7 Reasons to Live Stream Your Company’s Events

With a global industry worth over $184.3 billion, it’s no secret that event live streaming is on the rise. This makes sense when you consider that it engages all types of viewers by providing visual, auditory, and social stimulation for those watching. It also fosters a sense of connection between presenters and viewers since it gives interested parties a real human speaker to connect with.

These are only a couple of minor benefits of showing a live stream to online viewers, however. Here, we’re going to take an in-depth look at some of the reasons that streaming audio and video and audio is a good idea for any business event. Read on for some ideas on how you can boost your engagement and ultimately attain your objectives in the best possible way.

1. Create Engagement

The fact that 73% of people are more likely to make a purchase after watching a video is solid proof that video content is extremely important. Videos also generate 1200% more shares across all social media platforms than text and images do. Since this is the type of media that people want to see, producing and showcasing it to your target audience can help you to make sales.

Live streaming is a unique type of video content that people will especially enjoy. They can watch and interact during the event itself, but it will also provide them with a way to engage with your business later. When viewers click on the video that allows them to replay the live stream on your website or social media page, they are likely to stay longer and learn more about your content.

Therefore, they’ll be more likely to engage with your content on a deep enough level to generate questions and comments. This can lead to them reaching out to you, having positive experiences with your business, and ultimately making purchases.

2. Save Resources

If video engagement is the reason that live streaming is so likeable, you may be wondering why you shouldn’t just create and upload video content. The answer to this question not only lies in the merits of real-time engagement but also in the fact that live streaming saves both time and money.

A semi-professional video costs a business anywhere between $1500-3000. If you want a fully-professional one, costs can reach up to $20,000. Amateur videos that you make yourself will also cost a lot since you’ll need to purchase platforms, hire designers, and script your video.

Costs are so high because video production has a lot of stages. Brainstorming, scripting, filming, editing, and integrating a single 2-minute video can take months. This is a waste of time that could be spent actually getting people to engage with your business. Combine this lost time with the extremely high price that you’ll be shelling out to a production company, and video content can be wasteful.

Live streaming is nearly free when you have the platform required for it. The only expense besides streaming software will be paying the presenters.

3. Generate Leads

Live streaming can help you to identify who exactly you’re talking to. This gives you a better feel as to who is actually interested in your products (and therefore who you should target in future marketing campaigns).

You can generate leads by:

• Asking people a few questions about themselves before they enter the stream (their name, occupation, etc)
• Going back to look at the email addresses of those who watched the stream
• Going back and viewing the comments on the stream to analyze their social media pages
• Looking at who is viewing the stream after it has ended (and you have uploaded it to your website/social media pages)
• Seeing who is sending questions in to have your presenters answer them
• Analyzing the questions that people ask and determining what their interests are with regards to your services
• Using cookies to gather information about viewers (such as how they found your stream or what search engine query they made to get to you)

4. Communicate in Real-Time

We brushed earlier on the fact that live streaming tools promote real-time engagement with content. This is especially easy since Studio has a built-in messaging system that allows all viewers to chat with each other during the live stream. They can talk about the services that you offer, the topics that you’re discussing, and ideas that matter within the industry that you’re targeting.

Viewers can also easily send questions to presenters in real-time. This allows for clarification on any points that are made as they’re brought up. No one will be left behind in your live stream as they would be in a video where they couldn’t ask questions about your topics or services.

Having an agenda that will be updated in real-time also allows people to engage better with the content. They’ll see what’s coming up next and be better able to relate current content with future topics. On the flip side, they also will be able to look back at previous content to remind themselves of context for things that you talk about later in your stream.

5. Identify Your Specific Niche

Live streams are awesome because they require a lot of commitment from your followers to watch. This means that only those who are truly interested in the services or subjects that you’re discussing will be in attendance. While this may sound bad since you’ll be reaching fewer people, it actually is beneficial since it filters out uninterested and unrelated audiences.

This means that you’ll have the opportunity to cut right to the discussions that matter without first covering basic concepts that would bore your target audience. It also means less time wasted by people asking uninformed and misinformed questions. It lets you talk about things that will keep the most interested people on their toes so that your live stream can be relevant and informed.

6. Anyone, Anywhere Can View

You may also have considered reaping the benefits of an open forum or panel discussion in person. While these are awesome in some instances, they don’t provide the opportunity for those who live far away to see your presentation. This is especially problematic in small niches that have experts spaced out all throughout the nation (or the world).

Allowing for remote viewing lets people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get in on the discussion to do so. You’ll reach all relevant members of your target audience rather than just the ones that are near you geographically.

Another reason that remote viewing is a great tool is that it allows people to share ideas from many different areas. People in California may operate differently than those in the same industry in New York. Having a forum where there are many different people from all walks of life benefits everyone because there is more diversity in the ideas that they hear.

7. It’s Schedule-Friendly

After your live stream has been completed, you can upload it in its entirety to one of many online platforms. Imbedding it in your official website is a possibility, and sharing it on social media is a great way to get many people to view it who otherwise wouldn’t.

This is the time to try to capture the interest of people who aren’t in your primary audience- the stream has already happened and was fully targeted to the viewers who already cared about the subject.

Those in your initial target audience can also go back and rewatch the stream as many times as they would like. This lets them review the information so that they can remember it better. It also allows them to find certain segments of the stream that they found interesting and do a closer watch of them.

Get Started

While there are many ways to reach a remote, niche, and busy target audience, live streams are the best way to generate engagement. They’re visually appealing, attention-grabbing, and interesting from beginning to end. Now that you know why it’s important to live stream your events, it’s time to begin setting up a streaming platform that makes audience engagement easy. Schedule a demo with our Product Specialists to see Shoflo tools in action.