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The power of social media is undeniable in our current climate. When you have the possibility of reaching 3.6 billion users worldwide at the click of a button, mastering these platforms as a brand is vital for further exposure and to connect with your consumers. A really effective method to up your social presence is using a social media stream or live streaming.
With the existence of a social media stream and live streaming, you have room to really explore your creativity. But, it’s not as simple as clicking the ‘live’ button, having a chat, or splattering your platform pages over digital signage. To be able to properly engage with your audience and leverage your platform use, you need to properly understand the intricacies of live streaming and collate the most engaging sections of your platform use.
If you are unfamiliar with live streaming, need some extra practice, or simply don’t know where to start, this blog can give you a deeper insight and teach you how to fully immerse yourself in the online world of streaming.
Firstly, to understand the above, we must first define the word ‘streaming’. This is the process of data transmission when someone watches a video on the internet, any time you watch your favorite Youtuber or catch up on that particular Netflix series you have been recommended, then you’re streaming.
A social media stream is a feed of content collected from multiple platforms and displayed on a marketing channel such as digital signage, or most commonly a website. Many people may recognize a stream as something they have seen at in-person events, in the form of engaging and interactive social media walls. Fortunately, a stream can be utilized in a plethora of formats in addition to signage.
It’s important not to confuse a social media stream with a live stream. Social streaming is where you can reach your audience on your platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or even Tiktok but in real-time, not having been recorded first. Many users utilize this handy tool to live stream gaming footage, events, Q&As, and more. It has become a really effective way to connect with your audience especially when they can interact with you in real-time.
Live streaming is often used by celebrities to interact with their fans and have fun! The difference between a social stream and a live stream is that one is prerecorded, organized, and edited, the other is completely raw, unedited footage, which we like to think adds another element of authenticity.
A social stream is able to collate all the best parts of your pages across different platforms together. Being cost-effective and a great way to boost customer engagement, there are many uses for it your brand can implement.
Needing to take advantage of platforms is a given in the current landscape, especially in eCommerce. You may ask yourself why it is so popular, perhaps because it is a certified gold mine for User-Generated Content. UGC is far more exciting for users as it projects authenticity you just can’t get anywhere else. This encourages users to engage, and interact, making social content the perfect opportunity to leverage your brand.
Content is vital. The best way to boost it? You guessed it, a social stream, where you are able to aggregate the best bits of your UGC from different social platforms and display it across different marketing channels. In displaying your UGC you are able to boost growth, build trust in your brand and turn your content stream into a revenue source. Additionally, with digital signage, you can boost offline engagement just to touch all bases.
Finally, we cannot forget your website, which is essentially the storefront of an eCommerce brand, so it’s important to make sure it’s engaging and that consumers can have an easy and interactive buying journey. Embedding a social stream into your website does just this, and gives your consumers that all-important social proof that gives them the push they need to convert.
If you want to add even more authenticity and excitement to your marketing, then consider live streaming.
Data shows that the popularity of lives has grown by 93% in recent years and it’s not hard to see why. Take a look at the key benefits of these streams below:
Consumers adore real-time content because it’s exciting and interactive, essentially it feels more personal to them. In fact, 82% of consumers prefer live content over standard social posts.
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Touching on the more personal aspect of streaming, this is what helps your brand showcase your more human side in the form of raw authentic footage of your company profile. This inherently strengthens your relationship with your audience.
Lives are also an effective way to target the people who are most interested in your brand as this kind of content is only consumed on your time and not on theirs, they can CHOOSE to watch and this generally leads to your viewers being the people who are most likely to convert.
This is always a nice bonus. In fact, it is rare you can achieve all these benefits with something as cheap and easy as streaming. All you need is a camera and time!
Unlike other content your brand might be producing such as blogs, articles, or other videos which take time and a certain level of production to achieve, streaming is extremely simple and takes no longer than the time allocated for the length of your content, done and dusted in the blink of an eye!
Real-time content is evidently a winner, but where can you do it? Fortunately, the wonders of streaming are made super accessible these days.
Those are the three big, golden platforms with real-time content tools you will want to take advantage of, but as mentioned before it’s everywhere! Twitch is a live streaming site often used by gamers, TikTok is another platform that enables streaming as well. Anywhere you can share content is most likely able to give you the freedom to share in real-time.
Unless you are one of those sought-after people we all wish we could be, the ones who can whip up a 40-minute speech in a flash and hypnotize people with their charismatic charm, then you will need to prepare for your stream. So here are a few tips to get you started:
With content where you can’t have any retakes whatsoever, it’s important to outline what you are going to talk about, so you don’t stumble over your words and make a complete awkward mess of yourself. Try practicing a bit as well before you go live, confidence is key!
Don’t forget to announce your stream ahead of time to drum up some publicity otherwise your numbers may be lower than you hoped for and you will have done all that preparation for nothing. Go onto other platforms and create story posts or even regular posts to build some anticipation and boost interaction.
It might be a bit boring if you sit there talking to your viewers despite data showing that live content holds users’ attention 10-20x longer than pre-recorded, on-demand content. You want to keep engagement levels high, so create a plan on how you are going to do this. We suggest through Q&As, competitions, polls, and read your viewer’s comments and respond! That’s what gives streaming a really nice conversational aspect.
It’s common that viewers will exit and join your live as they please, so offer them context now and again or maybe keep a note in the video for clarification.
It can be hard to keep the attention of viewers the whole way through your stream so our top tip is to reward them with a giveaway or something similar at the end of your stream!
Whether you want increased interaction with your consumers, leverage your UGC or drive traffic to your social pages, lives and social streams are really effective methods to get accustomed to. Whatever the stream, you are bound to increase your brand awareness and strengthen your relationship with your consumers. Click that button and get started!
Most platforms make it very simple to go live, there is normally a ‘live’ button feature you can click on to start sharing in real-time. Additionally, it’s even possible to stream on multiple platforms at the same time, which helps extend your reach to consumers from a brand perspective. Broadcasting on multiple channels is called simulcasting and you can do this pretty easily through third-party tools such as Switchboard, Streamshark, and more.
This is a media widget you can embed into your website to sync your social pages to your eCommerce store, providing social proof for your buyers and driving more traffic to your social pages.
There isn’t one platform that comes out on top for streaming, it really depends on your needs and what each platform can offer. In terms of the most amount of features, Youtube boasts a plethora of features you can explore and utilize but that doesn’t mean it’s the best platform to expand your reach. If you want more of an interaction-based live stream, try Instagram, if it’s more personal, try Facebook! The best thing to do is stream on multiple platforms and see which one you achieve the most traction on.
These are widgets that contain collated content from a variety of your social platforms so you can essentially see content from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and more embedded into your website!
