In case you haven’t noticed, livestreaming through social media has become a part of culture, and it is blowing up the scene. As video content continues to gain traction in social media, live streaming is at the forefront, offering individuals and brands a direct way to engage with followers in real time.
This provides many benefits from a business perspective. With many platforms available today, there isn’t a shortage of opportunity to livestream.
Table of contents
In this article we will go over:
- What livestreaming is.
- The top 5 benefits of livestreaming.
- The top examples of livestreaming platforms.
- Who should livestream.
What is livestreaming?
Simply defined, live streaming is real-time video that is broadcasted through a social media network or an online platform where it can be viewed by people.
Live streaming creates active engagement with audiences because its real-time experience adds a human touch to posts that text and images can’t compete with. Live streaming has become an effective way for brands to engage with their audiences having emerged in 2016, and it continues to be a viable marketing strategy today.
Facebook Live leads the way as a ‘go-to’ for big brands to unveil new products, conduct live Q&A sessions and promote major company events. But other social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube and Twitch have introduced their own live streaming platforms as well.
The top 5 benefits of livestreaming
These are the benefits of livestreaming and why you should use it for your business.
Real-time engagement
With livestreaming, you’re able to engage with your audience in real-time. You can reply to comments or questions immediately. You could also see how they engage with your content. Whether they like it or not will be indicated by the comments, questions, and likes in some cases.
Convenience
Fancy equipment, even though it is an option, isn’t an absolute necessity for creating content. The importance of finding a location, script writing, and scheduling recording sessions decreases drastically with regards to filming content. This means you could create content with a low budget, with regards to time and money, and still reap the benefits of livestreaming.
Authenticity
When your audience can interact with you face-to-face, you build a connection. This builds both trust and credibility, which is imperative if you’re trying to sell a product or service. This also builds a sense of community with your viewers, increasing your chances of making a sale.
Repurposed content
Livestreams that are long can be cut, edited, and repackaged into short form content. Short form content is the opposite of long form content. This is content that can be consumed quickly, either in seconds, or in a few minutes.
This can then be distributed to various channels that promote short form content. A platform like TikTok is one example. Features like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts would also benefit from content like that.
Increase sales
You can use your livestream to show real-time demonstrations of your product to build trust in the product. The four benefits listed before also contribute to increasing the likelihood of making a sale.
Top examples of livestream platforms
There are couple of livestream platforms out there, but listed below are the most popular.
Facebook Live
Facebook Live allows for individuals, public figures, and pages to share live video with their followers on Facebook. With Facebook Live, live streamers can interact with viewers in real time with chat, and monitor live reactions to assess how the broadcast is going.
Live is available to all pages and profiles on Facebook for iOS, Android, and the Facebook Creator app. Once the live stream has ended, the video content produced during the live streaming is published to the page or profile so that anyone who missed it can watch later. The video post can be removed at any time like any other post.
What makes Facebook appealing is that it offers massive exposure due to Facebook’s incredible global penetration.
Instagram Live
Live video on Instagram Stories allows users to connect with followers in the moment. In-app notifications lets followers know when an account is live. Users can request to join a live stream, and hosts see the request pop up in real-time.
The number of viewers appears at the top of the screen and comments appear at the bottom. Once your live video ends, you can share a replay of it like other photos and videos you share to your stories.
The live video replays shared on your stories will disappear from your feed and your profile after 24 hours, unless if you add the shared live from your stories as a story highlight.
YouTube
YouTube… the patriarch of online video! YouTube is one of the social media platforms that revolutionised the way we view videos online. YouTube live has come a long way. From using third-party software, such as encoder software, to building its own software for live streaming.
YouTube Live made its debut in early 2018 and is available as a desktop and mobile feature. YouTube Live provides opportunities to broadcast live games, live music, and live news. This is a platform that welcomes all types of live content and live streaming choices are virtually unlimited!
Twitch
Twitch is a livestreaming platform with a lot of its focus on gaming. Launched in 2011, it has since become a very popular platform. Twitch lets users broadcast their content globally. They can also interact with their viewers with chat rooms and gain instant feedback.
TikTok
TikTok’s livestream feature was introduced in 2019 so that users would like to interact with their followers in real-time. Account holders can now interact through live chat, receive gifts, and partner with other content creators.
Similar to Instagram, followers can watch the live later as replays in case they missed it.
Who should livestream?
Short answer, anyone. There isn’t an organisation too small or too large to start livestreaming. There are many individuals who have made a name for themselves with livestreaming.
The gamers Ninja, Swagg, the eccentric iShowSpeed, and Kai Cenat, are some names that come to mind. Bigger organisations like Formula One and MotoGP use livestreams to promote their events too.
If you’ve got a service, or product you’d like to promote, livestreams are one way to do it. Perhaps you don’t have a product or service, but you’ve got personality, livestreaming is another way you could make money.
Final Thoughts
Live streaming can be great for your business because it allows users to engage with your brand in multiple ways at the same time. The right livestreaming platform for your brand will largely depend on your target audience and where it likes to hang out.
But regardless of the platform, the key is to create live content that communicates your company’s values in a way that is engaging, entertaining and, above all, valuable.
