Most businesses believe that live streaming is only meant for ardent video game fans. The potential of live streaming for businesses is still being explored. Read on to find out why businesses should incorporate live streaming in their business plan and what are the top live streaming tips and tricks for businesses to step up their game.
Understanding the Potential of Live Streaming
Video is the most powerful tool among all the marketing techniques to build your brand. Videos can help you get more attention and create deeper connections with your audience. Live streaming for businesses involves broadcasting a video in real-time through a particular source for hundreds of thousands of viewers with the ultimate goal to market your brand and improve your conversion rate.
The rising popularity of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and other social media platforms has made live videos huge. Research has shown that consumers spend an average of 83 minutes each day consuming digital videos in 2018. This number rose to 92 minutes in 2020.
Live streaming solution providers such as BeLive Technology have seen a steep demand in live streaming capabilities by businesses of all industries.
Before you go live, it is essential to have a streaming plan. Here are some live streaming tips and tricks for businesses to incorporate into their marketing strategy.
1. Choose the Right Platform
There are multiple social media platforms and various live streaming tools to choose from. The best strategy is to stick to the most popular tools that can help you capture your audience. If you are new to live streaming, Facebook or Instagram are the best places to start as they can push live content to a wide range of users. You can also conduct a strategic analysis to identify the platforms frequently used by your target demographics and live stream on those channels to build a wider audience.
For bigger businesses, however, social media might not have enough live streaming capabilities to come through. An alternative would be by using white-label solutions to help you integrate customized live streaming features into your own platform.
Examples of custom features include live shopping buttons, user-to-host gifting, and live polling (as shown below).
2. Promote Your Live Stream in Advance
If your audience is not aware of the live stream, you won’t have any viewers. It
is best not to leave things up to chance but instead promote your live sessions
well in advance through email or social media marketing. You can also get
creative and share countdowns, teasers, memes, or offer attractive incentives
to create excitement about your business and the session.
3. Create an Engagement Plan
Live streaming is an excellent opportunity to hammer your brand values and create a loyal customer base. When someone joins your live stream, they have come to connect with you and your brand. Do not let your live stream drift away into just another mundane marketing session. You can keep your audience engaged by keeping the session short and crisp and promoting engagement through interactive activities like question-and-answer sessions.
4. Open with the Takeaway and Include Call-To-Action
The first few minutes of your live session are crucial to lock in potential customers. Always open with the takeaway informing the audience right at the beginning what they will be getting out of the video. Also, ensure to reference clear call-to-actions throughout the stream that guide the viewers to take action as you want.
5. Plan Your Video Ahead
Live streaming does not have to be extempore. It is recommended to decide the format of your live stream beforehand and create curated content. You can opt for a talk show, conduct an interview, involve a panel discussion, host a live event or have a question-answer session. Once the format is decided, plan a script ahead of time to avoid missing important information.
6. Check All Streaming Equipment
Keep all your tools and gear ready for the streaming. This involves getting your laptop, phone, or PC ready and connected to the internet, setting up lighting to ensure clarity, and checking your audio quality. The audience is bound to have a short attention span, and you do not want to lose them due to technical issues. Hence, always double-check that all the technology you will be utilizing for streaming is running correctly before the streaming begins.
7. Extend the Life of Your Live Stream
Most live stream videos become popular after their original broadcast. Hence, make sure you store the sessions by pinning them on your profile and include active, dedicated links in your video that direct the audience to the landing pages or call-to-actions even after the streaming has concluded.
In Conclusion
These live streaming tips for businesses are a proven technique to create deeper connections with the audience. You can follow the live streaming tips and tricks mentioned above to interact with your audience effectively and reach your business goals.
If your business is ready to hone live streaming capabilities customized to your needs, contact BeLive Technology for a free consultation.
