Brands large and small are experiencing amazing success leveraging live streaming video platforms in their marketing. Using live video with your audience allows you to connect deeper with your market, share invaluable content that engages, increase exposure and improves conversion rates. In fact, Marketing Profs tells us 74% of businesses reported video content outperformed other content types in driving conversions. Its ability to capture attention quickly and get consumers to take action makes it one of the most effective marketing platforms to grow your brand and influence online.
Advantages to Using Live Streaming Videos
The benefits to streaming video content are extremely compelling considering the positive outcomes yielded from these live experiences. Followers and customers desire ways to connect with your brand personally and live streaming fulfills this need, dramatically increasing engagement. Here are several advantages to implementing more live streaming videos into your marketing plan:
- Give your viewers incredible value by sharing relevant content, how-to’s, product demonstrations, etc.
- Consumers are 85% more likely to buy after watching a product video
- Take your fans behind the scenes into a further look at your brand
- Receive on-the-spot feedback from your market, a winning method to creating content based on their insights
- Quickly build trust with your followers
- Delight your customers, increase loyalty and retention
- Social video generates a whopping 1200% more shares than text and images combined, growing exposure and reach
- Amazing way to humanize your brand, giving customers personable experiences and opportunities to engage with you!
You see, live streaming is an important element to your digital marketing plan. If your goal is to improve your lead and sales conversion rates, expand your reach, and enrich follower experience, live streaming video is the tool to use.
There are several options available to execute your live video marketing strategy. Check out these five popular platforms and determine which one(s) are best for your brand and audience:
5 Live Streaming Video Platforms
#1 Facebook Live
Sharing real-time live events with your Facebook followers is simply with Facebook Live. Although Facebook controls the reach of live broadcasts through the news feed ranking algorithm as with organic posts, this platform makes it easier to authentically connect with your fans for higher engagement. Facebook videos can be retrieved at any time and can be re-purposed into other content types to further increase exposure.
#2 Periscope
Periscope has made significant moves since its start in March 2015. Brands have successfully leveraged this tool to take their audiences backstage to events that were once closed off to the public. It’s proving to be a highly effective social media tool with every day users watching a combined 110 years’ worth of video content on Periscope. The interactive features allow viewers to comment live and “give hearts” to show their contentment of the value being shared. Owned by Twitter with broadcasts showing up in Twitter feeds, this is the perfect platform for marketers to expand their influence in multiple spaces.
#3 YouTube Live
Claiming to be faster and more reliable than other platforms, YouTube Live has now upgraded its features to make live-streaming easy for everyone and possible on mobile-devices. YouTube makes its live broadcasts available immediately following the event, uploading it right to your channel. Now you can create those product videos live, foster customer and prospect relationships by answering questions, then have your video post to your YouTube channel for future marketing content.
#4 Ustream
Ustream is an entire video marketing platform which integrates a lead generation and capture software system to easily build subscriber lists and grow audiences with paid ad opportunities. This platform serves best for live webinars or training events where in-depth content is being served up. Position your brand as a thought-leader or go-to-source by incorporating webinar broadcasts into your marketing.
#5 Snapchat
With roughly 150 million daily active users (50 million are in Europe), Snapchat offers a huge audience of potential customers. This mobile photo-messaging app allows brands to host short videos, do chat and video calls between contacts to enhance engagement. The more effective uses of Snapchat for successful brands have been giveaways and discount promos, shooting live events, sharing their brands story or teasing new products to followers. Snapchat content is not saved so these are best to quickly interact with your audience to keep them in the know, but not for deep-diving content.
Conclusion
Video is one of the most effective, engaging ways to tell your brands story, connect with your followers and improve your lead conversions. By using a combination of these tools, you position your business to excel in your digital marketing strategy. The key is to continue to share content that resonates with your audience; by solving their problems and providing solutions. Much success!
For assistance in uniquely creating a video content strategy that increases your brand exposure while giving you the competitive edge, contact us to schedule a consultation.
