Live streaming is a technology that is growing rapidly and gaining importance in the business world. While it is difficult to predict the future of this tool, we can clearly see the increasing significance of live streaming platforms, and organizations can receive measurable benefits from its implementation. The future of marketing relies on creating a bond with the consumer; this is something that can be best achieved by giving a face or a personality to the brand. In the not so distant future, live streaming will allow companies to humanize their products in a more public and more personal way. This will in turn create a stronger bond with consumers, leading to increased brand loyalty. With brand loyalty comes repeat business and customer retention, this is a proven method for increasing sales. A study conducted by Harris Interactive found that 50% of consumers are more likely to remain loyal to a brand if their questions are answered on social media and 46% are more likely to rely on the brand if they feel a connection with the organization. Live streaming is a means to answer consumer questions while creating a connection in a fun and creative way. Another benefit to live streaming is that it allows the consumer to view a product demonstration or service explanation in real time. Over the years consumers have become more demanding in that they prefer to have instant access to information, and with all the clutter in today’s online marketplace it has become increasingly difficult to break through to consumers using traditional text and display advertising methods. Real time video is a new, more personal method for engaging the consumer. According to Forbes Insight, 59% of senior executives prefer to watch video instead of reading text, and the same percentage of executives will often times go to a site’s video before reading text on the same page. With live streaming, businesses can capture the attention of the consumer and create brand awareness using a tool that the consumer actually prefers. By way of a creative and engaging call to action, businesses can constantly turn viewers into visitors, and with very little effort it is possible that live streaming can increase conversion rates. Step one to a product demo is making a consumer aware of when the demo is taking place. Because live streaming is still a novel idea to many, just the mention of a live stream could peak curiosity and lead to an internet search of the product. And since live streaming can take place on various free platforms, it has the potential to produce a high return on investment.
Benefits of Live Streaming Services for Businesses
Live streaming has been found highly advantageous to businesses. It offers numerous benefits in fostering stronger connections with partners and customers through providing an immediate, dynamic online experience. Companies that have adopted live streaming believe it offers broader reach with customers who prefer online video to television and want to keep up-to-date via web on a certain event, product, service, and more. The benefits of live streaming are numerous. Here are a few that have been associated when considering a move into live streaming. First, the business can now deliver a message to a wider audience and not just any audience, but one that is highly targeted. This is accomplished by the streaming provider through providing a private channel feature which allows only those that are invited to view a particular live stream.
Increased Reach and Audience Engagement
Increased reach and audience engagement with the help of live streaming services allows businesses to reach more potential audience. This way, they can introduce their products and services to potential customers and get more exposure. A survey stated that 41% of businesses reported that they were able to save money by converting physical meetings to online meetings using live streaming services. This is due to the fact that businesses are able to connect to a wider audience more cost effectively using the internet than through a physical meeting. On the consumer side, 62% of those who watch live-streaming video are more likely to buy a ticket to a concert or event after watching a live video of that event or a similar one. Live-stream viewers may not be at an event in person, but it can create a better connection and engagement during the event. For an audience who is unable to attend the event, they can still be a part of it through live videos. A perfect example comes from a company that live streamed its trade show to increase its audience by 5 times. During this event, they were able to connect with customers, showcase their products, and collect high-quality business leads. Live streaming the event was far more cost effective and efficient than any marketing event they have done in the past.
Cost-Effective Marketing Tool
Live streaming can be more cost-effective than any other form of marketing. Most social media platforms are free to use, allowing for a free live stream to be set up. Using a free service can help to cut costs and still reach consumers on a more personal level. This can improve the bottom line of a company and allow them to use more resources to reach the consumer, such as ending the live stream with a Q&A session and taking suggestions for future streams from the viewers.
Live streaming services are quickly becoming a trending marketing tool in the digital world. With increased technology, live streaming has become more accessible to businesses, allowing companies to reach consumers that may not have been reached otherwise. Since the majority of the population is active on at least one social media platform, it only makes sense to turn your focus towards live streaming. This article will serve as an informative guide to direct the marketing of businesses looking to explore new strategies using live streaming services.
Real-Time Interaction and Feedback
Finally, knowing that there will be real-time interaction between consumer and brand, businesses can effectively schedule and plan promotion for their various products to coincide with their streams in order to take advantage of the increased consumer interest that real-time feedback provides.
Furthermore, the ability to harness feedback in real-time and the two-way communication offered by live streaming allows for more personalized and customizable content. With traditional video on demand, the content is offered to the viewer, and any retroactive changes only affect future content. However, live streaming offers many chances to deliver tailored content. The ability to make changes based on real-time feedback allows brands to test different content on-the-fly and gather valuable data. An experienced example of this would be Twitch.tv streamer MANvsGAME and his testing various layouts for his stream as suggested by viewers.
Live streaming is also a two-way street in terms of communication. Not only can brands reach the consumers, but consumers can reach the brand. Any announcements or launches can be disseminated quickly to fans and followers simply by talking about it during a stream. This gives viewers an incentive to watch the stream and can even attract new viewers and audiences. On the other hand, any questions or concerns can be addressed by the viewers and fans. This makes the viewers feel more involved with the brand, and their voice will be heard.
