction with the audience in real time 

This item speaks for itself. You can immediately answer questions that arise and close the actual problems of your audience;

• High retention 

A webinar can retain 40 to 50% of subscribers due to visual elements. In addition, this indicator may increase depending on the chosen topic of the webinar. These figures are also superimposed on the fact that 40% of those present at the webinar pay attention from start to finish.;

• Ease of organization 

The scheduling of webinars is quite simple, as it is enough to choose a date, time and start the stream. This makes it much easier and more practical to plan and organize them for those who create them.

Cons

• Demanding in preparation

Webinars require lengthy preparation (collection of material, structuring) as well as significant technical equipment;

• Low time flexibility

Online webinars take place only on a specific day and time, which constrains viewers in time frames. If they missed the live broadcast, they can watch the recording, however, this does not guarantee that they will receive answers to their questions in the recording.

Podcasts

A podcast is an audio file that you can broadcast live or a share a pre-recorded ready-made podcast that the audience can listen to later. Often, there is nothing else in the podcast besides the audio track, but companies that invest serious money in podcasts can make them in video format for additional visualization or create a brand image through a permanent host. Selecting the best podcast recording software is an important step in this process, ensuring your audio is crisp and clear and matches the content's professionalism.

Pros

• Customers’ interest 

The podcast format is extremely popular and according to analysts, by the end of 2022, the total number of podcast listeners will exceed 424 million people worldwide;

• Convenience for the listener 

Podcasts provide listening freedom for your audience as they don't require much. They can listen to podcasts anywhere, anytime and all they need is a smartphone and headphones;

• Continuous lead generation 

Podcasts do not lose relevance for a very long time and can be listened to after a large amount of time. This allows you to generate leads more efficiently and for longer;

• Undemanding in production

All you need to start producing podcasts is a microphone and a sound recording program.

Cons

• Audience attention 

Since podcasts lack any visual elements that can grab the listener's attention, it will be more difficult for you to keep your audience. Listeners may be doing other things during the podcast, which reduces the effectiveness of getting your thoughts and point of view.

Preparation time

Webinars

Webinars are many times more complicated than podcasts, which is why they take a lot of time to create. On average, the creation of one webinar from the generation of an idea to its implementation takes from 4 to 6 weeks. Time may vary depending on the audience, the topic of the webinar and the amount of material to prepare.

Podcasts

Podcasts are extremely easy to produce, which is reflected in the time they are created. Creating a single podcast from scratch can take anywhere from 90 minutes to three hours to record (if your podcast is pre-recorded). If the podcast is live, then the time for it can be from 30 minutes to an hour. Do not forget about the preparation of the material, which can take a day or two.

Monetary spendings

Webinars

Webinars are quite costly, as they require more expensive technical equipment. In addition to a microphone, you will also need a webcam and a productive mite that will be able to handle live broadcasts in good quality. Summing up these requirements alone, you will need from $1200 to $1500.

Promoting your webinar will also require certain funds. For example, it costs about $300 to create banners or videos for your webinar. You can also run a specific Facebook ad campaign. You can expect to pay around $460 on average to attract approximately 250 visitors. In a nutshell, you should expect your webinar promotion to cost around $800.

Do not forget about email marketing, which also costs money but will be useful for promoting your webinars. On average, a mid-size business can spend from $9 to $1,000 per month on email marketing if they manage their campaigns themselves. The price may depend on the number of subscribers that the company has. For example, you can create webinar invitation emails to send out to your audience.

(Source: Email-competitors)

We’ve made a full-fledged guide on creating ideal webinar invitation emails for your campaign. Check it out to generate some inspiration

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Webinar invitation email: Examples, best practices

Podcasts

The next item on our podcast vs webinar comparison is how much money you need to spend on production. Due to podcast simplicity, they do not hit your finances much. If you want to spend the bare minimum on creating a podcast, then all you need is a decent microphone, a subscription to an audio recording program, and a subscription to host your podcast. All this will cost you $100-$150. However, there is no limit to perfection and if you want to create the highest quality podcast, your spending can exceed $500-$1000 (better microphones, echo cancellers, and more)

Don't forget about marketing costs. The price of promotion also varies depending on the methods. You can go the cheap route and use Google or Bing Ads and simple sites like Podbay and your campaign won't exceed $30 per day. If you have a lot of resources, you can turn to music services like Spotify, which offers promotion of your podcast for $500 for 25,000 ads.

Email marketing is also a great promotional tool. Emails will not only notify your audience about the upcoming event but also invite them to audition on the day of the premiere (or provide a link to pre-recorded material).

(Source: Really Good Emails)

Conversion

Webinars

Webinars have a fairly high conversion rate, and according to research, the average webinar conversion rate is around 55%. If we talk about B2B webinars, then, in this case, 73% of the total attendees turn into valuable leads.

Podcasts

It would seem how you can convert a simple podcast listener. However, a great way is to add interstitial ads directly to the podcast. It can be different prerolls, midrolls, and so on. In addition, you can simply advertise certain services during a conversation. This approach has a good conversion rate of 13.6%, which will help you promote your products and services to the masses.

Wrapping things up

So, let's summarize all of the above. Despite the big differences in formats, the cost of an organization is the main takeaway in our podcast vs webinar comparison — both tools are useful. It is impossible to give an unequivocal answer that one of these is better than the other. Each business is unique and each will suit a different content format.