Live video streaming is the hot buzz term of 2015 right now with Meercat and Periscope leading the way in the user generated video content revolution. Now, anyone with a camera phone can stream their world for all to see and of course this extends to brands as well as individuals. It’s fresh, it’s social and best of all it’s free! Mobile devices have opened up a whole new world of possibilities for end users and marketers and live video provides an excellent opportunity for engagement.
So how can live video improve your marketing campaigns? Here are 4 practical ways to use live video in your next marketing campaign.
#1 Interviews
My experience as a Social Media Manager is that fans love to read interviews and the realer the better. An interview with your CEO which includes a few fun questions will always get record levels of engagement because it is showing a human side to your brand and you know… people buy from people! So what if you could use live video to take your expert interviews to a whole new level? What if you could interview your expert and then open the session for questions via your social media channels? Awesome? Yes I think so. Whilst the interview will need to be prepared, it shouldn’t be closely scripted and the more natural the better. Once you are confident with the concept, why not extend your interviews into panel discussions, commentary and client testimonials?
#2 Events
If you’re hosting an event why not use live videos to really extend your reach to non-attendees? For example… if you are having a physical event… let’s say a music concert… only people in that vicinity can attend. However, you can extend your fan base by streaming live video of the event and promoting it through your social media channels. Go behind the scenes, meet the band, meet the fans and stream your live video through your Twitter channel, for example, using Periscope. If you turn on Twitter sharing, then your broadcast will automatically be shared with your followers in a tweet such as this:
LIVE on #Periscope: [Video Title] [Link to Video]
At present, you cannot customize the link but you can certainly create virality using the link and a campaign hashtag. The beauty of doing this is that you will reach a larger fanbase and can produce a video which can continue to gather support and assist your SEO for years to come just by being on your channel.
#3 Product Tutorials
Want to show your fans how easy your product is to use? Why not employ live video streaming in real time with no edits to show how it works. As with interviews you need to prepare in advance but if things don’t go exactly to plan you can simply roll with it. If something goes wrong, use this as a way to explain the product in more detail and have some fun. You could then create a playlist on your YouTube or video channel dedicated entirely to “How To” videos. Take it one step further and embed these videos into campaign landing pages to show visitors the benefits of your product in just a few minutes. This could be just what they need in order to take the next step towards a sign up or purchase.
#4 Content Marketing
There are some really cool brands around right now who are rocking live video for content marketing, one of which is Heineken. Using live video for content marketing effectively means that the entire structure of your campaign centres around live video. Heineken has been using Snapchat for a while and employs high levels of user interaction in each campaign. In fact, their profits rose by 11% in the past year so is it a coincidence that 20% of their ad budget was spent on digital media? Check out Heineken’s “Champion The Match” campaign which employs live video techniques hosted on their YouTube channel. Their use of live video allows them to combine 3D Guerilla marketing techniques with online social virality.
I hope you enjoyed reading 4 Practical Ways To Use Live Video. Do you use live video in your marketing campaigns? Does it work for you? Tweet me @charli_says and let me know.