The Most Successful Move Your Brand Can Make
Live Streaming
If you’ve been on the internet at all in the past couple years, you’ve likely watched a live stream. Almost every single major social media platform has incorporated it as a front and center feature. Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok all include this functionality. Live streaming allows users to share “current events” via video at the click of a button. It’s that easy.
Why?
We live in an on-demand world, where information is at our fingertips every second of the day. News, trends and current events are more accessible and free flowing now than in any other time in our history. Many social media platforms are seeing as many as 10 billion video views per day. According to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook alone garners 100 million hours of video views from over 500 million users per day. It is speculated that roughly 70% of all internet use will be dedicated to video. With this reach, companies, brands and entrepreneurs have the potential to expose their brands at global proportions. They are no longer confined by zip code.
You may be asking yourself, “why is live streaming so important? What will it do for me or my brand?” The most important answer to these questions is that live streaming allows you to connect with your audience in real-time. You can give them instantaneous value and they can give you instant feedback. They can be involved in the conversation directly, making them feel like they are part of something, like they are being heard. You are forming a community that can interact with you and each other, by sharing thoughts, ideas and most importantly, their voices. This is the biggest value exchange that any company, brand or entrepreneur can create in this day and age where it is easy to get lost in the white noise.
What can you do? Get there now.
The first thing you can do is get yourself on any of the platforms that I referenced above. You likely already have a Facebook or Instagram profile, but if you don’t, sign up. It’s free and easy. Next, get online and go live. The best way to learn is by doing it. Go live, fail fast, learn what works for you and your brand, then do it over and over again until you start making waves. It’s a process and it will take some time and patience to build. The old adage, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” holds very true in this arena.
I recommend getting a start by “documenting” rather than “creating” content. People want to see what is real. Start there. Share your story, share your ideas, share your products. Grow a community of rabid fans by using honest storytelling and exchange of ideas. Involve your audience. Ask them for their input. Ask them questions. Give. Production value and fancy video quality can come later, after you’ve put in the hard work. Tech will always change, and I always recommend keeping up with the trends, but here, at the very beginning of your live streaming journey, add value first.
Are you already live streaming? If not, why not?