Video marketing is an interactive way to deliver your brand’s message and grab the attention of consumers. It can help in increasing engagement on social media.
Live video as a part of video marketing strategy is gaining popularity and is expected to be a trend in 2019 as well. People spend 3x more time watching a Facebook Live video as compared to pre-recorded videos.
Social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter introduced the live streaming concept to make people share their life events with their friends and family. The below graph shows the state of live video streaming on different platforms:
The concept of live videos is evolving, and a number of businesses are using it to create a strengthened bond and connection with their customers.
Live streaming helps brands connect with their audience on a human level. It also lets people participate in brand storytelling in ways that can enhance the consumer experience. You too can use live video streaming and deliver content to your users in innovative ways. Read on to learn how your business can benefit from live videos.
1. Engaging content
Live videos are preferable to written or static visual content.
“80% of people would rather watch live video from a brand than read a blog, and 82% prefer live video from a brand to social posts.”
Video content is more visually appealing and easier to grasp. Viewers can remember video content better than other types of content.
Live streaming provides a sense of excitement to viewers compared to other content, allowing businesses to grow their web presence and story.
2. Reach
Live streaming video can reach millions of users around the world, leading to better awareness. It enables you to broadcast your event and live content to a wider audience as there’s no geographical or physical restriction. You can get in touch with more people to increase your brand awareness and educate them about your products and services.
3. Customer relationships
Live videos ensure an enhanced relationship with your customers as they can interact with you in real-time, leading to trust and loyalty. Live streaming unlike pre-recorded videos, provides you an opportunity to connect with your audience in a personal way, making it possible for them to interact with you seamlessly.
4. Transparency
With live videos, you can easily give a sneak peek into your company’s culture to customers. You can share behind-the-scenes moments with them and encourage them to interact with you during the live stream. This not only enables you to enhance your bond with them but also helps in maintaining transparency.
5. Conversions
Video streaming can enable you to give live demonstrations of your product. Instead of giving details about how your products and services work, you can directly show that live to your potential customers. This increases the chances of converting your prospects into paying customers, giving you an advantage over your competitors. Over 70% of marketers claim that video performs better than other content for increasing conversions.
How to use live videos on social media effectively
1. Go behind-the-scenes
Live video is a powerful way to take people on the journey of your business and make them want to be a part of your growth story. By giving a real-time view of your office and showing what goes on behind the scenes, you can make your customers feel that they are a part of your creative process. This can also help you draw in more customers and build trust. You can even share behind-the-scenes videos showing how you create your products, encouraging viewers to give their comments as a part of the live stream.
Dunkin’ Donuts, for example, in its live video during Valentine’s Day explored its “test kitchen” for viewers showing how it makes new products and creations. The video featured its culinary team preparing a cake made from heart-shaped donuts. The company was successful in garnering great engagement and thousands of views, comments, and likes within just a few minutes.
2. Take in-person events online
You can live stream your events, making your followers feel more connected to your brand. If you are planning an event, you can create a post to let your followers know about it and share specific details of the event through a live video. Involve your viewers and ask them what part of the event they want to see, giving a preview of the topics to be covered. You can even show the announcement or release of your new products through live videos.
Live streaming of events can help your brand get exposure and increase engagement. Engage with your fans while broadcasting, reply to their comments and make them feel acknowledged.
In September 2016, Starbucks organized a live event in Queens, New York on the occasion of National Voter Registration Day. It live-streamed the video of the event where Howard Schultz, the then-CEO of Starbucks along with rapper Common took to stage to encourage the crowd to vote. The viewers were asked to send in questions for the CEO to answer live to promote engagement.
Broadcasting this event live helped Starbucks show its involvement in the community, lending a human touch to the brand. Those who weren’t present in the event too could watch it live and understand its importance and cause. The video introduced members of the Starbucks team to people including its CEO to bridge the gap between the consumers and the brand.
3. Interactive training
It is better to show a live training session to your customers to which they can respond to instead of offering a “how-to” guide. Live videos can be used to show how to use your products and walk your customers through a step-by-step process. You can showcase your expertise by training your users on topics they want to learn. Give them a chance to ask questions and interact with you to present a friendly and relatable face for your company.
Benefit Cosmetics’ “Tipsy Tricks” broadcasts on Facebook live has gained immense popularity. The brand gives tips and tricks on how to apply makeup to viewers, talks about its products, and asks questions of them. This keeps the viewers engaged and gives the company an opportunity to know their product preferences.
4. Interviews
Live interviews are an effective way for your customers to tap into the human side of your organization. You can do live interviews with customers as well as employees to increase engagement. By interviewing employees, you can give an inside look into your organization and its culture. You can even take interviews with influencers and industry leaders to give useful insights and offer opinions to your audience.
Airbnb in its live video interviewed the cast of The Jungle Book at the Airbnb Treehouse by teaming up with Disney. This helped the brand reach a huge audience of Disney fans and create brand awareness. By interviewing celebrities, it could engage with fans and promote itself effectively.
5. Customer service
Using live video for customer service can enhance your brand image and make your clients’ lives easier. It is important for customer service representatives to make the interactions with clients personal to serve them better. Live videos can enable your support team to get in front of the customers for face-to-face resolution of glitches and issues. Live streaming conversations are real-time, helping solve customers’ problems quickly and easily.
Live videos will make your customers think that you care for them and listen to their concerns, thus humanizing the process of query resolution. They offer a great way for customers to engage with your brand, where an actual human representative addresses their concerns instead of a bot. Live videos, therefore, personalize the customer service process and ensure transparency.
Wrapping up
Live video streaming brings with it a host of benefits for brands. With its growing adoption, more brands are expected to use it to encourage active engagement and offer real-time experiences.
It’s important for you too to take advantage of this latest social media offering, and utilize it fully to connect with your prospects and community in a new way. So, get creative and incorporate live streaming in your social media marketing strategy to build deeper and more personal relationships with your audience, and show them who you are.
Guest author: Nidhi is working as a content and branding strategist at ClonesCloud – a leading web and Airbnb Clone development company. She is detail-oriented and multi-faceted, embodying her marketing skills with her vision to identify customer’s needs, precede the best products & services and escalate them to sales.