One of the main perks of live streaming for businesses is the ability to generate real-time feedback and interaction between the brand and consumer. This immediate form of communication is a great way to engage consumers and discover market trends firsthand. Real-time feedback can be obtained through question and answer sessions, surveys, and consumer testing. Consumers are able to enjoy having their questions answered in real-time, which can lead to higher satisfaction. Brands will also love the fact that any issues can be resolved quickly before it escalates into a major problem simply because they are able to detect it early.
Case Studies: Successful Implementations of Live Streaming Services
When assessing Live Events’ external effectiveness, it is good to speak with clients who have successfully implemented Live Events within their own businesses. To do this, an interview was set up with Nick Rinylo (Marketing Manager) from Sony and Stephen Sholl (Marketing Manager) from BMW Australia. During the interview, the existing implementation process and how Live Events have benefited each company were looked into. In doing so, it has been pointed out that Sony has used Live Events in conjunction with a larger product launch and sold the product in what was an industry first for Sony. This primarily contributed to the measure of sales and ROI. With this achievement, Chris Law of Live Event Sedan further suggested that Sony has had further success in marketing to the digital media sector. To the question of “Has it helped position Sony as a global corporation within the digital media?”, both BMW and Sony identified the effective targeting of a specific customer base through identifying the event as a key to success. BMW has used Live Events as a part of a bigger marketing campaign with the launch of the BMW 1 series. Here, the consistency with the campaign was vital to the vehicle’s success within Australia. As identified, the 1 series has been the most individually documented PlayStation was or going to be for how many fixed this. Meticulous the 1 were now clarified, so WP spellcheck can’t really work out to the of its right or wrong thing.
Company A: Boosting Sales through Live Product Demonstrations
Using traditional video marketing often requires higher budgets, pre-production, and is less effective in reaching the mass market. Combined with the fact that the video content can then be used or repurposed for on-demand viewing, potentially having a longer shelf-life than live streams. Live demonstrations save time editing and, in the long run, may be cost-effective despite having to spend on engineers or professionals to best operate video equipment and setup. Proper implementation of a Call to Action to buy the product at the end of the live video can almost guarantee a higher conversion rate from viewers to consumers of the product. Overall, the main benefits heavily outweigh the cons. And so, Company A began conducting a single live stream once a week to demonstrate a new product, testing the effectiveness of increasing viewer purchases.
Improving sales is a priority for almost all businesses that offer products and services. Over the years, certain products and services require physical proofs to best attract consumers and influence their purchasing decision. This is the case for Company A, who has experienced stagnation or slow growth in sales of its products and services. Understanding that live streaming video is the most popular feature online, Company A set out to find greater potential in live streaming for increasing and demonstrating products to increase their overall sales.
Company B: Enhancing Brand Awareness through Live Events
The implementation in Xbox Live and the Microsoft Network was ideal and successful. An in-game contest was held for the tC and xB (2nd Generation) with a chance to win the car and a cash grand prize. A virtual version of the car was created and used in the game where participants had to complete various tasks and goals to be eligible for the sweepstakes. Ads and links within the game led to an entry form and microsite which provided more info about the contest and the cars. The use of the cars, relevant, and desirable prizes attracted players to the contest and various demographics matched the brand and the cars, proving to be successful as the ideal consumers for Scion were the ones participating. This can be looked back at with positive feedback and satisfaction as the contest and promotion effectively portrayed and associated the image of the new tC and xB to the old and new potential Scion consumers.
The marketing agency was brought on board to come up with new ways to create brand awareness for the two new models. After considering the demographic of the consumer public, the idea of an in-game promotion and contest was established to create product association of the new Scion tC and xB. After analyzing multiple games and game developers, it was noted that the audience and ideal match for the Scion brand and the promotion would be through the use of games on Xbox Live and the Microsoft Network. A meeting was set up at Microsoft’s Redmond campus and from there Scion and the marketing agency were then connected with the IGA, which gave them the opportunity for an integrated advertising and promotions solution for all video games and game players. The strategy was launched during the fall of 2006.
Company B is a Japanese automaker that provides a variety of vehicle models and series. The company is located in Scion, Torrance, and California and is a branch of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. In 2002, Scion was officially launched as a marque at the New York Auto Show with the aim of marketing to Generation Y consumers. In April 2006, the Scion brand launched their first two models and series. These were the tC and the xB (2nd generation). With a new car being launched, a method of creating better brand awareness and teasing the new series was needed. A marketing agency was hired to create hype about the new models and also help introduce new consumers to the brand.
Best Practices for Utilizing Live Streaming Services in Business
As a final measure, using a third party to increase viewership of streaming content can be highly effective. Third-party “Influencers” such as popular bloggers or YouTube personalities can have large impacts on the quantity and quality of viewers for a stream. Offering to pay an influencer to advertise the stream on their own channels, or even having them take part in the stream, can have a massive positive effect on the stream.
