Getting Started With Social Media Live Streaming - Everything You Need to Know

There is nothing like watching an event in person, but for many modern consumers, live streaming is the next best thing. For businesses that want to promote their brand, live streaming is equally great. Since their release, Live streaming tools like Periscope, Facebook Live, YouTube Live, etc. have generated tons of hype, and today social media platforms are the primary choice of many when it comes to live streaming. We live in a time when the ability of a brand to reach its customers online has never been more significant. The same is true for individuals, influencers, startups, and others. 

In fact, by the end of 2020, over 82% of the overall online traffic would be dedicated to live videos. Regardless of your industry, customers are craving live and engaging videos and this can attribute a big impact on user behaviors and customer satisfaction. 

If you haven't gotten exposure to these powerful marketing tools, you are falling behind. However, it is never too late to start with this. This blog is a comprehensive guide on how to make live streaming videos on social media and use it for the advantage of your brand. 

Why do you need to live stream?

Live streaming has grown from an effective marketing tactic to an essential form of media consumption. Businesses now have the technology to share live videos with anyone at any time. Whether it is for communication purposes or better user engagement, live streaming is an innovative medium that aligns with any business goals. 

Here are some of the reasons why you must adopt social media live streaming. 

The audience loves live content

As online users are becoming increasingly reliant on watching videos from digital devices like smartphones, their expectations for consuming live videos will shift too. One report states that over 47% of global online users are streaming more live content compared to a year ago. For example, over 31.2 million viewers stream the world cup’s early-stage group matches through BBC live streaming which makes up over 61% of the U.K population. Not just that, viewers live streamed 560 million of the 2019 super bowl. By recognizing this trend, social media platforms are increasingly developing support for live streaming. 

Live videos are trusted content

Clever advertising is really important to catch the attention of modern customers. Increasingly, customers are loyal to and trust brands that show their real side to customers. Over 62% of consumers say that their buying decisions are driven by the brand's ethical value. 

Live streaming is a critical marketing strategy that helps to build authenticity and trust with existing, new, and prospective customers. Branding and trust go hand-in-hand and live video content helps to develop both. 

Great way to humanize your brand

Most customers have a misconception that they are interacting with robots when they talk to chatbots or interact with a brand through email exchanges. 

This is mainly because they never get to see the human side of the company as they don’t interact with any people behind the brand. However, live streaming gives your customers a chance to meet the face behind the brands and can see who you really are as a brand. 

Connect with customers on a personal level

In one of its surveys, salesforce found that live streaming keeps customers feel more informed, engaged, and up-date compared to other forms of content. This connection they feel with the brand has a great impact on brand recognition, brand awareness, and thereby on the overall sales and conversions.

Social media platforms are free

As most media live streaming platforms come free, there is no need for a huge investment. You don’t have to spend a hefty amount of money on producing live content on social media. However, if you are seriously thinking about how to make live streaming video to produce professional live streams, you can consider spending a bit on building a live streaming platform. However, the cost would still be less compared to producing other forms of videos. 

Live streaming is unbounded

When compared to physical events that can be conducted in a venue of say thousands of viewers, live streaming holds no boundaries in terms of reaching out to your audience. As live streaming doesn’t have any geographical limitations in terms of reaching a global audience, you can extend the popularity of your programs beyond the walls. 

Build a community

Live streaming is an excellent marketing tool that helps to build a community. The ability of the audience to engage with each other during live broadcasts, it creates a strong sense of community among your audience. When your users are connected through a community of people who have similar interests, the customer experiences improve, and the users are more likely to promote your brand. 

Save money

Live streams can be produced on a budget that equals to minimal cost, time, and effort. Live videos can be created on a minimal budget and still bring significant impacts. All you need to live stream is a reliable internet connection, a smartphone, or a camera. Even if you are looking for how to start a live stream professionally, you can still do it on a restricted budget choosing the best live streaming solution.

Which social media live streaming platform you must choose?

The best way to determine what social media platform to live broadcast your videos is to identify the platform that has most of your audience base. There is no point in choosing the most popular social media platform if that is not the place where your core audience engages. 

Here are some of the popular social media platform you can choose from:

Facebook Live

Facebook is one of the most popular and pioneering social media platforms that are still growing and innovating in terms of live streaming. Its algorithm is designed in a way to promote live videos. For example, live streams appear at the top of user feeds in autoplay mode, the chance of your videos getting the maximum exposure is more. 

Not just that Facebook is one of the social platforms where the largest audience is available so the probability of your live streams reaching and engaging more viewers organically is always high. 

YouTube Live

Being one of the largest and the most popular video streaming platforms, YouTube is already famous among businesses that want to promote their videos. As YouTube targets people who want to watch videos alone, your live videos are already catering to a more filtered user base than any other social platform. YouTube also archives your live videos for later viewing. 

Instagram Live

Live streaming solutions from Instagram is quickly gaining momentum with an ever-growing user base and increased features for live streaming. Instagram notifies your followers when you go live and push the live videos to the front of all other stories. 

Moreover, it is quite easy to start and end a live video from a smartphone. Instagram now offers features that allow users to join the live streams which is something new to keep your audience interested. 

Periscope

Owned by Twitter, the live streaming platform features a lot of unique features that make it popular among users. Periscope also supports 360 degree live broadcasts, which is a great feature. If the majority of your user base is one twitter, you can easily stream live videos effectively through Periscope. The live videos auto-plays in the tweet feed which helps in gaining instant attention of the audience on your content. 

