If a photo is worth a thousand words, then what is live video worth?
In solid numbers, the live video streaming industry is estimated to be worth $60 billion by 2026, while it started with $32 billion in 2017.
Live streaming is a rising trend and it will keep rising for a while, as evident in a study which found that by 2024 there will be 91 million subscribers using live video streaming.
In fact, 55% of enterprises are already using live video for their company or division-wide broadcasts.
It’s easy to see why live video is becoming a part of their strategy: Live video receives more engagement and reach than prerecorded video. This experiment proved exactly that, with the live videos receiving 240% more reactions, 1389% more comments and 425% more shares than the uploaded videos.
How and why do live videos receive such impressive results? We listed some live stream marketing approaches to explore and how others have pulled it off.
Internal Training
The first way to execute marketing using live stream is through internal training. Employees are a company’s biggest assets, which is why companies spend billions of dollars on employee training each year as part of internal marketing.
Since employees are 75% more likely to watch a video than to read documents or emails, live video format would make a powerful alternative considering that it raises engagement rate to another level.
Furthermore, trainers can broadcast live lessons to employees located anywhere. A good live video platform will have low-latency video and live chat so that the employees can interact with the trainer in real-time.
Trainers can hold a live quiz session to summarise the class, and accurately gauge employees’ level of understanding.
It also makes trainings more enjoyable as it sparks competition and motivates the employees to pay more attention.
Using live video to train your employees ensures consistency in messaging for cross-departmental communication. Consequently, it minimises miscommunication which could come from passing information from one person to another.
Who did it:
In 2019, Samsung Vietnam worked with BeLive Technology to streamline their process of training retail sales representatives on the features of the latest phone in the Galaxy S series.
Instead of sending a trainer to every store across the country, they held private live streams for trainees to tune in together and take part in an engaging live trivia session.The trainees also clarified their doubts through the live chat feature and had their enquiries answered directly by the host.
This was estimated to have saved USD 250,000 in logistics and manpower costs for Samsung, and narrowed down to two 20-minute live streaming sessions.
Direct Communication
Live video provides opportunities for raw and open communication to take place with your consumers. One of the easiest ways to market your brand with live stream is by recording candid or unscripted moments to capture the hearts of your audience, even if it means showing your slip-ups. This way, they can see your brand in a more human light, and your business strengthens its authenticity and likeability.
Transparency and honesty is crucial in deepening connection with your prospects. In fact, a survey found that 9 out of 10 consumers will stop purchasing from a brand that is not transparent.
Candid content is not restricted to just backstage footage or short clips of what goes on in the office. Here are three types of videos your business could try out: team-building, progress and entertaining content.
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Team-building Content
Live stream your company-wide dinner event, outing, or get-together. Prospective customers or clients love to see a close-knit company. When you create a culture of friendship, it leads to synergy in everything you do.
Think about your buyer persona and who you want to attract, and angle your content towards that direction. The most important thing? Be genuine.
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Progress Content
Share with your customers the little milestones your company achieved by live streaming the celebration.
Highlighting accomplishments demonstrates that the company is growing well. Validate your company’s progress, and prospective customers will be willing to build rapport with you.
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Entertaining Content
Create an emotional connection with your customers by making them laugh or keeping them intrigued.
According to BuzzSumo, people share funny content more often than other types of content, and it ranks in the top three kinds of posts that forges emotional connection with others.
Who did it:
Buzzfeed nailed their marketing with live stream when they tried to find out how many rubber bands it would take to crush a watermelon on live stream.
Suspense fueled the session and the viewers were at the edge of their seats. Buzzfeed managed to capitalise on the human emotions of fear and curiosity.
Was it important to know how many rubber bands would crush a watermelon? Not really. But naturally, people enjoyed the excitement that captivated them throughout the live stream, which is why it achieved 11,000,000 live views.
Product Launches
Another way you can execute live stream marketing is through your product launches. Rihanna raised the bar when she launched her cosmetic line, Fenty Beauty, on Instagram live. Large LED screens formed an octagon and blazed life to the venue with high-impact graphics. After opening remarks, the LED screens lifted 10 feet into the air, revealing a highly interactive environment with multi-layered brand immersion.
The high budget of the product launch paid certainly paid off. Not only did guests enjoy the entire experience, but people across the globe could tune in on the action through live stream. Viewers voted for their favourite products and got answers to their questions in real-time. They left nobody out from the launch.
The product launch was a huge success, offline and online. It generated a lot of buzz even before the launch when they announced that the event would be live streamed.
Who else did it:
In 2019, Apple live streamed their annual iPhone unveiling from California. The results? 1.8 million live viewers.
Other big brands who used live stream for their product launches are:
- Google (Made by Google hardware products)
- Chevrolet (2017 Bolt EV)
- New Balance (880v4 running shoe)
- Maybelline (Lip Flush Oil lipstick)
Live Commerce
Just as online shopping transformed retail twenty years ago, live streaming promises to transform e-commerce today.
The top live streamer of Alibaba’s Taobao live streaming platform is Viya, who made record-breaking sales of USD$49.7 million in a single day.
How was she able to reach such incredible results? Firstly, she runs rigorous product testing and research prior to the live stream. Each product that she promotes on her live stream has been heavily filtered by her team who does the selecting, ingredients check, safety and testing.
Viya is also strategic in her selling. She raises problems that her average customer could face and addresses them with the product she promotes as the solution. When selling a tricky item, she angles and focuses on a specific audience segment rather than trying to convince and make the product appealing to everyone.
From the buyer’s perspective, the biggest benefit to purchasing a product off a live stream is how they can raise their queries dirctly and have a closer look at the product as compared to when buying it off a regular website.
Who did it:
One of Korea’s largest lifestyle brands, LG Fashion, took on live commerce to combat their stagnant sales.
They launched a live commerce service platform where it leverages on two-way communication between consumers and the brand. While watching the host, users could chat in real-time and purchase the product in one click.
Since then in 2015, they saw a 30% sales increase year over year.
To wrap up
Live stream is a very powerful marketing tool for companies to scale their reach and communicate in a more interactive and engaging fashion.
Internally, corporate live streaming can drastically boost employee engagement and strengthen company culture. Live streaming can attract new clients/customers and improve relationships with existing ones, benefitting your external outreach..
If you are looking to build a live streaming platform for your business, BeLive Technology has the perfect features.
Want to learn more? Contact BeLive Technology now.
