In this detailed guide, we'll consider all of the best methods to make the most of live video marketing for your business.

Current marketing trends indicate that live video marketing is the new standard, and it continues to grow in efficacy.

An eMarketer forecast suggests that social video ad spending in the U.S. will reach $14.89 billion in 2021. By then, it would account for 30.4 percent of total video ad spending.

Just look at recent updates to social media platforms. Every one of them has added a way to incorporate video. Instagram stories, Facebook live, LinkedIn native — the list goes on.

If you have yet to harness the valuable resource of video content, alarm bells should be going off right about now.

According to an estimate, the average person will spend 100 minutes every day watching online videos in 2021. That’s only months away. Now more than ever, it is vital to embrace video in your online marketing funnel.

Live vides are a less-rehearsed form of interaction that allows you to provide what we are all desperately seeking — an authentic, human connection.

Video gives your voice a brand. If you have enthusiasm for your business, that will easily translate.

So, how do you create a live video marketing strategy?

Here we’ve put together a guide that will help you create live video content and market it successfully.

1. Choosing the Right Platform for Your Video Marketing

First, choose the right platform for hosting your live video.

To choose wisely, you need to know your audience. You should consider what social media platforms you can use to reach the broadest possible audience.

Hopefully, at this point, you’ve already started posting some content on various platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. However, choosing which platform to go with is a bit of a balancing act.

To figure out which platform your audience will respond best to, consider their engagement with the three standard post format. These include standard text, image, or video content.

As we mentioned already, most platforms now have a live-streaming capability. Don’t be overwhelmed by the excess of choice.

LinkedIn Native may suit consulting businesses who also use the platform for hiring or networking. Twitch is a good bet for companies specifically targeting online sports and gaming demographics.

For the broadest array of businesses, these are the best live video platforms to work with:

Facebook Live,

Instagram Stories, and

YouTube Live.

Using Facebook Live as a Video Marketing Tool

The main reason for this is that it offers a vast audience and rich metrics. FB Live also makes it easier to tune in than some other platforms.

When you go live on Facebook, all of your friends and followers receive a notification.

For businesses wishing to collaborate with partners or long-distance colleagues, on Facebook Live, you can easily co-broadcast with others and record your session.

However, while you benefit from the platform’s vast audience, you lose out on some technical SEO features. For example, Facebook undervalues content with external links.

This will make it difficult for viewers to find the recording of your live stream after the event. Besides, on Facebook, you have no control over what advertising appears next to your content.

If you already have substantial Facebook engagement, this is a good option for marketing live video. However, if you want to use the platform to drive traffic to your site, you may have to look elsewhere.

YouTube for Pre-recorded, Edited, and SEO-optimized Videos.

YouTube videos have come a long way over the years. It has scaled from webcam capture and basic video editing to high-tech recording equipment and expensive production and editing costs.

Now YouTube Live is available, and these videos boast high production costs without sophisticated editing techniques.

YouTube Live’s main benefit versus other platforms is its SEO-friendly design. YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world. So, using it to drive traffic to your site is a natural extension of the platform.

As a site that was custom-made for video marketing content, YouTube certainly knows what it’s doing. This platform offers efficient tools to help you create an event, pre-fill, and thumbnails.

Analytics features of YouTube Live like ‘chat replay’ are incredibly useful. It allows you to read comments made during the stream at the moments in the video where the comments were submitted.

Essentially, this feature gives you quality content for a post-stream Q&A session. What better way to stay engaged with your audience?

YouTube offers a vast reach, like Facebook. Unfortunately, it does not send out notifications to subscribers when you stream.

Consider Instagram for User Engagement

Instagram, like FB Live, also notifies your followers when you begin a live video.

As on Facebook, the option of co-broadcasting is also offered here, which means a bigger audience for both parties. However, a significant downside to Instagram is that your live stream disappears after 24 hours. Also, it’s not searchable.

If your primary audience is on Instagram, this could work well for you. However, the platform is not suitable for creating a video live that can become a useful resource.

For that, you should consider something more akin to YouTube Live.

2. Plan Ahead and Know Your Video Marketing Tactics Before Going Live

Most of us aren’t professional broadcasters or producers. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t think like them.

I’m not recommending that you follow a script or get an intern to hold up prompts for you to read off of during streaming. No!

The beauty of live-streaming is the spontaneity it allows. Nevertheless, you should have a solid plan in place to help you stay focused during streaming.

Creating a plan will make you feel more confident going live, and it’ll also help you avoid awkward silences. You’ll also prevent potential stage fright or meandering off-topic.

