Zoom catapulted into the limelight during 2020, when the pandemic dramatically raised the demand for visual communication and team building activities. As a simple and accessible option for web conferencing, Zoom helps to keep individuals and businesses linked during an uncertain period. Now, businesses are starting to realize the importance of making the proper investment in technologies like Zoom for the future of work.

As remote and hybrid working continue their popularity, video-first collaboration solutions will assist to keep employees connected, engaged, and productive, wherever they are. The issue for most businesses isn’t whether they need a video solution – but what sort of package is appropriate for them.

See more: 8 Zoom fatigue signs and how to overcome them

Zoom, for instance, may enable video communication through Zoom Meetings and Zoom Webinars. Here’s everything you need to know about each choice.

P.S. Check out our collection of 120+ icebreaker questions for your next Zoom meet here.

What are Zoom Meetings and Zoom Webinars?
‍

Zoom Meetings is probably the most popular product from Zoom. The Meetings' environment is where you may conduct discussions with workers, colleagues, and even friends and family. Meetings are designed for group collaboration, team chats, sales demos, online learning, and workplace conversations, according to Zoom.

With Meetings, everyone may screen share, interact with video and audio, and participate in a virtual dialogue. You may engage via chat and screen sharing alongside video, answer polling questions, and apply virtual backdrops.

Zoom Webinars, on the other hand, are comparable to virtual events. Webinars offer you a digital environment where you may convey ideas and information to a wider audience. A host (and occasionally some co-hosts) have full control over what the audience members may do, including whether they can contribute video and audio. You may enable webinar participants to communicate and exchange files, or they can be quiet observers of the session.‍

When Should Zoom Meetings Be Used?

Zoom Meetings are collaborative spaces designed to enable teams, students, and other groups to exchange information, interact through voice and video, and participate in a shared discussion. Zoom Meetings come with features to make the experience as immersive as possible. For instance, you may add virtual backdrops to your meetings, or bring everyone together in a shared virtual environment with an Immersive meeting. Zoom Meetings also offer:

• Waiting rooms to guarantee only the appropriate individuals may join
• Breakout rooms for deeper discussions amongst smaller groups of people
• Registration and meeting passwords to further safeguard your conversations
• Screen and file sharing for both the host and authorized users
• Whiteboarding - a virtual environment where individuals may sketch, write, and comment with other participants.
• Chat and debate via Zoom Chat (this may involve exchanging emojis and links) (this can include sharing emojis and links)
• Reactions: Meeting attendees may quietly respond by using an emoji in a meeting
• Polling to gather information from groups of people
• Streaming through YouTube Live, Facebook Live, and other bespoke services
• View management to highlight a speaker or several participants
• Integrations: Users may connect Zoom Meetings with different technologies, including calendar services, Salesforce, and more
  

Zoom Meetings are ideal for interactions when workers need to exchange ideas in an atmosphere where everyone can have a chance to speak freely. While hosts of meetings may silence other participants and select who can broadcast video, gatherings typically have several individuals participating concurrently.

Within a Zoom Meeting, you may present ideas with a co-host or on your own, share your screen (or just a piece of it), engage attendees via polls and chat, and even split your workers up into breakout rooms where they can debate ideas.

When to Use Zoom Webinars?

Where Zoom Meetings are intended to enable many individuals to engage at once, Zoom Webinars are primarily about “presenting” information to a particular audience. Many businesses and educators utilize these webinars for big training events, lectures, or courses that don’t need as much continuous interaction from other participants. Zoom webinars are also excellent for announcements.

Webinars are offered as an add-on to the premium Zoom Meeting license, and they enable individuals to connect with audiences across the world. Webinars, like Zoom Meetings, have a number of useful features, such as registration and unique branded sites where visitors may sign up for your webinar. You may also use a variety of native and third-party technologies to broadcast your webinar.

Some additional features offered from Zoom Webinars include:

• Source tracking URLs to identify where participants to a webinar originate from (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, Email, YouTube, a landing page) (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, Email, YouTube, a landing page)
• Q&A: This goes beyond simple polls to enable participants to put in questions during a webinar and receive answers at the host’s speed. Admins may also allow participants to address the queries of their colleagues
• Integrations: You may link your Zoom webinars to EventBrite and PayPal, perfect if you’re planning on charging for online courses or generating digital tickets for events
• Webinar surveys: You may put up a poll to display after an event to gather information about your users
• Attendee view management: Webinars come with a three-screen view, so you may see an active speaker, presentation, and the crowd at the same time
• Reporting: Zoom webinars come with reporting tools to help you monitor user interaction and keep an eye on when people begin to lose interest in your material
  

Zoom Webinars are less personal video-focused encounters designed for announcements, lessons, and even some types of online events. If you want to connect with a big number of individuals at once, webinars will enable you to accomplish this. The Zoom Webinars environment even makes it simpler to interact with your guests via things like surveys and Q&A.

Choosing Zoom Meetings versus Zoom Webinars

Both Zoom Meetings and Zoom Webinars are important tools for the future of cooperation and communication. However, each of these services from Zoom has its own unique function. Zoom Meetings are personal virtual interactions. If you’re planning on discussing workplace initiatives, or you need to talk about future changes to the workflow with your team, a Zoom Meeting would be a fantastic method to accomplish that.

Zoom Webinars, on the other hand, enable you to share information with a broad variety of viewers at the same time, with less interaction from your participants. If you want to deliver a presentation or hold a lesson for a lot of people at once, Webinars may be your best option.

FAQs

What can I do with Zoom Video Webinars?

You may digitally connect and share video with big audiences in public or private Zoom Video Webinars. Organize a webinar for up to 50,000 people. Live broadcast your webinar to Facebook Live, YouTube, and other specialized streaming platforms to reach an even bigger audience. Use Zoom Video Webinars to advertise and grow your local or worldwide company or community.

How do I manage registrations for Zoom Webinar?

Zoom Video Webinars provide you a number of options when it comes to managing registrations. There are three ways to keep track of registrations. First, you may choose not to need registration; your invitees will be given a URL to attend the webinar and will only need to provide their name and email address. Second, you may select to automatically approve anybody who registers for the webinar, and Zoom will send them a confirmation email. Third, before Zoom sends out a confirmation email, you may personally approve participants.

You may add your brand logo to the registration page and the emails that are sent out when setting up your event's registration. On the registration page, Zoom also makes it simple to add demographic variables and customizable open-ended or multiple choice questions.

Many major CRM systems connect with Zoom Video Webinars, enabling you to create leads from webinar attendees or send contacts from your CRM system to a webinar registration page.

How much do Zoom Video Webinars cost, and how do I buy?

The number of participants that may attend a Zoom Video Webinar at the same time determines the plan. For 100 participants, Zoom Video Webinars start at $40 per month per license (requiring a Zoom Meetings license). Pricing is available on a monthly and yearly basis. To get the most out of your investment, flat-rate pricing allows you to conduct an infinite number of webinars. Zoom Video Webinars may be used for a number of purposes, including all-hands meetings, corporate events, marketing and customer webinars, and virtual training sessions (auditorium style).

Hope this detailed Zoom Webinar Vs Meeting comparison was helpful. We, at Ricotta, are currently building an employee engagement app over Zoom and will be available in the Zoom marketplace very soon. You can try out Ricotta by adding it to your Slack from here.