Zoom Webinars vs Zoom Meetings: What’s the Difference?

Did you know that you can deliver a world-class event virtually using both Zoom meetings and Zoom webinars? Both solutions can support a variety of engaging and interactive online events however each one offers something different. While Zoom meetings and Zoom webinars share many similar characteristics, there are a few key differences that must be considered when choosing which one to move forward with for your virtual event.

Zoom meetings are designed to be a collaborative event that bring participants together to chat and collaborate whereas Zoom Webinars are designed for a host or panelist to deliver a presentation or host an informational session. When attending a Zoom meeting, attendees are able to share their screens, turn on their video and audio, and see who else is in attendance. In contrast to Zoom meetings, Zoom webinars are designed for one user also known as the host or panelist. This user is the sole participant that will be able to take advantage of features including sharing their video, audio, and screen, and unmuting attendees when it comes time for them to participate or ask questions.

Zoom Meetings

Zoom meetings are designed to be highly collaborative, allowing all participants to share content and turn their video on or off, annotate, whiteboard, and contribute to the conversation as they see fit. It’s important to remember that Zoom meetings are collaborative meaning this feature is best used when you intend to allow participants to participate and collaborate as they please. If you wish to have more control over attendees, you may want to consider opting for a Zoom webinar as opposed to a Zoom meeting.

Here are the key features you can leverage in your Zoom meetings:

• Registration: Licensed Zoom Meetings users have the ability to schedule Zoom meetings that require registration in order to participate. This means that you can customize your registration page to capture your desired fields.

• Waiting Rooms: In addition to requiring registration or a passcode before joining the Zoom meeting, you also have the ability to require meeting participants to wait in a waiting room prior to the meeting. As the meeting host, this gives you more control over who can join the meeting.

• Screen sharing: One major benefit of hosting a meeting with Zoom is having the power to share your screen. In addition to sharing your screen as the host, you can also empower meeting attendees to share valuable content by sharing their screens. It’s important to remember that you also have the ability to share your computer sound when sharing your screen which is especially important when playing music and videos.

• Online Whiteboarding: As the meeting host, you have the ability to share a whiteboard when you share your screen. This allows you to share a blank white screen that you can use to brainstorm, take notes, and share insights. As the meeting host, you can also allow meeting participants to co-annotate meaning they can also contribute and share content.

• Breakout Rooms: The Breakout Rooms feature is an excellent resource that can be used to foster collaboration and more meaningful connection among attendees. This feature allows you to divide your meeting into as many as 100 separate sessions, creating individual spaces for close collaboration and small-group discussion.

• Reactions: Meeting reactions are a great way to gauge participants' satisfaction. As the meeting host, you can leverage this feature to tell if attendees are engaged or not during the meeting. This feature works by allowing guests to react with an emoji so they don’t have to interrupt the meeting when they wish to participate.

• Chat: Zooms chat feature makes it possible for participants to connect beyond the meeting. As the meeting host, you can choose who participants can chat with or disable the chat feature entirely.

• Polling: Licensed Zoom Meetings users have the ability to set up and launch up to 25 polls in a single meeting. As the meeting host, you can engage meeting attendees by launching single-choice or multiple-choice polls.

• View management: As the meeting host or co-host, you will have the ability to spotlight up to nine video participants as the primary active speakers, and participants will only see these speakers. This feature is often used to spotlight a keynote speaker. As the meeting host or co-host, you will also have the ability to rearrange the order of the gallery view for attendees.

Zoom Webinars

Zoom webinars is an add-on that you can add to your Zoom meeting license to connect and engage with audiences around the world. As an add-on to your paid Zoom Meeting license, Zoom Webinars provide a tool to connect and engage audiences across the globe. Leveraging Zoom webinars provides Zoom’s same great video quality and reliability with additional features and functions that make it possible for you to provide online event participants with a seamless experience.

Here are key features that you can leverage to make your online events more engaging and impactful when using Zoom webinars:

• Registration: As the webinar host, you have the ability to require participants to register when scheduling your event. Like meetings, you can customize your registration page to capture your desired fields.

• Branding: A unique element that is available only to Zoom webinar users is having the ability to customize your webinar registration page with a color schedule, title, banner, logo, and speaker information. This makes it quick and easy to brand your event.

• Source tracking URLs: Within Zoom’s webinar product, you can create unique links that allow you to see where your registrants are coming from. This is ideal if you’re eager to gather insights on registrants after sharing event details in multiple locations.

• Q&A: The Q&A feature adds an interactive element to your webinar by allowing attendees to send in their questions during the presentation. As the webinar host or co-host, you can then answer any questions that may have been submitted to provide guests with clarity or reassurance.

• PayPal and Eventbrite integrations: These integrations are great for charging for your speaking sessions or online classes. The PayPal integration allows you to charge a registration fee for your webinars, and the Eventbrite integration enables you to sell tickets and manage registrations to your webinars, making it easy to manage and monetize your event.

• Post-webinar survey: When scheduling your webinar, you can set up a survey that will appear after the event has finished. Doing so will provide you with a unique opportunity to gather insights and feedback that may be beneficial when organizing future events. When setting up your survey, it’s important to craft questions that will yield insightful answers.

• Attendee view management: As the webinar host, you will have three-screen support to show panelists, the active speaker, and the presentation at the same time. As the host, you will also have the ability to spotlight multiple users’ videos, and rearrange the order of the Gallery View.

• Streaming: Similar to Zoom meetings, Zoom webinars also make it possible to reach an even wider audience by streaming your event to YouTube Live, Facebook Live, or to a custom streaming platform.

Best Practices For Your Zoom Webinar or Meeting

Now that you understand the similarities and differences between Zoom meetings and Zoom webinars, it’s time to take these tips, tricks, and best practices into consideration before launching your online event. Let’s dive into some more best practices that can help you run a successful webinar or meeting on Zoom.

1. Test for technical issues

Running into a technical issue is one of the most frustrating hurdles to overcome when hosting a virtual event, mainly because they could have easily been avoided had you tested your technology prior to the event. After settling on your medium, whether it be a Zoom meeting or Zoom webinar, it’s time to make sure your equipment is working, This means making sur you have a stable internet connection, testing your lighting, microphone, and video quality, making sure your technology is functioning and up to date, and maybe even conducting a brief practice run before the actual event.

2. Follow proper etiquette

While this may go without saying, it’s important to be kind, courteous, and respectful when hosting a Zoom meeting or webinar. This means starting the event only when everyone is in attendance, offering assistance or guidance should an attendee run into a technical difficulty, and making sure everyone has equal opportunity to participate. Circulating ground rules beforehand will also ensure participants treat each other with respect when participating or collaborating during the event.

3. Remember, nothing is perfect

While it’s great to be prepared, there are occasions when things are out of your control. No matter how much you prepare, you may run into a roadblock that tests your patience. In this scenario, it's best to remain calm, and patient. It’s important to remember that nothing is perfect and it's normal to make a mistake from time to time. If you’re honest and upfront your audience will understand.

Get the Best of Both Worlds with Remo, a Platform Built for Experiences

Unlike competing telecommunication tools, Remo empowers you to create human-centric virtual events that mimic in-person interactions. Instead of weighing the pros and cons between two tools, you can get it all with one easy-to-use platform that was designed to enhance human experiences online. With Remo, you can create engaging virtual events and help your audience build meaningful relationships through a platform that was built for experiences, not just meetings. Get started with your  FREE TRIAL today or click here to learn more about how Remo can help you create engaging virtual networking events.