Bizzabo versus Zoom:
Which Is Best for B2B Marketers?

Bizzabo versus Zoom preview:
Bizzabo Features
Bizzabo Drawbacks
Bizzabo Pros & Cons
Zoom Features
Zoom Drawbacks
Zoom Pros & Cons
Goldcast Features
Frequently Asked Questions

Choosing the Right Digital Event Platform

Is Bizzabo or Zoom a better fit for your next digital event? And what platform should you choose to scale your event programs? If you’re an event marketer who needs help navigating these two digital behemoths, we’re here to help.

Both Bizzabo and Zoom offer different pros and cons and are built for different use cases. There’s a lot to consider, especially if you run B2B events and own pipeline and revenue goals. We’ve broken down both virtual event platforms (and another solution you might not yet be considering) to help you find a perfect fit. Let’s go!

Bizzabo versus Zoom

Here’s a quick breakdown of the features and functionality offered by each SaaS platform and how they compare.

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Bizzabo

Bizzabo is a well-known event management platform for virtual, in-person, and hybrid events. Their “Event Experience OS” provides an all-in-one platform for managing conferences, field events, internal kickoffs, and more.

Bizzabo has continued to expand its technology and use cases to appeal to a broader market, and current customers are feeling the growing pains. Below, we’ll dive into the good and bad of Bizzabo.

Bizzabo Features
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The Good: Features & Benefits of Bizzabo
Let's explore the features and benefits of Bizzabo in more detail. These are the things people love.

  • Engagement options

    Bizzabo offers plenty of levers to amp up audience engagement. The platform supports live chat, the ability to launch polls, a dedicated Q&A tab, and live reactions to keep everyone buzzing.

  • Customizable badge design and flexible check-ins

    Bizzabo’s native in-person software includes flexible check-in options and customizable badge design and scanning. It’s a solid option for in-person and hybrid events (though not quite as robust as industry leaders like Cvent).

  • Ability to host pre-recorded or live webinars

    Live? Pre-recorded? A mix of both? Bizzabo supports all of the above and the ability to live stream webinars to other platforms.

  • Multiple networking opportunities

    Bizzabo offers a unique matchmaking engine to help attendees connect in multiple ways. This is perfect for networking events and making 1:1 introductions.

The Bad: What Are The Drawbacks of Bizzabo ?
We mined popular review sites like G2, Capterra, and Trustradius to highlight the most common challenges customers experience with Bizzabo.

  • Too many bells and whistles

    Many event organizers note that Bizzabo is very cumbersome to manage. Even simple events, like webinars, are a pain to set up. This also makes onboarding new users and speakers difficult, which can inhibit adoption across teams or scaling events.

  • Limited customization

    Another common gripe? Bizzabo is fairly limited from a customization perspective. Marketers note that it doesn’t offer the design flexibility they need to build a modern brand experience. This was mentioned across the board, from the event registration pages, the event stage area, and even event emails. 

  • Agenda page

    Speaking of limited customization, Bizzabo agenda pages were another common pain point. Marketers aren’t able to change the look and feel of agendas to match their own designs. 

  • Registration-based pricing

    Bizzabo’s biggest downfall is its pricing model. They currently offer registration-based pricing, which means you pay for people who might not even show up for your event. This can quickly get pricey as you scale events. 

The Details: Bizzabo Pros & Cons

To summarize, here’s a simplified chart that outlines the top pros and cons of Bizzabo.

Zoom

Who hasn’t heard of Zoom? The popular video conferencing tool grew rapidly during the pandemic as teams scrambled to adjust to remote work. It’s known across the globe as a reliable solution for online meetings, trainings, and more.

Zoom also offers an event product that can be used for simple recurring events, like webinars. While Zoom webinars can be a good fit for companies on a budget, it's very limited in functionality and wasn’t built for revenue-driven events.

The Good: Features & Benefits of Zoom
Let's explore the features and benefits of Zoom in more detail. These are the things people love.

  • An intuitive and familiar user interface

    Since Zoom is widely used, most folks are familiar with the experience. This makes it easy for both attendees and organizers to navigate the platform.

  • Studio effects and fun filters

    Zoom's studio effects and filters enhance speaker video quality. These features are especially helpful for remote settings.

  • Getting feedback is easy

    Post-event surveys are important for getting real-time feedback on your event. Zoom offers simple surveys in a wide array of formats, including single-choice, multiple-choice, a rating scale, and open-ended answers.

  • Chat, reactions, and polling options for engagement

    While they’re not best-in-class, Zoom does support table-stakes engagement features like live chat, reactions, the ability to launch polls, screen sharing, and more.

  • Engagement options that include chat, reactions, and polling

    Zoom offers some basic built-in engagement features, including live chat, a dedicated Q&A panel, screen sharing, and the ability to launch polls

The Bad: What Are The Drawbacks of Zoom?
We mined popular review sites like G2, Capterra, and Trustradius to highlight the most common challenges customers experience with Zoom.

