The trend to make your brand experience more engaging and personable on social media continues to evolve and live video has quickly become a favorite tactic. Live video allows you to connect with your audience in real-time — adding elements of transparency and accessibility beyond what other channels can offer. Not only is it a great way to connect and expand your audience, but Facebook has also shown support for brands using the service. For some time, Facebook has favored video content in its newsfeed and it has continued to support video options by notifying users by default that like brand pages when they use Facebook live. Here’s a look at some of the reasons why live video streaming might be a good fit for your brand.
Tapping into Element of Urgency
Because live video is created it real-time, there is already a sense of urgency applied to it. There are no rewind or replay buttons, which gives consumers urgency to either tune in to your content or risk missing out on valuable or behind-the-scenes content. It is for this reason that live video can be a great option for:
- Live webinars
- Live Q&A sessions
- Sneak peek at office, events, or other behind-the-scenes
- Sneak peek at new products, services or exciting business news
Because you want people to tune in for your exclusive live stream, it’s a great idea to let your audience know in advance when you will be live and what they can expect. This will allow you to expand your reach and also build momentum for your stream.
Providing Value to your Audience
Depending on your business, your goals may vary some. Service-based businesses can benefit from live streaming by providing insight in the form of webinars or Q&A’s to engage their audience. While, product or media based companies might instead be focused on giving their audience exclusive content to build more personable relationships with their followers. No matter your goals, it is a good idea to brainstorm the type of unique or exclusive content you can provide to drive interest in your brand. This is your chance to go beyond posting photos, links, or videos so make it count!
Real-Time Engagement
One of the most alluring features of live streaming is the opportunity to have real-time engagement with your followers. This allows you to take your social media engagement one step further by being able to talk to your community in real-time and allow that conversation to guide your interactions. This direct approach allows you to respond directly to your followers with shout-outs or answering their questions, which can help build a stronger connection between you and your audience. Not only does live video offer opportunities to expand your audience but because it taps into a highly engaged audience it often results in more business leads than other social media tactics.
Variety of Service Options
Ready to try live streaming? There are a number of different services you can use for your brand. Here’s a look at some of the most popular options:
Do your research and look into a variety of platforms to test out different services to see which connects with your audience best. If you have a large Facebook audience, you may want to start with Facebook Live. Whereas if a majority of your audience is on Twitter, Periscope might be a better option. Explore and take advantage of all that live video has to offer for your business!
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