How Sharing Video In Real-Time Can Increase Product Awareness
Technology continues to be the driving force for how we reach our audience. We write blogs and use social media, but what do you know about live streaming? If you are unaware, live streaming is when you show your audience a live video via social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. There are other platforms exclusively for streaming, like Twitter’s Periscope, and Twitch TV. In addition to entertainment, live streaming for business is quickly becoming a very popular social media marketing method.
Is Live Streaming Video Really Affective?
How can you make the transition from simply reaching your audience and entertaining them to actually using live streaming to grow your business? It’s actually not as complicated as you might think, and the results can be astounding.
Just look at Games Done Quick, who broadcast on Twitch TV semiannually. Games Done Quick is a charity organization that streams speed runs of video games, which just means trying to complete a game as quickly as possible. Since beginning their charity in 2010, Games Done Quick has raised nearly 20 million dollars for the Prevent Cancer Foundation and Doctors Without Borders. All of that from just recording a person playing video games!
Clearly, there’s something to this whole live streaming business, and we do mean business. So let’s take a minute to talk about how your business can utilize live streaming.
4 Ways to Utilize Live Streaming For Your Business
1. Share Live Events
One of the first lessons we learn in business is to know your audience. This is especially true when we are advertising to them. Did you know that 80% of consumers would rather watch a live video than read a blog? It has also been shown that 67% of viewers of live videos are more likely to buy a ticket to a show they’ve seen on a live stream. Blogs are great tools for speaking to your dedicated audience, but live streaming can be a much more attractive advertisement.
Live streaming an event hosted by your business is one of the most common uses of live streaming. If you run events, give folks who couldn’t attend the physical event a chance to see it in real-time.
Anyone who runs a business can tell you that you have to work hard for customer loyalty. One great way to build that loyalty is to show your customers who you are and the kind of events you host. If you can excite people with your live stream content, they’re going to be much more likely to invest money into coming to your event the next time it happens.
2. Show How Your Product is Created
One of the really special parts about being able to interact with your customers through a streaming platform is the ability to give your audience an intimate knowledge of your product. Our customers are so used to a finished product that they may not know what exactly goes into making it.
It stands to reason that people who are interested and invested in your product or service will also be interested in its creation. Take popular American DJ Marshmello for instance. In addition to understanding that his fans enjoy his music, Marshmello also knows that plenty of his fans are fellow musicians. Using this knowledge, he streamed the actual creation and mixing process, giving his fans an intimate look at how he creates the music that they love.
This is marketing that speaks to a wide variety of audiences. Fans, fellow musicians, and general music lovers can all take something away from it and enjoy it. Since Marshmello is also creating music that he sells, he is effectively advertising his product.
3. Host a Training Seminar
If your small business makes a product, what better way is there to reach out to your audience than to show them how your product works? No matter how user-friendly your product or service may be, there will always be someone who struggles with it. This struggle can easily turn to frustration and quickly become a lost customer.
So, what better way to retain your customers and ensure user comprehension than to live stream a training or instructional seminar? This is helpful for your current customers and can attract new ones by showing them what you have to offer.
So often when we see products on television we think to ourselves, does it really work that well? By live-streaming a demonstration or training seminar you can pull back this disbelief. More importantly, you’re removing the veil of Hollywood. There are no edits to hide behind, just a pure showcasing of a quality product.
4. Live Broadcast a Q&A
Just like with showing a demonstration of your product, providing your customers with the chance to ask you questions and have your honest answers is a great way to form an intimate connection between your product and your audience. The philosophy behind live streaming is to reduce the distance between your business and the people who patronize it.
Opening this direct line of communication, especially where it concerns questions or complaints, gives you unrivaled transparency to your customer base. While this might also open the lines of communication to criticism or critique, the best way to handle those problems is always head-on. If someone is willing to pose a critique to your live stream, chances are they’re voicing that opinion on other platforms already. Broadcasting a live question and answer session gives you the opportunity to own up to these criticisms as well as find solutions to those problems for increased customer satisfaction.
Streaming Solutions
Video content is part of the ever-changing landscape of business advertising, and it’s a really exciting one. Never before have businesses had such an opportunity for individualized and personal interactions. Make no mistake, either, utilizing a video platform can be an important tool for increasing the popularity and visibility of your business. In 2016 live streaming was estimated to be a 30 billion dollar industry. That number is expected to double by 2020. With those kinds of numbers, you definitely don’t want to be left in the advertising past.
So take some time to think about these different methods of using live streaming to grow your business. Every day there are more people watching live streams than ever before. Make sure you’re giving them something to watch!
Brianna Coykendall
Content Writer and Editor
brianna at heartbrain dot marketing
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