Streaming has become such a normal part of our lives. It’s how we watch our TV, listen to our music and consume our favourite influencer content. But did you know that live- streaming can also be a helpful tool within your business? Here are five ways how.
It creates community
First of all, live streaming through social media is one of the quickest ways to create a sense of community. It provides a space for real-life face-to-face interaction, so unlike pre-recorded or promotional content, your customers feel that they are part of your brand’s story, rather than just being targeted with sales. It’s more organic, it’s cheaper than traditional marketing and it makes your audience feel valued as individuals, particularly if you make sure to prioritise answering their comments and questions while live streaming.
It encourages online searches
Like any streaming (including non-live), engaging content is always going to encourage watchers to search content later on, henceforth leading them to your products or website. Just take a look at Express VPN’s data on sports streaming and this will become clear. There is a direct link between the streamed content that people are watching and the internet searches they make. This is a powerful tool that you can utilise in order to redirect clicks to your website, especially if you include a subtle call to action within your streams.
It offers live customer service
According to Forbes, more and more businesses are live streaming their business events, however, a growing proportion of them are also using the format to answer customer queries and requests too. Once again, this helps to create a sense of community and trust, but also shows authenticity, because if you’re likely to answer a question on air, then consumers are more likely to see you as honest. This is also especially helpful if you are often inundated with the same question repeatedly because it means you can address it in an informal but widespread format.
It showcases a more relatable business face
People don’t want to see shiny perfect brands anymore. Rather they want to see what happens behind the scenes and what could be more casual than a live stream, in which you can show audiences what happens behind the curated image, hence adding a more human element to your brand. Just look at how some brands have used TikTok to create relatable content, as shown here by Hubspot and it will become clear that casual content is the way forward when it comes to building a following.
It fosters online engagement
And last but not least, live streaming creates engagement on your social media page. Not surprisingly since it’s estimated that 63% of millennials watch live streams regularly, with the figures estimated to be even higher among Gen Z. Perhaps obviously, this means that people are more likely to interact with the rest of your content, and therefore will be led to supporting your brand more generally – which of course is always a good thing.