  • Can’t embed CTAs

    If you use events and webinars for demand generation, Zoom likely isn’t the best option to support these goals. Zoom doesn’t allow event organizers to embed CTAs or additional resources. 

  • Mandatory app download

    In order to participate in events on the go, attendees need to download the Zoom mobile app. This may be a concern for event accessibility.  

  • Not built for highly interactive digital events

    Zoom was built for 1:many types of events that are not interactive or engaging. They’re best suited for large audiences or events that are open to the public. Their website also mentions that webinar attendees typically do not interact with each other, which is not ideal if you want your audience to network or form a community. 

  • Not built for B2B marketers

    Zoom was not built for B2B marketers. It is better suited for small to mid-sized companies and educational institutions. The platform is limited in terms of customization, branding, and video production features and is also not a great choice if you’re looking to automate the event process.  

  • Webinars don’t support breakout rooms

    Zoom webinar package is limited and does not have important features like breakout rooms. This can be limiting if you’re hosting a webinar designed for networking or looking to scale events. 

Zoom Pros & Cons

To summarize, here’s a simplified chart outlining Zoom's top pros and cons.

Goldcast: The Revenue-Driven Event Marketing Platform

Goldcast is a digital events platform purpose-built for B2B marketers to run and scale engaging digital events. Leading B2B brands like 1Password, Mailchimp, Lattice, Drift, Salesloft, and others have chosen Goldcast as a key component of their marketing tech stack.

At Goldcast, our goal is to make it easy to set up and run high-quality digital events while providing a seamless experience for attendees and enabling organizers to prove event ROI.

The Revenue Driving Event Formula

With Goldcast, your sales team can access actionable analytics and real-time insights through native CRM integrations. We make it easy for you to run pipeline-driving events.

Proven results

Attendance
Rate
Time spent per event
SQLs and demo requests
Time saved
every month
3 hrs
Implementation Support
This is an image of Nina Butler, Director of Global Events Marketing at Alyce.

That was the best part—we made the decision to pivot on a Friday, and I didn’t have to work or stress over it on the weekend. I knew that I’d be able to move the whole event into Goldcast on Monday. It wasn’t even a concern.

Megan Guerra
Increased attendance rate
This is an image of Davi Schmidt, Demand Generation Director at Snaplogic.

Goldcast was super easy to use compared to other platforms for both our employees as well as our guest speakers

Davi Schmidt
Demand Generation Director
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Video Production Capabilities
This is an image of Nina Butler, Director of Global Events Marketing at Alyce.

Our MQL goals saw an increase of 20% through Goldcast’s video production capabilities. The experience was super engaging and very modern!

Laura Lilley
Global Experiential Marketing & Events
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The Details: Top Goldcast Features for B2B Marketers

  • Goldcast is built for B2B marketers who want to create captivating experiences for attendees and drive engagement with their prospects and customers

  • Flexible for a plethora of B2B use cases, which include community events, webinars, product launches, demos, field events, hybrid events, user conferences, and more

  • Ability to easily embed CTAs and resources in an event

  • Plenty of engagement features like chat, polls, and Q&A in a completely customizable interface

  • Sophisticated video production tools that include overlays, speaker layouts, lower thirds, and tickers for an enhanced attendee experience

  • Duplicable templates that can be used to scale events

  • Accessible to a wide range of audiences — captioning, subtitles, and translation in 14+ languages

  • Actionable insights in the form of post-event analytics. Organizers have access to 16+ engagement points that are synced into CRMs and MAPs

  • Deep, native integrations with popular MarTech tools like HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot, and more

  • Accurate follow-ups with Slack + Salesforce integration — Send notifications to sales teams when prospects engage in an even

  • On-demand access to all recordings within 24 hours

  • Dedicated customer success team with live customer support for ALL your events

  • Generous pricing model that allows multiple teams to scale digital events

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why do businesses choose Bizzabo?
Businesses use Bizzabo event management software if they’re looking to host a variety of events, including webinars and large-scale in-person events. The platform supports a wide variety of events and use cases.
Why do businesses choose Zoom?
Zoom is an online meeting tool that can also be used for simple events like webinars. However, it’s best suited for educational institutions as well as corporations wanting to host online meetings or broadcast-style events, like town hall meetings.
Where do Bizzabo and Zoom fall short?
Bizzabo and Zoom do not provide the state-of-the-art customization that a modern B2B brand would need to stand out. Additionally, both companies fall short when it comes to the needs of B2B marketers. They lack deep, native integrations and other key features required to drive pipeline and prove ROI.
Why choose Goldcast over Bizzabo and Zoom?
Goldcast is purpose-built for B2B marketers and focuses on delivering a Netflix-like experience for attendees while enabling marketers to prove revenue from events. Goldcast is fully customizable and has an intuitive and modern interface that is easy to work with. The platform can be used for a plethora of use cases, including community events, product launches, webinars, hybrid events, employee engagement events, and virtual conferences.
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Last Updated February 2, 2023

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