Replays work differently than any other session type in eWebinar. This guide explains what you need to know to use them with confidence.
How to decide whether to enable Replays in your Schedule
The main difference between replays and other session types is control over the video.
What is unique about replays?
Replays allow full video control, including skipping forward and backward freely.
Replay links can be watched (or rewatched) at any time.
How do replays differ from other session types?
Scheduled, on-demand, and just-in-time sessions run in real time once they begin. Even though the content is recorded, attendees cannot freely skip around.
When these types of sessions end, they are over. They cannot be rewatched.
How do I decide whether or not to enable replays?
When deciding whether to enable replays in your schedule, ask yourself:
"Do I want to require attendees to watch my full webinar from beginning to end?"If the answer is yes, leave replays off in your Schedule to preserve an event-style experience, at least on first viewing. (This can create a higher level of commitment and increase watch times.) Remember, replays are included by default in your follow-up emails, even when they are disabled in your schedule, so viewers still get a replay link, just not to watch it the first time.
In general, however, if you’re comfortable with some attendees having full playback control on first viewing, leave replays on. It just gives attendees another way to access your webinar on their own schedule and terms, which can increase attendance.
If you ALWAYS want viewers to have full control over the video playback, then choose On-demand only as the Event type in your Schedule, and ONLY enable Replays.
Limited control over the video in other session typesYou can give some video control in scheduled, on-demand, and just-in-time sessions:
However, viewers never have full control to freely skip around the video as in a replay. |
If you leave Replays off in your Schedule, they are still included in follow-up emails by default
Turning replays off in the Schedule tab means attendees cannot register to immediately receive a replay link.
However, replay links can still be included as links in follow-up emails, and they are included by default.
Nearly all eWebinar customers include replay links in their follow-up emails even when replays are disabled in the Schedule. (The thinking is, "I’d rather people watch my webinar from start to finish the first time. But if they miss the session they signed up for, it’s better they watch a replay than not watch at all.")
If you don't want replay links to be sent in your follow-ups, you must remove them.
How to manage expectations of chat response times for Replays in follow-ups
If someone registers for a scheduled, just-in-time, or on-demand session and does not attend, their first time watching your webinar will be through the replay link in a follow-up email (unless they re-register).
Knowing this, you may want to adjust how chat behaves for replays.
Because replay links can be watched at any time, you may want to:
- Use the replay welcome message* to clarify response-time expectations (Recommended) OR
- Switch replays to Email form only in Chat preferences
* The replay welcome message only appears for attendees who did not attend a session and are watching for the first time via the replay link.
Replays and hours of operation
Replays are never affected by the Hours of operation you set in your Schedule.
If replays are enabled in your Schedule or included in follow-up emails, they can be watched at any time, including outside your hours of operation.
NOTE: For teams following scheduling Scenarios 2 or 3, this is another reason to use the replay welcome message to clarify response times (recommended) or switch Chat preferences for replays to the Email form form.
Do not share individual replay links publicly!
Replay links are unique to each attendee and retain that attendee’s chat and interaction history. They are not meant to be shared publicly.
If you wish to share a replay link publicly, like in a social media ad, consider using an ungated replay link.
How eWebinar replays differ from live session replays
In one sense, every session in eWebinar is a "replay", since every session is pre-recorded.
So then why do we use the term at all?
Because it's a known term that carries meaning people already understand. With live webinars, for example, people who know they can't attend will often sign up just to get the replay link in a follow-up email.
That link works like a regular video player; they can skip around, rewind, and rewatch at any time. In this sense, eWebinar replays work exactly the same way. It's why we use the term.
The problem with traditional replays is that by the time the link arrives, days or weeks may have passed since they signed up, and interest has faded.
eWebinar replays work differently. People get the link immediately after registering , and our data shows that nearly all of them watch right away, while interest is still high.
We sometimes think of replays as 'on-demand plus': you can watch now, watch later, watch again, and control the video every time. With a live session, 'watch now' is never even an option.