The cost-effectiveness of webcasting

It’s no secret that running a business these days is challenging. Costs are rising, lower margins are becoming a fact of life, and the public doesn’t seem to be buying as much as they once did.In any environment, companies need to reach out to their customers, train their workforce and communicate their message, and many would argue that in these difficult times, getting your message heard is more important than ever.Webcasting provides such a solution. In the same way that video technology has proven itself to be an effective way to disseminate training and corporate communications messages, webcasting has proven to be an equally efficient way to take your event, and deliver it online to your desired audience.Webcasting fulfills the needs of companies of all sizes that have a message that needs to be efficiently captured and immediately dispersed.Today’s video production techniques combined with online video streaming provides a practical and affordable solution to what used to be an expensive and cumbersome process. Combine that with an audience that is increasingly comfortable viewing media on their desktops, and it is easy to see why online video is becoming very prominent, and webcasting your message is the perfect vehicle.Although there are some costs associated with webcasting, such as bandwidth usage, webcasting can actually provide a revenue stream and return on investment by using easily integrated features, like pay-per-view and page sponsorship.When you consider your minimized travel and location expenses for presenters and participants, your event costs can actually be reduced by utilizing webcasting to broadcast your message.Creating an “on-demand” version of your event further reduces scheduling conflicts and saves on travel expenses, since the viewer can watch at their convenience.Positive resultsYour message can be seen by multiple viewers, and attendees have access to the program for repeated viewing, resulting in better comprehension of the information, and easy sharing with their colleagues.The live webcast still retains much of the functionality of a live event, especially when you choose to utilize options, such as live chat. Allowing the remote audience to ask questions of the presenters and to the live audience creates an interactive viewer experience that closely resembles the live event.Webcasting and live video capture can be used for training, sales, marketing and corporate communications, and they incorporate many features that actually enhance the live presentation, strengthen the viewer experience and deliver a more engaged audience.With live video capture and live webcasting, you also have the opportunity to collect viewer data that records participation in your courses and events. You can verify online test results, and even confirm whether viewers watch your entire program. These features easily be integrated these into many of the popular “learning management systems” to provide administration, and management of your online courses.There are many positive results to be gained from integrating webcasting and on-demand video into your business. Savings from reduced travel costs, convenience for attendees and opportunities that pay-per-view and on-demand products offer, all can directly affect your bottom line and increase the impact of your message.Eric Frank, a founding partner of Nashua-based Edify Multimedia Group, can be reached at 603-943-5308 through edifymultimedia.com.