Live video is taking over the online marketing sphere, as marketers and other professionals recognise it’s potential for generating leads and conversions. While on-demand/pre-recorded video is great too, it simply doesn’t lead to the same level of prolonged engagement. Research shows that viewers will watch live streams eight times longer than they will pre-recorded video content. Live streaming is a great way to get ahead of the competition and compete in the online world before like with on-demand video, the market for the medium becomes saturated.
If your business hasn’t tried its hand at live video yet, here are several useful live streaming tips from the professionals.
- Use a reliable live streaming platform.
The first of these live streaming tips is to ensure that you use a reliable live streaming platform and top-quality equipment.
There is nothing worse than watching a live stream that buffers or cuts out – using a streaming platform that provides a range of features and support should any issues occur is key. 62% of viewers are more likely to have a negative perception of a brand that publishes poor-quality videos, so it’s essential to make sure you use reputable means to share your videos.
Zidivo’s platform does just that, offering users the opportunity to stream from any device to any web-page at a consistently high quality. Users can customise the HTML5 players to suit their brand and embed streams on as many pages as required, all for an affordable monthly fee.
As well as using a trustworthy and supportive streaming platform, it’s important to invest in quality equipment. Viewers are far more likely to stick around and watch a live stream in 4k HD, than a blurry or slow loading stream. If you want to ensure you generate an ROI with your videos, having the necessary filming equipment is essential.
- Be strategic when sharing your streams.
The type and size of the audience you are looking to generate should have a heavy influence on where you share your live streams. Each stream should have a specific goal in mind, making them suited to certain platforms over others. For example, if you are doing a Q&A or a chatty interview, this may go down well on your business’ social accounts, but if you are streaming a product demonstration or hour-long webinar, your website may be ideal. Don’t spread your streams too thinly by sharing them on multiple platforms as this can impact and dilute their overall success.
- Vary your live stream content.
Live streaming is no longer as simple as sitting in front of a camera and ranting about a certain topic, it provides businesses with a whole host of opportunities to engage with their potential customers and build relationships. How can you do this? By offering a wide range of live streaming content, not just sales-focused conversations.
Why not show your audience a ‘behind the scenes’ view of your company or give insight into a ‘day in the life’ of a typical employee? This is an easy way to establish trust and generate an audience as consumers are always interested in learning about how businesses work before they part with any money. Other examples of live stream content to try are events, webinars, tutorials, company announcements and updates, and far more!
- Promote your streams in plenty of time.
Live streams are only effective if your audience tunes in on the right date and at the right time. It’s therefore essential that your business promotes your upcoming live streams with plenty of time to spare if you want to drum up significant interest and build a strong and targeted audience. When promoting your streams beforehand, it’s not necessarily about how many people you can get to tune in but finding the right people. The topic and aim of each stream will determine which methods to use to promote your live videos.
- Don’t over-plan your streams.
While it’s important to plan the overall structure and goals of each live stream, there is such a thing as over-planning. Creating rough scripts or topic points is worthwhile, but if you follow a plan too much your stream can end up appearing wooden and unnatural, which defeats the point! So, the last of these live streaming tips is aimed to keep your streams as ‘live’ and real-time as possible, by always making sure to engage with your audience. Don’t be afraid to go off track if your audience wants to hear about a particular topic or want an answer to specific queries.