Online meeting platforms for marketing, sales and service

Online meetings and webinars for B2B companies

Webmeeting, webcast, or webinar? Zoom, GoToMeeting, or Microsoft Teams? Unfortunately, the answer to the question “Which online meeting tool is right for us?” : “It depends!” — Is it about internal coordination of employees working from home or at different locations, presentation appointments with customers, acquiring new customers or sales appointments? This guide shows which platform is suitable for which use case.

The world of online meetings

There are numerous forms of virtual meetings and, accordingly, the online meeting tools also serve different purposes and meet various requirements. In the following, we have divided online meeting and event tools into categories to illustrate which form of web collaboration is possible and which platforms are suitable for it. However, the differentiation between the categories is not always tailored to the functional features of the solutions: Some providers bundle different functions in one platform or (as with Microsoft Teams) integrate them into an entire range of products.

instant messaging services

Instant messengers are used for informal internal one-to-one or group communication via text, audio and video chat and to exchange documents. “Informal” means that there is no need to schedule appointments or meetings. In principle, everyone is available to everyone at any time — limited only by absences and internal “competition” for available time for chats and meetings. Instant messaging platforms thus replace and bundle the relatively unstructured exchange in everyday collaboration, which otherwise takes place personally “face-to-face” or even via e-mail and telephone. However, as soon as larger groups or external participants are invited to a virtual meeting, most instant messaging solutions reach their limits.

Examples of chat platforms: Slack, Google Chat resp Google Meet or Microsoft Teams

web meeting software

Online meeting software organizes formal meetings; at its core, there is the ability to transfer screen content (such as presentations) from a presenter or participant's PC to the monitors of other participants. This capability is complemented by integrated audio, video, and text chat functionality. The meetings are usually scheduled, but can also take place “ad hoc” and are intended for an essentially closed group, which may consist of internal and external participants. These classic online meetings replace the no less classic offline meeting, which can include customer appointments, for example.

Prominent examples of online meeting solutions include LogMeIn GoToMeeting, Zoom Meeting, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and Cisco Webex.

Virtual whiteboard solutions

Whiteboard solutions make teamwork visible in real time and enable, for example, joint writing and drawing on a blackboard or pinning virtual post-its on a shared work area. They are primarily used for brainstorming, planning meetings, group work and interactive training. They are often used in combination with web meeting or online training software, as these usually only have less powerful whiteboard features integrated.

Examples of common whiteboard solutions include Miro, Mural and Milanote.

Webinar and online training tools

Webinars (= web + seminar) are aimed at customers or interested parties who register for them via a personal invitation or link. Webinar solutions focus accordingly on the “1-to-many” presentation with presentation mode, webcam and screen sharing. During the presentation, participants can give feedback via text chat, but are usually muted in the audio conference. Good webinar software offers a wide range of specific features, such as reminder emails to registered participants, a webinar landing page with topic descriptions and a login function, as well as feedback channels such as surveys, polls or moderated Q&A sessions. In webinars, the organizer usually works with distributed roles: an organizer can invite multiple speakers or presenters to share their sound, camera and screen and manage the response to participant feedback. Webinars replace conferences and presentations, whether internally, in sales or for customer training. If the respective webinar is well advertised, they are ideal for acquiring new customers.

Tools for online training, i.e. virtual lessons (virtual classroom), are a special form. These tools include more interactive elements, such as test formats and feedback options, as well as integrated payment processing for course fees and the issuance of participation certificates. In so-called “breakout rooms”, training participants can work on topics in small groups and deepen what they have learned.

Examples of webinar platforms include Zoom webinar, GoToWebinar and Cisco Webex; well-known online training solutions are GoToTraining, Cisco Webex Training, Blackboard Learn, Saba and moodle.

webcasts

The term webcast consists of web and broadcast—“ live TV” rather than “online meeting.” Webcasts are either live web events that take place on a fixed date or recorded webinars that can be accessed on-demand. Webcasts do not focus on interaction with participants, but on presenting to a large audience (1-to-very-many). They are intended for larger anonymous target groups, such as at a trade fair appearance or a product presentation. Organizers and presenters guide you through the program and can flexibly share their screens, cameras and sound and play prepared videos. Live videos with, for example, product demonstrations or interviews with experts can be made available online as a webcast. Webcasts are not only cheaper than elaborately produced promotional videos, they also look more authentic and are an effective means of lead generation. They can be made freely available to everyone or require participants to register.

Hybrid events are a special form of webcasts: events with analog and digital components, such as a presentation in front of an audience, which can respond to the presentation through applause and a Q&A session. The presentation is streamed directly (usually with a delay of a few seconds) or made available on-demand.

Well-known webcast offers include: GoToWebcast, Microsoft Teams Live Events or Microsoft Stream, ON24 and Samba Live

Virtual Events

Virtual events are, so to speak, the pinnacle of online collaboration: online events that support a large number of exhibition stands, presentations, sessions and interaction formats in a bundled manner, similar to a local conference or trade fair. Virtual trade fairs take place on fixed dates, lectures and discussions follow a fixed agenda, which enables participants to visit specific topics and interact with speakers. Presenters guide visitors through the virtual event, which takes the place of a real event.

Examples of virtual event tools: Expo IP, Ubivent, Inxpo, Bizzabo

Selecting the right provider

When looking for a suitable platform, it is important to be able to correctly assess the characteristics and focal points of the various solutions. What functions and options do they include, what are they there for and how important are they for your organization? You must also decide whether you want to pursue a “best of breed” approach and, for example, license the best offering in its solution category. Or whether you want to cut back on the functional depth and choose software with a wide range of functions that can handle as many of the application scenarios mentioned above as possible. There are also major differences between providers in terms of integration options with their marketing automation and CRM solution. Your sales team will likely be very interested in finding new prospects who have signed up for a webinar directly in the CRM system — along with the questions the lead asked during the event. Your marketing department is certainly interested in the fact that invitations to events can be managed conveniently and in accordance with CI across channels. Your employees want a web-based tool that is easy and intuitive to use.

Professional platform-independent service providers such as Publicare help companies examine the numerous providers and identify the right offer for their requirements. We also offer comprehensive services for planning, advertising, preparing and conducting online meetings, webinars, webcasts and virtual events of all kinds.