How to Reach Your Customers through Live Video Streaming

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Why You Should Get Onboard the Live Streaming Bandwagon

There’s a reason live streaming is a buzzing topic in the marketing world. Like recorded video content and social media before it, there’s tremendous potential  to engage a quickly-growing audience. A growing number of streaming platforms and tools have improved accessibility to a hungry audience around the world. Audiences of all demographics are flocking to live streaming channels for entertainment, education, and engagement.

YouTube, the king of online video, was relatively late to the streaming party. But it now offers a  constant variety of streams on youtube.com/live and frequently hosts live sports, announcements, political debates and more.

Facebook is aggressively promoting its new streaming capability; Facebook Live. The social media juggernaut allows [almost] anyone with an account to stream and upload their videos to its network.

Live streaming mobile apps like Meerkat and Periscope, though not making as much noise now as they were a year ago, retain strong audiences and empower anyone with a smartphone to become a streamer at any time.

How GE Used Periscope-Equipped Drones to Show Off Its State-Of-The-Art Facilities

Live streaming site Twitch, which was recently bought out by Amazon for a cool $1 billion, got 4 billion views from 1.7 billion visits last year. And it’s expanding; adding new categories like Art, Philosophy, and Cooking to its already robust library of video game streams.

How a Branded Stream Can Look On Twitch via Totino’s

If you want to take care of this in-house you’ll probably have some talent acquisition to do. Few marketing departments have the right expertise in-house to make live streaming work. The extra effort is worth it; directly connecting to viewers without a middle man is extremely powerful, and you’ll retain full creative and strategic direction over your streaming content.

The amount and the type of talent you need to bring in will vary depending on how heavily you want to commit to the channel. Dedicated brand video streaming experts are rare, so you’ll have to be creative with how you execute. At the very least, you’ll need two kinds of expertise:

  • A good place to start is with a video recording specialist. Sending high-quality video and audio data isn’t required in order to effectively stream—but it definitely helps. After all, you want a stream that reflects the caliber of your brand and products. Digital creative staffing that can handle the technical issues as well as the practical aspects of lighting, framing, etc. can put you in a good place for success.
  • Second, you’ll need someone who’s comfortable on camera, is good at improvising, and can manage a live community in real time. A professional with a background in social media staffing and online community management might be a natural fit. So would someone who does a lot of public speaking and event management.

Beyond that, you’ll want to consider specialized streaming media planners, influencer relationship specialists, video content strategists, etc. Customize according to your goals and the talent you already have on-hand.

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