A successful stream will always include gating content that is only shown on stream, to be used as leverage for bringing viewers in from other live streaming platforms. On the same note, creating backup content is an effective way to recover from downtime during the stream and give viewers an incentive to watch future streams.
The production value of a stream must be professional and follow the same practices as other well-done content releases. It is wise to outsource production to an external company or hire professionals if available. High-quality audio, video, and content are all essential. This may mean streaming in high definition, adding interactive elements to the stream, or even simulcasting the stream on multiple platforms.
Once the mission is defined, choosing the right live streaming platform that resonates best with the intended audiences is essential. Pricing, capacity, and the type of service offerings with each platform should be considered. There are countless ways to produce streams and limitless tools to do so. Too often, people attempt live streaming without the proper knowledge or resources to do it effectively. This only leads to poor results and negative perceptions of live streaming in the future.
Utilizing live streaming services in order to reach intended goals in business can be a tricky endeavor. At first, the definition of KPIs for the intended initiative must be finalized. This involves deciding exactly what the stream should accomplish. Creating a call to action is also a pivotal piece, as everything done during the stream should point back to the CTA. Whether it be watching another stream, visiting a website, or purchasing a product, every tactic used should be done in attempts to persuade the viewer to take the call to action.
Planning and Promoting Live Streams
In order for live streaming to be beneficial, a plan must be drawn about what the purpose of the stream is and what it aims to achieve. For example, if a business based in Malaysia is launching a new product, perhaps the goal of the stream could be to inform consumers about the various attributes of the product and to guide them on how to purchase it. Depending on the product, the stream may require funding in order to look more professional. Perhaps it will need to be hosted at an external location with a green screen and studio lighting. Due to this, it is important to figure out how much the budget should be for individual streams. In the case of the product launch, the actual cost of the stream would likely be offset by the revenue generated from the new product. But this won’t always be the case, so it is important to weigh up the return on investment for each stream. The timing of the stream is also crucial. Malaysia is in the GMT+8 time zone, and scheduling a stream at 3 AM will not be effective as potential consumers will be asleep. The streaming schedule should be advertised to the viewers in advance, and if the brand has a regular update schedule, a calendar can be made and shared with viewers. This helps to ensure that people show up to the stream and don’t miss it because they forgot when it was.
Ensuring High-Quality Streaming Experience
This sort of issue can be especially prevalent when considering whether to use live streaming as an educational tool. Enabling a high-quality stream can more likely affect someone’s opinion on the quality of your teaching. In a field such as mine, it’s important that myself and others can be given a clear reason as to why a teaching tool is effective. As educators, this is an opportunity we would not want to waste. Live streaming has the potential to be a powerful learning tool, and at my current job, I have been a part of research projects where live streaming was used to convey a seminar on some form of scientific communication. By ensuring that the stream was of high quality, it was actually highly likely that the public audience would engage in discussions on the topic. If there was evidence that a quality learning experience was given, they would be more likely to attend similar events in the future. This contrasts with past methods of online seminar provision, where the event would be presented as a monologue with limited to no audience interaction. If a high-quality stream can encourage greater viewer promotion in this manner, the potential for similar events in the future could be increased.
Ensuring you can provide a high quality streaming experience to your viewers is crucially important for the success of your stream and the future of your business, yet it can often be difficult. All sorts of things can affect the quality of a stream, from the speed of someone’s internet and the quality of their PC to the provider they’re using to host the stream. People watching your streams may often have little idea of the cause of any problems that occur but may simply think that the quality of your stream or the professionalism of your business is lacking. As a result, they may be less likely to watch future streams or consider dealing with your company. Thus, ensuring that the quality of your viewers’ experiences is as high as possible can be very important to your business model.
Analyzing Metrics and Improving Future Streams
The most effective way to gather viewer feedback is to survey the viewers during the event. This can easily be done using an online survey tool, and the results are fresh in the viewers’ minds. It is important to offer an incentive for completing surveys, such as a prize draw, to maximize the number of responses.
If the event was a webinar, it is possible to compare the number of viewers to the number of new leads the company received on the day. If this number is low, it is likely that the content or promotion of the event was not effective.
Also, take into account what the viewers thought of the event. The three main statistics to analyze viewer satisfaction are chat room messages, average view duration, and post-view survey results. The number of chat messages varies greatly depending on the type of event and the level of promotion around the chat room. For a product release or gaming tournament, it’s common to have hundreds of messages, whereas a smaller event may have very few. A high average view duration indicates that viewers were interested in the content and stayed around to watch the whole event. And survey results are the most explicit indicator of satisfaction. Comparing pre- and post-event survey results for product-based events is a great way to determine if the event was successful in raising awareness.
Once the live streaming event has concluded, the next step is to assess its success. An essential metric in determining ROI is the number of viewers who saw the event, contrasting with the cost of the event. Bear in mind, the more viewers there are, the higher the cost for a stronger server to support a smooth streaming broadcast. Another important expense for events with a large number of viewers is a CDN (Content Delivery Network). This is crucial for international viewers.
