Last updated: 2026-01-25

For most people in the U.S., the easiest way to host a webinar is to use StreamYard On‑Air: you get registration, a no‑download viewing experience, automatic recording, and a simple production studio in one browser tab. If you’re running complex, multi-track conferences or massive one‑off events, specialized tools like Zoom Events or Crowdcast can make sense, but they add cost and complexity you may not need.

Summary

• Use a browser-based tool so no one has to install software or create accounts.
• Set up registration, reminder emails, and an on‑demand replay from day one.
• Keep your format simple: clear promise, strong visuals, live Q&A, and one call to action.
• Start with StreamYard On‑Air for most marketing, customer, and community webinars; layer in extras only when your use case truly requires them. (StreamYard On‑Air)

What do you need before you schedule your webinar?

Before you touch any software, get these five pieces locked in:

1. A specific audience and problem
   “How to land your first freelance client in 30 days” will always beat “Marketing webinar.”

2. A single outcome for attendees
   By the end, what should they know, believe, or be able to do that they couldn’t before?

3. A simple format
   For most webinars: 5–10 minutes intro, 25–35 minutes teaching or demo, 10–15 minutes Q&A, 5 minutes call to action.

4. A realistic time and date
   For U.S. audiences, late morning or early afternoon in Eastern or Central time usually balances coasts.

5. A clear next step
   Book a call, start a free trial, buy a product, join a course—decide this before you build slides.

Once you have this, you can pick the right tool and actually schedule.

Which platform should you use to host your webinar?

You can host a webinar on many platforms; the real question is how much complexity you want.

For most creators, agencies, and small teams in the U.S., a browser-based studio with built-in registration and automatic recording is the sweet spot. At StreamYard, we built On‑Air specifically for this: attendees watch in the browser with no downloads or accounts, you capture registrations, and you can embed the webinar and live chat on your own site for a fully branded experience. (StreamYard Help Center)

How this compares to other options:

• Demio offers live and automated webinars with built‑in engagement and marketing‑oriented analytics, which can help if you want deeper funnel tracking inside one tool. (Demio Pricing)
• Crowdcast focuses on interactive multi‑session events and includes built‑in landing pages, replays, and analytics in a single event URL. (Crowdcast Docs)
• Zoom scales to very large events—including single‑use webinar licenses with up to 1,000,000 attendees—but requires separate webinar licensing and is often overkill for typical marketing webinars. (Zoom Blog)

Unless you are planning a highly structured multi-track summit or a stadium-sized launch, StreamYard On‑Air usually covers what you need with less setup and fewer moving parts.

How do you set up a webinar in StreamYard On‑Air?

Here’s a practical setup path using On‑Air as your home base.

1. Create the webinar event
   In On‑Air, you create a webinar, set date/time, and choose whether to require registration. Attendees then join via a hosted watch page in their browser—no installs, no accounts. (StreamYard On‑Air)

2. Turn on registration and lead capture
   You can collect name and email with customizable form fields, then view or export registrants as CSV for your CRM or email tool. (StreamYard On‑Air)

3. Configure automated emails
   On‑Air can automatically send confirmation and reminder emails (for example, 24 hours and 1 hour before), plus a follow‑up email with the recording link when you enable on‑demand.

4. Decide on access: public, private, or embedded

   • Use a public watch page for open lead‑gen.
   • Make the webinar private on paid tiers so only registrants can view. (StreamYard Support)
   • Or embed the webinar and chat directly on your own website for a fully branded experience. (StreamYard Support)

5. Set on‑demand replay and recording
   Flip on the on‑demand toggle so your webinar is watchable after the event; attendees will get an email with the replay link within minutes of the end time. You also keep a private recording in your StreamYard library for repurposing. (StreamYard Help Center)

Behind the scenes, you run the live session from the StreamYard studio, with layouts, overlays, screen share, and multi‑track/local recording options if you want higher-quality post‑production.

How do you promote your webinar and get registrations?