If you want to come off as a professional, you must identify your live stream’s goal and how to achieve it.

A key to becoming great at live videos: FILM EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME!

Even when you aren’t streaming, record everything. Also, if your employees are nervous or have stage fright, the constant recording will help them become comfortable on screen.

Before you start your video campaign, you should ask yourself exactly what you want from your content.

Usually, it boils down to these five questions:

Is your video going to help you sell?

Could a sales team member use the video to sell a product or service right now?

Is it going to be informative?

Will the video raise awareness for your brand?

Is it going to help to humanize your brand?

Is your video going to help gather information on your audience?

Take all these questions into account. During the stream, however, keep one question in focus at a time.

3. Don’t let Sound and Lighting Issues get in the way

Although your live stream doesn’t need to be polished and pristine, it does need to be professional. Even if you are the most entertaining host in the world, poor sound quality will kill your live stream.

The same goes for lighting. If the quality is low, most viewers won’t bother watching.

Additionally, make sure your Internet connection is foolproof. Always make sure your devices are fully charged and ready to go before you are live. We know this is obvious, but you can never be too careful!

Remember, a video shot on a smartphone can have just as much as an impact if you pay attention and plan ahead. This will make sure small issues don’t get in the way of your video marketing goal.

4. Promote Before you Broadcast

The key to getting your audience to tune in is making them aware that your live stream is going to happen. Not only should you let viewers know when it will be happening but make them want to tune in.

You can now schedule a Facebook Live event to keep your fans in the loop. Instagram stories and tweets are other great ways to promote your live streams.

Build anticipation by offering sneak previews or hints about upcoming topics you plan to discuss in the days leading up to your live stream. If followers are intrigued, they are more likely to tune in to hear what you have to share.

Also, make it incredibly easy for your audience to find your live stream.

Tactics such as posting the URL in your Instagram bio or tweeting a link to your live stream can help. It only takes a few seconds to do and could have a huge payoff and increase numbers.

If your stream is due to go live — on Instagram — you should still share it across other social media platforms.

5. Tie in Followers From Multiple Platforms

Be sure to cover all bases when attracting your audience. Being as inclusive as possible means spreading your message across multiple platforms.

When doing this, a rookie mistake is overlooking your email list. This will mean that customers who may not engage on social media can reap the benefits of your live video.

The week before you’re set to go live, send out an invitation via email to all your client base. Follow this up with a second reminder the day before or day of your video streams.

Be sure to tease the highlights that will be included in your video. These include discount opportunities, complimentary demos, or sneak peeks that they can’t get anywhere else.

It will once again arouse interest and instill a sense of urgency for viewers to tune in live.

Another great way to make sure your audience is all-inclusive is by using live videos on a secondary platform.

It could entail showing some behind-the-scenes footage of your Facebook live stream on your Instagram story. That way, viewers from different platforms can cross-over to the one you are streaming from.

6. Consistency is key in Live Video Marketing

Brands need to carefully consider how live video marketing fits into their social media strategy. Marketing tactics like this will work better than once-off attempts to do something different.

Creating a broadcasting schedule could help you to build up an audience. If you post on the same day at the same time each week, the audience can get into the habit of tuning in.

People like consistency and routine

The reasoning is simple. If your audience can trust you to post a video every Friday at 5 pm, they will likely perceive your brand as credible.

7. Have an Enticing Structure

Having an appealing title and topic is a great way to promote your live video and attract viewers. But, having an enticing structure is the way to keep them watching.

After capturing a viewer’s attention, you want to hold onto it so you can get your message across. Cleverly structuring your presentation is a vital part of leading viewers into your marketing and sales funnel.

You don’t want to counteract the human aspect that video allows. So, avoid sounding like a commercial at all costs. It may seem strange, but coming across as natural may take some practice.

When I refer to structure, I don’t mean planning what you are going to say word-for-word. Your structure should not be rigid but should take full advantage of the interaction.

At the beginning of your live video, consider explaining what you are going to discuss. Then promise a sort of reward at the end of the video. It could be a discount, a new hack, or a much-anticipated reveal.

If they are hanging on until the end, they have to sit through your sales pitch or promotion.

8. Use Demos and Insider Knowledge to Your Advantage

Having the attention of a live audience might tempt you to jump into a sales pitch. Resist this urge. That’s because once you force heavy-handed solicitation upon your viewers, you lose them.

Why would they waste time actively watching a commercial they’ve seen, heard, or read before?

Instead, devise a roundabout way of getting the information while simultaneously offering your viewers something they will find useful.