Best practices of social media live streaming

If you are just starting with how to start a live stream for business purposes, the planning process can be challenging. Here are some of the expert live streaming tips and best practices to run successful live streams. 

Have a back-up plan

The most difficult thing about planning an enterprise-level live streaming event is planning for the unexpected. It never hurts to have a back-up plan for your live events. There will be challenges you didn't anticipate. Stay resourceful and learn how to prevent similar problems from happening in the future. 

Actual usage of content around your live videos

Some brands just use live streaming for large events which happens to be an annual program. But, the most effective way of using live streaming is to use it for different purposes rather than just large events. The video content produced from live broadcast plays a significant part in your content marketing strategy. These videos can be repurposed for both informational and promotional purposes later. 

Here are some of the different types of live streams you can create to boost the reach and effectiveness. 

• Host Q&As

The beauty of live streaming is the diversity it offers. You can host any type of content including interviews and Q&A’s. Your audience would love this type of content as gaining access to expert insight is not very easy. Collaborate with a subject expert to offer your viewers an in-depth look at a topic. 

It can not only propel your brand forward; it can also help position you as a thought leader in the industry. Hosting this type of content also attracts a large audience. Q&A content pulls crowds and interviewers experts could expose your content to people who have missed previous opportunities to engage with your brand online. 

• Share brand and product updates

Creating an authentic brand means sharing more about the brand with your audience. Share every possible product and brand update with your audience to give them a closer look at it. Timely updates feed your customers with information about the possible opportunities they can capitalize on. Consider making special announcements about your brand or about a special project. 

• Host behind the scenes

Have you spent time watching behind the scenes of any popular shows? It's quite interesting. It feels like you are getting the inside edge on something you otherwise don’t have access to. That is why behind the scene content is very popular among the audience. Customers love learning about the real side of a brand and what goes on behind the camera. 

These types of live footage give a sense of authenticity to your brand as it shows the unscripted and the more natural side of your business making it more relatable to them. If you are ready to offer your community something personal, start sharing more behind the scenes footages. 

• Broadcast How-to tutorials

How to or tutorial videos are another popular type of video perfect for live streaming content. They work great as they are directly related to the customer's intent. Most customers are eager to watch videos that demonstrate how to use a product, perform a particular task, or create something. By live broadcasting these types of content, you can attract a large audience and can also repurpose how-to videos later.

• Broadcast new product announcements

You can live stream media and brand awareness events like announcing a new upcoming product launch. The secret to finding success with these types of live broadcasts is to build anticipation and have a well-planned performance that engages audiences throughout the video. 

For example, when Chevrolet announced their new car EV bolt, they streamed the product launch via Facebook live bagging in more reach and engagement. It not only helped to build anticipation for their new release it also worked great as an effective way to turn the product launch to a big media event. 

Even if your product is in a not-so-popular industry, a new release can be big news for your most devoted followers who will expand your reach to those unfamiliar with it. 

• Share insights on new trends

The amount of content available on the web today is staggering, making it difficult to easily know what’s happening. By sharing valuable insights and trends about the things happening in the industry. You must position your brand as a source of valuable information about the industry. You can show the latest developments happening in the industry.

• Host a live tour

Your live broadcast needs focus on a person or a product to make it interesting and engaging. If you have a unique location, for example, great office space or an event location, you can offer a tour in real-time and use it as a big opportunity to reach out to loyal fans. For example, Callaway live-streamed a tour of Arnold Palmer's office to offer exclusive content to golf lovers.  

Show a unique location and use it in a way to promote your brand and teach others about the values that drive your brand.

• Create a recurring program

If you want to offer massive value to your most loyal followers regularly, consider creating a recurring live program. To make this work, just choose a specific time every day where you can interact with your fans and answer the questions. It is not only a fun way to explore the newest trend, but it is also great to show what’s happening in the market especially if it is prone to constant changes. For example, if you are into digital marketing or social media that are subjected to changes, you can offer expert advice to your audience. 

• Announce a breaking news

When an event happens that affects your business, you must consider broadcasting it live. Live streaming to announce important news is an excellent way to offer a sense of information through a new channel in the same way as traditional media channels like TV. 

Mostly, you won’t have time to prepare as this type of content is something recent. However, for other events like special festivities, holidays, or environmental events, you will get the opportunity to plan in advance. 

Plan the right set up

If you decide to shoot something, make sure you have the right plan and you follow it the same way. You only have a single chance to capture a live event and if you miss it due to bad set up like low audio or sound quality or untrained staff. As all of it happens in live, your chance to impress your audience is a short window. 

Make sure you measure success

In terms of live content, the viewing time is the most significant aspect you need to pay attention to. All live broadcasts must be measured for the performance and success to analyze whether you have expanded your reach driving back better ROI. 

Conclusion

Live streaming is one of the quickest growing industries as it helps brands and individuals reach a broader global audience with low investment. Not only do live videos serve as a great way to showcase your brand's products, services, and abilities, it also helps to authentically connect with your customers in real-time. 

While you might already be using standard video content in your marketing strategy. Never lose the opportunity to capture the instant attention of your customers and keep them engaged. Live streaming can create lucrative opportunities for your business in terms of reaching new customers. If you are not yet leveraging live streaming to grow your business, now is the right time to do it and there is no better way than social media live streaming to begin.