Social Media

Catching the Live Stream Wave

Periscope and Meerkat apps
Written by coreynapolitano
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In a society of people craving to know what the next big thing will be, everyone is hungry for information. Corporations need to be ready to give their customers exactly what they are looking for.  Instant gratification for information in the form of live streaming from corporate events, meetings, and conventions is one of the latest trends consumers are eager to join.

Imagine that you are about to unveil your newest technical breakthrough that will revolutionize your current industry. Thousands of consumers and potential investors are watching your every move and waiting as the curtain rises on the main stage of your convention. Instead of being in the audience at the event, the interested parties are watching a live stream broadcast. Your early adopters are already reacting via social media and live chats by giving instant feedback in real time. While you are demonstrating how your product will impact the industry, thousands of people are watching from afar.  Live streaming has already shown its potential to give unprecedented access and feedback to your customers without having to leave the comfort of their home or office. The size of the audience you are able to reach is only inhibited by how many people are aware of your live stream.

Some tips to consider before live streaming while building your potential viewership should include the following:

  1. Make the livestream a “must see” event your future viewers know will only air once in order to generate hype. This strategy can engage potential livestream attendees to speculate on what will be revealed and increase the buzz surrounding the livestream. Once the hype starts rolling, the community driven speculation will bring in more interest than your marketing department could ever imagine.
  2. Make sure your live stream revelations and content will live up to the expectations.
  3. Follow the hype by promoting the use of hashtags used in social media, and keep track of the number of likes, or hearts, during a Periscope livestreamed event.
  4. Include the link to your live streamed event in all forms of social media leading up the event.
  5. Adding the chat feature along with your live stream can give your company the added benefit of real-time feedback.
  6. Consider the added financial benefits of charging admission- not only for those attending the event/convention/meeting, but also to those who wish to watch it live stream.
  7. Remember this is a live event and make sure your livestreamed event goes off without any flaws by rehearsing in the exact location before going live. This can be done by doing a warmup to your physical attendees who will be getting a sneak peek at your big announcement.

With live streaming, you can go as big or as small as your budget allows. There are any number of live stream companies who provide this service for your corporate event or you can have your marketing department research the best media streams for you. Some current live stream applications worth investigating are YouTube, Periscope, and Facebook Live.

Featured Image credit: Anthony Quintano ©2015 under a Creative Commons License

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coreynapolitano

Corey is a recent graduate from Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN where he earned a BA in Marketing. He enjoys all things relating to social media and how it is changing the future of marketing and communication.

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