Obviously, the way you go about doing this will significantly depend on what product or service you are offering. One practical and tested idea is to give demos of your products.

This approach makes your audience feel like they are learning and, therefore, benefit from watching your video. Demos are a great way to give your viewers helpful tips and useful information about your company.

It also allows you to explain why they should be interested in what you have to offer. Be careful not to come off too pushy or forceful. You want to demonstrate your product but provide the audience with valuable information as well.

One strategy to avoid is coming off as too “salesy”. Speak to your viewers as if they have already purchased your product during your demo. Although you should remember to remain as informative as possible, this technique will make your video seem less like a commercial.

Don’t worry; your audience will naturally start imagining benefiting from your product or service during your demo. Their interest has probably been sparked already if they are tuning in.

If you play your cards right during your demo, your viewers should feel like they are deciding to buy your product.

How Adobe and Cisco are Using Demo Videos

In the above video, viewers tune in to watch Jeannie Huang, Adobe’s Senior Product Designer. They watch her as she designs and prototypes a service-oriented web experience in Adobe XD 5.0 in real-time.

In this relaxed live stream, you see barriers break down between the consumer and the producer. While strengthening the company’s status as experts, the video also offers an informative demonstration to customers.

Although the video resource is available for free, the company reaps some benefits. For one, it is cultivating the interest of potential buyers in Adobe products and services.

Also, the marketing tactics will pay off if you’re recording your video to use as a resource that you can promote again. It also serves as a bonus to your customers who missed the live feed.

Adobe offers playlists of their videos for free via YouTube. However, some companies ask viewers to sign up to their website or pay to access their live stream library.

For example, Cisco live! have created an on-demand library of live sessions filmed at different events. Users can return to this to view experts, and customers speak at the different Cisco live! Tech conferences.

While Cisco shares the live sessions for free, you have to register to view them. This means that Cisco receives more email addresses and can reach a broader audience in the future.

9. Include Exclusive Previews and Promotions

As we touched on above, you want to give viewers a reason to tune in. Making them feel valued by offering exclusive previews or promotions is guaranteed to achieve this and keep them coming back for more.

You could organize a live stream, especially to reveal a product to your loyal audience. Entice them by using words like “sneak peek” and “exclusive preview” to create a buzz around your live stream.

10. Backstage Passes to Events Via Live Streaming

Variation is the key to keeping live videos entertaining.

Demonstrations and question and answer sessions are great ways of getting your brand out there. But why not switch it up and cover an event on your live stream?

Are you attending an interesting conference or launch? Take your viewers with you.

The insight will help them learn more about your brand. Besides, your audience will feel like they are getting a behind the scenes glimpse that otherwise would not be available to them.

Live streaming videos from events could also provide you with opportunities to collaborate with others. You could interview other exciting people that’ll help promote your brand or backup your claims.

It can also draw a lot of much-needed attention to your brand and showcase your company to be proactive in your industry.

11. Make the Audience Feel Included

Use qualifying prompts to determine which viewers warrant further engagement.

For example, ask your audience to respond in the chat if they are interested in a specific product. Later, you can refer back to this chat to send additional information to these viewers.

This will help you save time by promoting your business to the right people, which could lead to more sales. It’ll also give your company a chance to prove the exceptional customer service you offer to customers.

The make-up brand Benefit Cosmetics brilliantly uses live videos.

How Benefit Cosmetics Use Live Video Marketing

Before going live, Benefit Cosmetics asks viewers to submit ideas on Facebook and Snapchat to help the hosts decide the topics to cover. They continue with this idea throughout the live stream.

For example, to keep viewers engaged, they may ask them to like or comment if they want to see an episode on concealing.

They’ll also let the viewers have a say in how the live stream pans out. For instance, the audience has to vote to determine which products to use for the make-up demo.

The strategy is a win-win for everyone. It keeps the views engaged, and the company learns more about its customers’ product preferences.

Now You’re Ready to Create Your Video Marketing Strategy!

Even if you fail to grasp or implement these strategies right away, you can always try again. Failure is humanizing. Persisting through failure is another way to attract an audience to your campaign.

Remember that choosing the right platform is essential. You should also always have a goal in mind and a solid plan before going live. Don’t ever let simple things sound and lighting issues get in the way of achieving this goal.

Before your time in the live stream spotlight, promote your broadcast across your social media platforms.

Once your live stream schedule is up and running, make sure you have something valuable to offer your viewers to keep them tuned in. This can range from using a promotion strategy, demonstrations, or behind-the-scenes footage.

You should also make sure you are fully benefiting from what live video marketing has to offer in terms of audience engagement possibilities.

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