Do you think that live streaming is only for gamers? If you do, you’d be wrong. Live streaming can actually be used by businesses of all types to increase brand awareness, boost engagement, generate sales, and more. In fact, according to a Livestream survey conducted with New York Magazine, 80% of respondents said they would rather watch live video from a brand than read a blog.
If you’re new to live streaming though, you might be wondering what your business can live stream about? Don’t worry, there are a number of effective and entertaining ways your business can use live streaming to connect with your target audience in real-time.
Check out these 7 ways to use live streaming for your business.
Use Q&As to Interact With Your Audience
One of the easiest ways to get started with live streaming for your business is with a simple Q&A. Since live streaming is all about interacting with your audience in real-time, Q&As are the perfect opportunity for your audience to get to know you and your business a little better. And when your audience feels like they know you, it can increase customer trust and loyalty.
In your live Q&A sessions, your audience can ask you questions about your products, your business in general, or for your advice. But, in order to keep your live stream organized, focus on one segment of your business. For example, you could host a Q&A specifically about your latest product release to keep questions interesting and on-topic.
Not only are Q&As engaging and easy to pull off, they’ll provide you with valuable insights you can use to grow your business too. With Q&As you can find out what your customers think about certain aspects of your business and use that customer feedback to improve.
Do Product Demonstrations and Tutorials
Another popular way to use live streaming for your business is by doing product demonstrations and tutorials. Like creating product videos, live streaming product demonstrations and tutorials is a great way to educate your target audience about your product, showcase your brand’s expertise in your industry, and generate sales.
For example, Benefit, a cosmetics company, regularly uses live streaming to show their audience how to apply its makeup products. This particular live stream below has 39,000 views!
By showing your current customers and potential customers exactly how to use your product, they’ll be able to easily understand the value of it.
Show How Your Products Are Made
If your company offers a simple-to-use product that requires no training to use, instead of doing product demonstrations, you can show your audience how your products are made. This live streaming idea will give your audience a glimpse behind the scenes of your business and show what goes into making your awesome products.
For instance, a fashion brand can show how a dress design comes together or a pizza restaurant can live stream a pizza being made from start to finish. Sargento does it a little differently by letting their audience watch its cheese age in real-time.
While Sargento’s cheese aging live stream may seem silly, it’s actually a fun and attention-grabbing way to promote their newest line of cheese.
Give Viewers a Peek Behind the Scenes
Speaking of giving your audience a glimpse behind the scenes, you can also use live streaming to give viewers a tour of your office. Your audience typically doesn’t get to visit your office space and see what goes on behind the curtain, so giving them a live tour of your business creates the feeling of exclusivity and can garner a lot of engagement.
Aside from just an office tour, you can also give your audience access to other areas of your company they normally wouldn’t have access to. For instance, you could take viewers behind the scenes of a photoshoot or a team brainstorming session.
Conduct Some Interviews
You can also use live streaming to conduct interviews with your team members or other important people in your industry. Conducting quick live interviews with your team members will help your audience get to know the people behind the brand and interviewing leaders in the industry about relevant topics will help position your brand as a leader in your niche. You could even interview satisfied clients as a way to build social proof for your business and increase conversions.
Don’t forget to give your viewers time at the end of your live interview to ask a few questions themselves.
Broadcast a Live Event
If your company is holding a live event that not all of your customers or potential customers have the opportunity to attend in-person, live stream the event so that everyone can feel involved.
For example, if you’re attending a conference or another industry event, you can bring your audience along by live streaming. But don’t just set up your camera at the back of the room and leave it at that; your audience will likely get bored if they’re left in one location the entire time. Instead, walk around the event and talk to your audience at the same time to keep them involved and interested.
Want to keep your audience up-to-date with everything going on in your company and boost engagement at the same time? Use live streaming to share important company announcements!
For instance, live streaming a new product launch or update is a great way to build anticipation and excitement in your audience. GE was one of the first auto brands to live stream the unveiling of their all-electric 2017 Chevy Bolt EV.
This Facebook Live video has nearly 60,000 views and over 800 comments.
Aside from exciting product launches, you can also use live streaming to keep your audience informed on other important news. Did your business win an award? Share it in a live stream. Making improvements to your website this year? Let your audience know in real-time. Live streaming gives your business the opportunity to turn regular company announcements into exciting online events.
Conclusion
That’s it! Now your business is ready to put all of these awesome live streaming ideas into action. Luckily, you don’t need a lot to get started with live streaming either. Thanks to platforms like Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and YouTube Live, you can go live with just the click of a button. Happy streaming!
live streaming business -DepositPhotos