A great setup still needs traffic. Use your registration link and, if you embed the webinar on your site, a simple landing page with three elements:

• Headline: Promise a specific transformation (“Launch your first podcast in 7 days”).
• Bullets: 3–5 outcomes people will walk away with.
• Logistics: Time zone, length, who it’s for.

Then promote:

• Email list: Send a dedicated invite and at least one reminder.
• Social channels: Post clips, carousels, or teasers that link directly to your registration page.
• Partners: Give collaborators their own tracking links using UTM parameters so you can see which channel brings the most sign‑ups.

If you use StreamYard, you can also multistream the webinar simultaneously to YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitch, and custom RTMP destinations when appropriate—helpful if you want some content public while still capturing leads via On‑Air registration for the main event. (StreamYard On‑Air)

How do you keep people engaged during the webinar?

Most webinars lose people because they feel like a long monologue. Instead:

• Open with context and a quick win
  Welcome people, restate the promise, and show a small proof point or mini‑result in the first five minutes.

• Use clean visuals
  Favor simple slides and screen shares over dense decks; the StreamYard studio lets you switch layouts so you can alternate between your camera and your content.

• Invite interaction early
  On‑Air provides live chat that opens shortly before your session and stays open briefly afterward, so you can welcome people, ask where they are joining from, and collect questions along the way. (StreamYard Help Center)

• Layer in specialist tools when you need more
  For deep interaction—live polls, word clouds, Q&A voting—tools like Slido or Mentimeter can run alongside your webinar and often have free tiers. You share their screen inside StreamYard, so attendees experience a cohesive flow.

• Feature the audience
  Read questions by name, highlight chat messages on screen, and leave at least 10–15 minutes for Q&A. This is where a lot of buying decisions are made.

You do not need complex breakout structures to run a high‑converting webinar. In fact, keeping everyone in one shared experience is often more effective for sales, education, and community.

What should you do after the webinar?

The real leverage comes after you hang up.

1. Send the replay quickly
   Because On‑Air can email a recording link automatically when you enable on‑demand, people who registered but didn’t attend still get value—and you can include your main call to action in that follow‑up.

2. Segment your list
   Export registrants as CSV and tag them in your CRM based on whether they registered, attended live, or watched the replay. Tailor your follow‑ups accordingly.

3. Repurpose the recording
   Use your StreamYard recording to cut:

   • Short clips for social
   • A trimmed replay behind an email opt‑in
   • A mini‑course or resource inside your product

4. Review what worked
   Look at registration numbers, live attendance, chat activity, and questions asked. Crowdcast and Demio include built‑in analytics dashboards; with StreamYard, you pair registration data with your email or analytics stack to understand which channels drove results. (Crowdcast Docs)

5. Decide on your next session
   In the U.S., many teams see better results from a consistent webinar series (for example, monthly office hours or product tours) than from one‑off launches.

How do paid webinars and advanced formats fit in?

If you want to charge for access, you have two main options:

• Use built‑in ticketing on an event platform
  Crowdcast, for example, connects to Stripe and charges a platform transaction fee on paid events. (Crowdcast Pricing)

• Pair StreamYard with external payments
  On‑Air supports registration but does not collect payments natively; you use tools like Eventbrite or your course platform to handle payments and then import or upload registrants into a private webinar. (StreamYard Support)

For automated, always‑on webinars, Demio offers pre‑recorded sessions with timed engagement features, which can help if you want a fully automated funnel. (Demio Automated Webinars) For many marketers, though, running live in StreamYard and then using the on‑demand replay as a lead magnet gives a strong balance of authenticity and scale without locking you into a heavy automation stack.

What we recommend

• Start with a simple, live StreamYard On‑Air webinar: browser-based, no downloads, automatic recording, and built-in registration.
• Embed the webinar and chat on your site when you want a fully branded experience without extra dev work.
• Add specialist tools (Slido, Mentimeter, ticketing platforms) only when your use case genuinely demands them.
• Consider Demio, Crowdcast, or Zoom mainly when you’re running highly automated funnels, multi‑track events, or exceptionally large one‑off webinars that go beyond StreamYard’s typical scope.