As once quoted by the famous American management consultant, Geoffrey Moore “ The power has shifted to the customer, and it’s not coming back.” Gone are the days when the organizers had the power to decide things for their audiences, keeping their comfort and convenience as a priority.
Now is the time when things happen keeping the customer’s convenience in mind in all the sectors, be it marketing, online events, and more.
Talking of online events, one of the most common topics taking up organizers’ mental space is which one of the Live streaming events or Pre-recorded events is better.
Well, to make it easier for people who are constantly battling with it, here is a blog post for you that would hopefully answer all your questions.
Therefore, fasten your seatbelts, and be with us till the end, you will surely find answers to your questions.
What Can You Understand by Live Streaming Events?
Though the name is enough to explain it, the terms like live videos, live streaming, or live events mean streaming the events in real-time. In live streaming events, organizers can interact with their attendees live. Live streaming events have gained extreme popularity in the past few years, and it is because live events provide more exposure to brands.
Not only this, live streaming events are easier for the organizers as they are quick to host. In addition to this, it has been observed that even the attendees prefer live streaming events more than pre-recorded or on-demand events. The reason for this preference is the realness that comes with live events. The audience across the globe has embraced the transparency of live events with open arms.
Even though live events always stand a chance of going wrong, the audience feels more related to them and thinks of them as more human.
To host a live event or live streaming, all that is needed is a compatible device and reliable and fully-equipped Live Streaming software.
What are the Advantages of Live Streaming Events?
Though there are several benefits of live streaming, a few of the most notable ones are here:
Affordable:
One prominent feature of live streaming is there is no post-production involved; whatever happens, happens in real-time. It saves a lot of time as well as money for the event organizers. All you have to do is use an efficient live streaming software to record and stream it to the audience in real-time.
More Interactive:
Having real-time broadcasting means the attendees get to witness the reality and rawness of a brand and its representatives. Due to this characteristic of live events, the audience perceives them as more human and real events, even though they are online. As a result, the attendees get to connect and interact with fellow attendees, speakers, and organizers in real time using the audience networking tools of the Live stream broadcasting software.
Instant:
The biggest and most notable feature of live streaming events is that they are LIVE. While talking about live events, everything happens in real-time, be it recording, streaming, broadcasting, audience interaction, etc. Hence, they are delivered to the audience in real-time as well.
Save Time:
The next advantage of live streaming online events is that they help organizers save time. Unlike pre-recorded events, there is no separate recording, editing and broadcasting involved. Hence, the organizers get plenty of time to prepare the content and promote it.
Engaging:
As said, live streaming events provide more opportunities for the organizers to interact with their target audience. It is why live streaming events always witness higher audience participation than other events.
Brand Visibility:
Live streaming events present things and content without any filters. Everything is very raw and real in the case of live streaming events. It is one reason the audience feels more connected with your event and brand more through live streaming. Moreover, time and again, live streaming events have proven to expand brand visibility.
What are Pre-Recorded Online Events?
As we get it by the name, pre-recorded events are simply events that are recorded, edited, and then streamed to the audience. Unlike live streaming events, pre-recorded events include editing and filtering videos before presenting them to the audience. Also, when it comes to quantity, one cannot deny the fact that pre-recorded events have an upper hand over live streaming events.
Pre-recorded events enable users to record the event beforehand and then set its sequence as per their requirements. Hence, we talk about rich and studio-like videos or events, nothing matches pre-recorded events.
What Are the Advantages of Pre-Recorded Events?
Like live streaming events, pre-recorded online events have their advantages, a few of those benefits are:
More Visually Appealing:
Since pre-recorded events include post-production, they give the organizers complete power to beautify the events. Not only this, organizers can add effects, incorporate mixed reality effects, and so much more. In addition to this, organizers can add a wow factor to their events, which would help them impress their audience.
Retakes:
One of the best and most notable advantages of conducting online events is that the organizers can have as many retakes as they want. It would ensure that the event goes smoothly without any chances of glitches. With retakes, organizers can experiment with the content until they think it is perfect and they are happy with it. It is one of the major differences between live and pre-recorded content.
High Quality:
With the complete freedom to take as many retakes as the organizers want to and post-process the event, it is obvious that pre-recorded online events are of high quality. Not only this, but to deliver the event in high quality, organizers can also take the help of a post-production company.
Minimized Technical Risks:
Since pre-recorded events are not streamed live, there are fewer technical risks such as internet connectivity issues, audio/video glitches, or disruptions that can occur during live events. The content is pre-tested and polished before being made available to viewers.
Content Control and Reusability:
Organizers have greater control over the content when it’s pre-recorded. They can edit, rearrange, or update sections as needed before releasing the final version. Additionally, pre-recorded events can be reused for future purposes, such as onboarding new employees or providing training resources.
Flexible:
The next advantage of pre-recorded online events is that they are very flexible. Since the organizers can record them earlier and make them live later, they don’t require organizers to be available all the time. Pre-recorded online events are generally glitch-free because they give the organizers the utmost flexibility to record the events and later broadcast them at their convenience.
Compatible With Different Time Zones:
The next advantage that comes with pre-recorded online events is that the organizers broadcast them to a wide range of audiences according to geography and different time zones. By recording online events beforehand, you don’t have to worry about targeting a particular time zone. You can simply broadcast the events to several time zones without missing out on any.
Live Streaming Events vs Pre-Recorded Events: Which One Should You Choose?
Live streaming events have their own set of advantages and limitations, and pre-recorded events have their own. To make things easier for you, let us quickly compare both the formats, and see which format is more advantageous than the other.
| S.No. | Live Streaming Events | Pre-Recorded Events |
| 1 | Entire event is broadcasted in a Single Take | Organizers can have Multiple Takes |
| 2 | No Post Production is Involved | Post Production is Involved |
| 3 | Things are very transparent here. | Things are filtered and edited, and less scope of transparency. |
| 4 | They provide less flexibility to the organizers and attendees. | They provide more flexibility to the organizers and attendees. |
| 5 | There are more chances of things going wrong since they are broadcasted in real time. | Glitches can be edited out during the post processing. |
| 6 | There is a rawness in live streaming events. | Pre-recorded events are processed. |
| 7 | They help organizers save time and money. | They are time-consuming as well as expensive. |
| 8 | They provide better and real-time opportunities to attendees and speakers to interact with each other. | They don’t provide as many opportunities. |
Picking one format over the other is clearly nothing but quite difficult. However, we believe it completely depends on the kind of online event you are hosting that you should choose one format.
For example, when it comes to events like interviews, product launches, and interactive events for the audience, experts suggest organizers go with the live streaming format.
However, when it comes to events like webinars, you can pre-record them beforehand and broadcast them later.
Live Streaming or Pre-recorded, Choose the Best Online Event Platform: Mixhub.
Planning and putting together an online event comes with some complications and challenges, more when you don’t have a suitable and reliable online event platform. However, with a free live streaming platform like Mixhub, things are much easier than one can think.
Mixhub is an advanced online platform that can help you live stream your online events with as much ease as pre-recorded events.
Mixhub comes with all the features that one needs to host a live streaming event, making it one of the best free live streaming platforms out there. Not only this, but with this platform, you can host pre-recorded events as well as a combination of both formats.
Moreover, it is a self-managed and customizable live streaming software that enables users to deliver their events with utmost ease. It means to host events on this platform, one doesn’t need to compromise on any of the factors. What one needs to note about this platform is that you can host live streams for free with Mixhub.
There’s a lot more this Free Live Streaming Platform offers its users; to know more, book your demo now.
