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Today you hear the term webcasting used frequently in business as it’s becoming an increasingly popular way for companies to host online events. We know you’ve heard the term webcast, but you might be thinking what is webcasting anyway? We’re here to help make sense of it all, and we’ll start with the basics.

We can define webcasting as the practice of broadcasting video or audio feeds over the internet. We get webcast from a combination of web and broadcast.  This is just the starting point of what webcasting is. So, let’s dive in with a crash course: Webcasting 101.

Importance of Webcasting

Webcasts are a way to broadcast messages from one to many, whether that’s to a small group or thousands of people. The webcasting definition is more than just a broadcast of video feeds.

Businesses no longer need to host multiple regional events. Instead, they can host virtual events reaching people in various regions and geographies around the world. With easy access and interactive features, webcasting is helping businesses around the world expand their reach and communicate information regardless of audience location.

Benefits of Webcasting

There are a lot of reasons to host a webcast from broadening your communications reach to the cost savings of hosting events virtually. It’s no secret that in-person events can be costly, whether it’s a high-profile customer event or an employee training session. Between location, travel, and food costs, in-person events can add up quickly. By hosting webcasts, businesses can provide their attendees with the same professional event experience virtually, but for a fraction of the cost.

Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed how businesses operate and how we think about events. Employees have shifted to remote work. People take video calls from home. Businesses are getting comfortable hosting large events virtually.

At PGi, we have seen a 350% increase in demand for virtual events and a 500% increase in the number of people in attendance. Secure, professional webcasting technology provides peace-of-mind for organizations coming together virtually, enabling them to confidently collaborate and broadcast critical messages safely.

Is There a Difference Between Webcast vs Webinar?

Webcasting is the term most often used when referring to live-streamed virtual events. But you may also hear the term webinar. Many people often confuse these terms. So, what’s the difference between a webcast vs. webinar? While they are different, you should think about webinars as one type of webcast. Webinars are usually intended for smaller audiences, while webcasts are for high profile events, broadcasting to thousands of people.

Types of Events to Host by Webcast

Webcasts can help transform communication and outreach strategies across every aspect of your business. We’ve been in this business for decades and have seen first-hand how businesses can use webcasts to their advantage:

• Investor Relations: Host investor meetings virtually via a webcast. Webcasts provide a professional experience from start to finish and include secure login so you can rest assured that only those intended to be on your investor relations webcast actually are.
• Training: From customer training to employee training, businesses can create extensive training sessions that can be viewed live or on-demand.
• Marketing & Demand Generation: Businesses can host webcasts for brand awareness and demand generation purposes. By opting for a virtual event, marketers can access a full range of analytical data to gauge levels of interest throughout the webcast.
• Corporate Communications: Improve internal communications by hosting regular town hall events. During webcasts, employees can hear from your executive team on important updates and information regarding your business – they can also submit questions to facilitate a real-time Q&A.
• Human Resources: Webcasts are a great way for HR professionals to provide important information for employees from onboarding new hires to communicating benefits updates.
• Education: Universities and colleges are turning to webcasting to broadcast lectures, college placement testing and virtual graduations.
• Conferences: With COVID-19 hosting traditional tradeshows and conferences is near impossible. However, canceling in not the only option. Many organizations have turned to webcasts to convert in-person events to virtual ones. By leveraging webcasting, organizations can host the conference virtually from the keynote presentation to breakout sessions.

Hosting a Webcast

Webcasts for businesses typically fall into two categories: managed and self-service.

For a managed webcast, the service provider handles everything from logistics, filming, broadcasting and more, providing a true end-to-end service experience. Professional event management lets customers focus on content and not worry about managing the technology to broadcast key messages.

Self-service webcasting offers individuals or businesses access to enterprise-grade webcasting, publishing, editing and analytics tools so they can host their own webcasts using their existing technology infrastructure.

Now that you know the basics of webcasting, you can start thinking about what webcasts could mean for your business. We can help, contact our webcasting experts for more information.