Webinars have become a cornerstone of modern marketing, lead generation, and B2B communication in general. But while the concept seems simple—log in, go live, engage—anyone who’s ever hosted a webinar knows it’s much more complex than that.
From tech hiccups to last-minute speaker changes, managing a professional webinar can quickly become overwhelming, especially when the stakes are high. That’s where managed-service webinar providers come in.
Instead of managing everything on your own, you get a dedicated team of experts handling all logistics, production, and technical details—so you can focus on putting together top-notch content for your target audience (they can help with that too).
Here’s why more organizations are turning to managed-service providers for their webinar success:
1. End-to-End Support
Managed-service providers offer a complete turnkey solution, from pre-event planning to on-demand archive. They handle:
- Customized registration, confirmation and reminder emails.
- Platform setup and testing.
- Live-event production and support.
- Audience engagement tools that foster involvement and improve webinar ROI.
- Follow-up emails, analytics and reporting.
This takes the burden off your internal team and ensures every detail is covered by seasoned pros who live and breathe webinars.
2. Flawless Execution from A to Z
Webinars are all about process and meticulous planning to ensure your company and your audience have a great event experience. With a managed-service provider, you’ll have:
- Live event production and support to ensure everyone has an optimal webinar experience.
- Backup plans for unforeseen circumstances like internet issues or no-show speakers.
- Professional moderation to keep things on track and help improve the flow of the webinar.
It takes away stress and gives you complete peace of mind that your webinar will run smoothly no matter what.
3. Elevated Production Quality
Today’s B2B audiences expect more than just a webcam and slides. Managed providers bring:
- Custom branding and overlays that make your webinars stand out from the crowd.
- Professional-grade video and audio capabilities.
- Pre-recorded content and videos blending seamlessly with live segments.
- Different ways to execute your webinars – 100% live, simulive, completely pre-recorded.
These enhancements boost brand credibility and will give your webinars a competitive edge.
4. Better Engagement & Interaction
Managed-service teams often bring advanced features like:
- Live polling, surveys, resource centers, and Q&A management.
- Breakout rooms and/or moderated chat.
- Real-time analytics to monitor audience engagement.
They know how to use the tools available to keep your audience active and invested in your webinars.
5. Time Savings and Scalability
Running a successful webinar takes a lot of preparation and there’s no way around it. With a managed-service team, you and your staff can:
- Spend less time learning the ins and outs of the technology and stressing about ‘what if’ scenarios.
- Focus more on content, event promotion, audience engagement, and your on-demand plan.
- Run more webinars without stretching your internal resources. You don’t have to worry about bandwidth.
With the right partner, scaling your webinar strategy becomes a breeze.
6. Strategic Guidance
You’re not just hiring tech and production support—you’re getting experts who’ve helped run thousands of successful webinars. The right managed-service provider brings:
- An iron-clad process to the table that is proven and efficient from pre-event to post event.
- Knowledge of what works (and what doesn’t) for the type of webinar you’re looking to execute.
- Strategic advice to align with your goals and improve webinar ROI.
- World-class technology that is secure, trusted, and user-friendly.
They should act like an extension of your team that is solely focused on making your webinars stand out from the crowd.
7. Sense of Urgency
Many times when a company decides to execute webinars in-house as opposed to working with a 3rd party, there’s not the same sense of urgency to get them scheduled and produced. Companies keep kicking the can down the road because there’s nobody to hold them accountable and keep them on schedule, no investment has been made, and they end up either having a scattered webinar strategy or they don’t get webinars off the ground at all. Bringing on a managed-service provider will help you:
- Run more webinars. They will make sure you stay on task and execute webinars at an ideal pace.
- Generate more and better leads from your webinars.
- Extend the reach of your webinars through outside-the-box promotional ideas.
- Extend the life of your webinars through better on-demand promotional plans and content repurposing.
- Realize that webinars just might be the best tool you have to establish subject matter expertise, drive demand, and accelerate revenue for your business.
Jason Stegent is the Founder & President of Elastic Solutions. Email him at jstegent@elasticroi.com