Have you ever wondered how much it would cost for an agency to run your webinar from start to finish so you can focus on other business objectives?
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a complete breakdown of costs and services, enabling you to understand your options? Well, we have left no stone unturned and have delved into what drives the costs up and why some companies are more expensive than others when it comes to hosting webinars. So, let’s get started…
What’s involved in running a webinar?
Hosting
Often when you ask about the price of hosting a webinar, you will hear the answer, “Well, it depends.”
It’s frustrating, but unfortunately, it’s true. There are many elements involved in running a webinar, and how much your team does versus how much your marketing agency does affects the cost.
The core elements will be included in most packages, regardless of the agency you use. These should include the smooth set-up and hosting of the webinar, including speaker, audio, and video management.
The cost will depend on factors such as how long it takes to liaise with the speakers for their details, the hosting platform, the length of the webinar, and the number of team members needed to support the live event.
Let’s look at an example. If you’ve pre-recorded presentations to stream during the webinar, your agency will likely need three people behind the scenes. The first manages the speakers and webinar software, while two others are needed to run computers in separate locations to stream the presentations in case of internet connection or technical failure.
On the other hand, if only one computer is used with a single team member, the cost of hosting your webinar will be significantly lower. It depends on what is right for your webinar.
Another factor that will affect the cost is the charge-out rate of the people hosting the webinar. Using a freelancer or non-specialist agency will cost less; however, costs may be higher when using a specialist agency.
Cost range: £350 – £2,000
Variable factors:
- Content to be streamed
- Number of computers and team members required by your agency
- Agency’s level of specialisation
- Software used
Promotion of your webinar 
Once you have your list of key opinion leader speakers, next you’ll need to ensure your webinar is promoted effectively.
There are many ways to do this, and each will impact the cost of your webinar.
Email promotion
Do you have an existing GDPR-compliant contact list that your agency can use to promote your webinar? If so, there will be no need to purchase a mailing list, which an agency can do for you if needed.
Other variable factors include the email software used by your agency, the time it takes them to clean your contact list, set up and design the email template, and copywriting if needed.
You also need to consider how many repeat emails you would like to be sent. Do you only want to send one email? Or would you prefer to send two to three to maximise open rates and sign-ups for your webinar? Most agencies will encourage you to go for the latter; however, if only one email is sent, the cost of your webinar will be reduced, but the effectiveness of the promotion may also be reduced.
Cost range: £750 – £1,200 (possibly more if a large email list needs to be purchased).
Variable factors:
- Number of emails
- Current mailing list situation
- Agency software
Social media promotion
Social media has a large reach when it comes to promoting a webinar, especially if you can capitalise on your team’s and speakers’ networks.
The cost of social media promotion depends on the type and number of posts to be sent out and the level of graphic design input needed. For instance, if you choose to send out only still images to promote the webinar, the cost will be less than if you wanted videos or gifs created.
Speaker management will also affect webinar costs. You may ask your agency to set up posts with individual tracking links for each speaker and encourage them to post them. Speakers may need to be reminded to post or encouraged to generate registrations more proactively. All of this takes time.
Cost range: £100 – £750
Variable factors:
- Type and number of posts.
- Number of platforms on which content needs to be posted.
Advertising in medical device journals
Have you ever thought of using banner ads in clinical journals to promote your webinars? It can be especially useful if you have a series of webinars running throughout the year. Often, journals sell monthly display ads, which can be a great way to target a specific clinical audience.
The cost of setting up a journal advert series will vary from journal to journal and can be anywhere from £450 to £2,500 per month (journal cost). This will not include your agency’s fees, which may cover the cost of sourcing the advertising space and designing the advert.
Cost range: Journal display ad space: £450 – £2,500 per month
Variable factors:
- Cost of advertising space with different journals
Professional society promotion
Do you work closely with any medical societies whose members are the target audience of your webinar?
If so, collaborating with a society can be a great way to extend your reach and increase attendance at your webinar.
The cost of agency support to do this will depend on their involvement. Do you want them to approach the society (this is not recommended, as the relationship should always be between you and the society), or just supply the HTML email code (which will include design, copy, and building the code) so the email goes out beautifully to all their members?
In terms of the cost charged by the society, it may be free, but other times there is a fee. It depends on your relationship with the society as well as their own policies.
Cost range: £200 – £3,450
Society communication: Free – £3,000 (can be higher, depending on the size of the society)
Agency cost: £200 – £450
Variable factors:
- Design of email (branded or simple)
- Format (HTML coded or JPEG?)
- Is copywriting needed?
Pre-recording presentations
There are many reasons why you or your speakers may want to pre-record presentations.
It’s the best way to guarantee that all the information is conveyed succinctly, as often things can be missed or rushed when the pressure of being live is present.
Your agency will be able to help with pre-recording by providing online filming capabilities (or live if needed) and editing. The cost will depend on the number of presentations to be filmed, the length of each presentation, and if any sections need to be re-filmed.
Costs will also depend on who is included in the filming session.
You may need a videographer and account manager online during filming, or just an account manager if your agency has the correct software to film in high resolution without the support of a video team.
Finally, your presentation will need to be edited before the webinar to ensure it looks professional and is engaging. This will often be done by combining three video streams so it’s easy to view the speaker and the presentation at the same time.
These recordings can then also be used on social media after the live event. If you decide to film with only one feed, the cost will be lower.
Cost range: £500 – £1,200 (per presentation)
Variable factors:
- Length of presentation
- Number of re-records
- Software used by agency
Post-webinar promotion
Editing of webinar for website and social media
If you want to use the webinar afterward on your website or social media, it is a great idea to edit the final webinar (if not pre-recorded) and create short clips for social media. You can often create ten or more short videos from one webinar, which makes for really engaging content.
Editing the shorts involves removing the ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’ from the footage and also ensuring that the right screen is visible at the right time. For instance, if the speaker is referring to a slide, that slide needs to be showing. Equally, if the panellists are having a group discussion, it is better to have a gallery view of all the speakers.
Cost: £500-£1,200 per video, depending on how much editing is required for each speaker.
Variable factors:
- How many presentations?
- The length of the presentations
- Are social media clips needed?
Email campaign
You have spent a lot of time and money hosting a webinar to add value to your audience; as such, you may also want to send a further email to your entire email list so they can watch the webinar if they didn’t have time to view it live. This is also an excellent opportunity to push your audience to your YouTube page with other amazing content.
This should be quite straightforward if you sent an email campaign promoting your webinar. Your mailing list will already be uploaded to the software, so all that is needed is for the agency to design, write, build, and schedule the email.
Cost: £550 – £750
Variable factors:
- Design
- Copywriting
Other factors that affect price
Agency experience & specialism (H3)
Another factor that will impact the cost of your webinar is the specialism of your agency. Normally, more expensive agencies are those that have specific industry or webinar experience (or both); however, that doesn’t mean a smaller team wouldn’t still do an amazing job.
Ongoing changes
Your agency will plan for two rounds of changes for each piece of new work they create and will have allocated the team’s time accordingly. To avoid exceeding this planned number, it’s great to get all feedback from your internal team before providing updates to the agency. This will significantly save time on both sides and undoubtedly save you a lot of unnecessary budgets spend.