There’s no better time than today to start live streaming for you or your business. Live streaming saw a big year in 2017. From the total solar eclipse, to the Emmys, and even the New York City Marathon, almost every major event was available to watch via live stream.
In 2018, this video marketing trend is going to continue to grow, especially in businesses. It’s important to learn why this tool is so impressive now, and what it can do for your brand, and trust me, you’re going to need to know in order to stay ahead of the digital marketing world.
How is Live Streaming Relevant to Your Business?
It’s an extension of video marketing
Time and time again, video content has proved its importance to the digital media community. We know how it allows us to creatively promote businesses on the web in a visually stimulating way, and it’s not going away anytime in the near future.
Live streaming is essentially the next big step in video marketing. With the technology of live streaming, we can now make our businesses and brands more interactive. Consumers are becoming more and more interested in interactive forms of media, and for that reason, your business should be taking advantage of this tool.
It’s a cost-effective tool
Sometimes the bottom line on whether or not to implement a new way of marketing promotion is the cost. Sure, your business could try to keep up with every new media innovation. However, if you lose more money trying to use it then what you’re actually earning from it, then that fancy new tool loses it’s worth.
With live streaming, you don’t have to worry about that problem. It can be as inexpensive as simply owning a smartphone or laptop with an HD camera and solid internet connection, and it still delivers effective video content. When it comes to ROI, you can’t go wrong with live streaming.
It offers education on your business or product
As with any business, education on what services or product your business provides is crucial to the consumer. If they don’t know what you’re selling or what your business does, then they won’t engage. Providing education to your customer adds extra value to you and your company as a whole.
Brands and businesses alike ar using live streaming as an education tool, and it’s working. With it, you can host an interactive lesson in real-time with your customers. This enhances the value of your service or product and also creates a sense of community with your audience. It’s a win-win.
How to Use Live Video to Connect with Your Audience
Go behind the scenes
As social media keeps evolving, so does social media vocabulary. Your business’s customers don’t want to actually be called customers anymore. They want to be participants, members and contributors to your brands community. In order to be a part of this community, they love to see behind the scenes footage of your business and what goes into creating it.
Using live video is the perfect way to accomplish this sense of community. Use live streaming to show your “participants” the in’s and out’s of how your business runs. Take your audience into your work space or morning meetings. They will feel like they’re a part of your team in no time.
Host a Q & A
Have you ever had an issue with a business and tried to contact them, but you found it so difficult to get a hold of anyone and just gave up on the brand entirely? We’ve all been there. As a business owner, making yourself accessible to customers is another way to create a sense of community around your brand. Doing so shows your consumers that you really care about their concerns.
Live streaming is a way to erase the disconnect that sometimes comes along with only communicating through emails. Hop on a live stream and answer some FAQ’s or even tell your twitter followers to ask a question with a hashtag like #ask(your name here). Doing this can get a lot of your audience’s questions answered and make you more personable.
Broadcast Live Events
Continuing on the theme of creating communities, you can’t go wrong with sharing some of the events or celebrations that happen within your brand. You may be already documenting these occasions through photos and sharing them with your audience, but why not take it one step further?
Using live streaming for events like this can make them larger than life and a part of your brands history. Next time your business has a celebration, use a live stream for part of it. You can engage with your audience by talking them through what’s happening and answering questions. Again, this will make them feel involved and important. Plus, attending a party online is kind of a crazy and creative new phenomena in the tech world, right?
Share breaking news
The usual run of the mill press release has served its purpose and done its best to inform people on major changes and upcoming product releases in recent history. Yet, do you ever feel like they can be a bit stuffy and detached? If we’ve learned anything from this post, it’s that your consumers need a human connection in all aspect of your digital marketing strategy.
Cue live streaming. With live streaming, you can update your business community on any news happening within the brand in real time. This way you don’t have to arrange for a production team or perfect any copywriting, and you can retain an authentic approach. Create anticipation for the live stream by tweeting about it or creating a Facebook post ahead of time.
Incorporate Live Streaming into Your Digital Marketing Plan Today
Now, after reading all of this, you may feel a bit overwhelmed. Keeping up with social media marketing trends and conquering live streaming can be a daunting task. But, if the digital marketing experts have said anything, it’s that bringing your strategy up to date is imperative to your business.
Live streaming has been rapidly growing in popularity across all major social media platforms. Now more than ever, it’s a good idea for you to begin trying out different types of live stream video content for your business. Once you achieve a strategy that works for your brand, you’ll be able to better communicate and engage with your consumers, which will in turn boost brand recognition.