From all the digital media marketing trends popular right now, live videos are working their way up to the top in the many dimensions and types of presence that one has online. Individuals and institutions take full advantage of the audiences that prefer live streams over other static content. As the size of this audience steadily increases, organisations everywhere are looking to utilise live streaming services in their marketing schemes. A high-quality live webcast can do wonders for a brand. Here are some great strategies to enhance your live stream in a multi-faceted approach:
Use The Correct Platforms
The first and foremost decision in regards to streaming live videos is about the platform that it will be broadcast on. While the financial and business benefits of streaming on your website are many, there are other options available too. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter-Periscope etc. can be used if your target audience is more likely to be active there. Most social media platforms post the recorded videos on your account after the live broadcast events are over. This allows your followers to watch the video even if they could not tune in the live stream. The right platform has a user-friendly interface and is comfortable for your viewers to navigate as well.
Have Larger Bandwidth
The regular speed internet in your wifi may work well for daily surfing, but it may prove itself insufficient when you are using it for HD live streaming solutions. For this quality of video streaming, you require a dedicated network to keep the fluctuation low and the highest speed internet possible. With a larger than usual bandwidth, keep your upload speed at least twice as high as the video streaming bitrate.
Audience-Centric Content
Like with any other marketing content pushed through various channels on the digital media, the content of your live video should also be relatable and relevant to the target group. Give information and talk about things that your audience wants to know, cater to their needs to get more popular. When you address your viewer’s needs, they are more active and engaged, and more likely to spread positive word-of-mouth publicity as well. Live streaming strategies try their best to incorporate Q&A sessions in their videos and hosts of the stream usually respond to comments too. You can use PIP (Picture In Picture) feature in your webcast to make it more engaging.
Keep Backups Prepared
It is often said, better to be safe than sorry. Most well-planned events can also go into last-minute troubles and have unexpected consequences if a contingency plan is not in place. In the case of live broadcast events too, having a backup prepared in advance makes the whole thing much more secure. Whether it is extra camera batteries, a spare recording of the same video in case anything hinders the live video, equipment, etc., having spares can save you many times. Backups have to be proper especially when you are going to setup multi-camera webcasting.
Find The Best Time
Since a live stream reaches to such a diverse audience, often across the globe as well, the broadcasters often forget the time difference. Daytime at the place of recording does not necessarily mean that all the viewers would be viewing it in the daytime too. It is the organiser’s responsibility to find that best time that suits all their viewers for their live streaming services. It is one of the best ways to increase the viewership of your live stream.
Promote Beforehand
Similar to how you inform the public some days before an event, you do the same for a live webcast event. Your audiences cannot watch the live video if they do not know of its existence. Make sure you promote the stream from at least a week before it happens. Otherwise, the live webcasting solutions might go to waste. You can do this by posting about it, holding polls and discussions on social media, trending event hashtags, writing about it in blogs and doing other campaigns. You can go live on multiple social media platforms simultaneously to reach masses.
Do a Test Run
Trial or test runs are crucial before going forward with your live webcast because any issues and errors can be caught early on. To check whether everything is functioning the way it is supposed to, a test run is a must. It also helps you get the internal feedback that improves your live streaming services. In a mock stream, focus on visual and audio quality along with the content.
Follow-Up After The Event
Just as the beginning of your event live stream is supposed to be precise and sharp, the ending should be impactful too. Do not forget to thank any principal sponsors, organisers and partners before ending the stream. To gauge the success of your event’s live streaming, have the metric in place to calculate and interpret any analytical data received. This helps you assess your performance based on views, traffic, leads and final insights so that the future streams can be better.
Every live streaming company usually has its own set of customised services as well, along with the strategies that you put in place. Live streaming strategies like the ones mentioned above not only enhance your viewer’s experience but also contribute to the building of a brand. Marketing efforts delivered in the form of HD live streaming solutions effectively bridge the gap between attending events virtually and in real life.
