Over the last few years, live video has taken over social platforms and created a new way for brands to connect with their audiences. Small businesses working their way up can more easily attract and engage new prospects and persuade them to convert with livestreams.
Why use livestreaming?
Today's consumers want to connect with the brands they invest in. Due to the rise of e-commerce, it's now easier to pick and choose which businesses to engage with. Customers can afford to be picky about where they spend their money. If you don't give them reasons to choose your brand, they'll be quick to leave and go with your competitor.
Marketers are constantly seeking new ways to catch their customers' attention and keep it. People consume a lot of media on the go, which means they have more opportunities to use social media and interact with brands.
But how can you make people want to engage with your business? You need to earn their trust, which you can do with livestreaming. Because there are endless ways to use it, it can become a regular part of your conversion optimization strategy.
Around 57% of marketers used live video in 2019, and that number continues to rise. It's important to take advantage of its benefits, since it's popular with users and keeps them engaged.
Through livestreams, you can show prospects who you are and what your brand stands for. It's essential to personalize the experience so customers feel comfortable buying from you and returning for more.
These are some things you can do with livestreaming:
- Host Q&A sessions
- Respond to users in real time
- Tell people your business's backstory
- Personalize interactions with viewers
- Announce new product launches
- Improve customer service
Now that we know some of the countless benefits of livestreaming for your business, here are a few helpful tips to improve your strategy.
1. Research your audience.
For any business to succeed, it needs to know its audience. If you don't know who you're creating content for, you can't expect to move prospects through the sales funnel. Your strategy will be all over the place and won't cater to anyone, leaving you back at square one.
Around 43% of consumers want to see more video content from marketers, and that includes live video. But you won't know what kind of live video to make unless you understand your target audience and their needs.
When you know your audience, you can easily find out other useful information, such as the best time to go live and what topics to discuss. The last thing you want to do is go live without preparing for your streaming session. This will lead to disorganization and a drop in viewers. You need to look professional and give every livestream a purpose.
These are some possible purposes of your livestream:
- Introduce your brand to new consumers
- Increase user engagement
- Drive traffic to your website
- Build your email list
Whatever your primary goal is, use what you know about your audience to achieve it. For example, if you want to increase engagement, you could hold a live Q&A session. People can submit their questions beforehand, and you prepare responses and then answer them during your stream. When you use a viewer's question, it makes them feel heard, increases their interest in you, and encourages them to further interact with your brand on social media.
Look at your existing social media followers and customers. You can tell a lot about them by looking at where they spend the most time and what they spend the most time on. Both your social media and website have analytics that can show you what works for your audience and what causes them to bounce.
2. Choose the right platform.
At first, you may think you need to use every livestreaming platform available, but this is far from the truth. With any strategy, you don't want to spread yourself too thin. If you try using every platform there is, you will connect with fewer followers and won't meet your goals.
Around 79% of organizations use Facebook as a way to attract new members, while 35% rely on Twitter, making them the most popular platforms for lead generation. But that doesn't mean you need to go live on these specific platforms. It's still essential to use live video on the websites that are relevant to your brand and audience to drive the most traffic.
It's important to understand which social media platform best serves your audience and your purpose. These are the most popular platforms and the use cases they serve best:
Facebook Live: Facebook is known for its video content, so it's no surprise that it's great at attracting large audiences. When you want to reach a lot of viewers or send a marketing message, Facebook Live is a great option.
Instagram Live: Live videos on Instagram disappear when they're finished, increasing urgency in users to act quickly. Instagram Live content should use vibrant colors and works best in small, casual segments.
Twitter Live: Twitter content is short and spontaneous, and its live video should be the same. Live content on Twitter works best for brief messages and for broadcasting events and launches.
YouTube Live: YouTube is a versatile platform and gives brands endless ways to use video marketing. Its livestreaming service is great for brand update announcements, Q&As, storytelling and more.
With enough research and testing, you'll be able to determine which platform is right for your brand and its audience.
3. Pick a relevant topic.
Did you know that 47% of buyers consume 3-5 pieces of content before making a purchase decision? It takes time for them to trust your brand, because they don't want to spend their hard-earned money just anywhere. Livestreaming reduces the need for them to consume other content about your brand and makes it easier for you to turn viewers into paying customers.
However, it's only easy if you engage your audience with a relevant topic. You wouldn't write a blog post about how to fix a tire if you run a cooking business, and the same goes for your livestreams. You need to make sure the topic interests your viewers and makes them feel excited to attend.
So how do you figure out what your audience wants from your livestreams?
The simplest way to find out is to ask. You can create social posts asking users for their input, and even make it fun by turning it into a poll. You can also email your existing subscribers asking what they'd enjoy seeing from you on live video.
Look at what social media posts have garnered the most attention, likes and shares on your profile. What questions do people ask the most? What content receives the most traffic?
It's also important to track trending topics in your industry, as hot topics attract more views and engagement. Practice social listening by using relevant tools and searching for hashtags and keywords related to your brand.
Using these tips, you should be on your way to creating a livestreaming strategy that produces conversions. Live video is a great tool your business can use to connect with its audience, build brand awareness and generate sales. How will you use livestreaming to reach your marketing goals?