Getting Started with Live Video

Getting Started with Live Video
Hosting an in-person event is a great way to engage with your customers and offer them a special experience.
by Colleen Egan May 30, 2017 — 4 min read
Getting Started with Live Video

Hosting an in-person event is a great way to engage with your customers and offer them a special experience. The only downside? Your reach is limited to the number of people who are able to attend and the number of people your space (and budget) can accommodate.

That’s why live video events are a game changer: You can engage with a wider audience and enable more people to experience what would otherwise be limited by time, location, and cost. Here are some things to consider before hosting your first live video event.

Make sure the event is worth watching.

There’s no shortage of video content available today, so make sure to set your event apart by creating something that your customers can’t get anywhere else. Here are some examples:

Plan, plan, plan.

Part of the appeal of live streaming video is that, unlike much of what you see on social media, it’s not edited, retouched, or overproduced. So, while you don’t need to hire an expensive video production crew (you can do this with just you and your phone), you still need to plan.

Here are some questions you should answer before you go live:

Promote your event.

The biggest indicator of your live video event’s success is, of course, getting people to watch it. So you need to promote your video.

In the days leading up to the event, publish posts on your social channels announcing the video and reminding your followers about it. Remember to think about calls to action in your social posts. “Tune in to watch the video” should be a no-brainer. But if you want people to participate in your video, think about a CTA that asks them to submit questions. You might also ask them to tag their friends or share the video to increase your audience.

You might consider buying ads or sponsoring a post on the social media outlet where you’re broadcasting the event. And if you’re planning to stream a larger event or one with special guests, think about inviting social media influencers to spread the word to their followers, too.

Outside of social media, think about sending out an announcement to your current customers through your email marketing system. You could follow up with reminders about the video by including it in other email you send regularly, like a newsletter.

Measure your impact.

The way you measure the success of your live video event depends, in part, on the platform that you use. Of course, you should be looking at total views or viewers. But think about other metrics that may be available on your platform and signal engagement from your audience. Can you see average time of viewing, for example? Or can you see how many comments or reactions your video gets?

Reuse video when possible.

The best part of many live video platforms is that after the event you have a piece of content for your library. To get the most out of your hard work, try to use your video (if it exists after broadcast) in other campaigns. For example, you can send out the video in an email after the fact.

Live video can be a really exciting and engaging way to talk to your customers (or potential customers). It’s one of the hot marketing ideas that we’ve highlighted this year — take a look at the others.

Colleen Egan
Colleen Egan writes for Square, where she covers everything from how aspiring entrepreneurs can turn their passion into a career to the best marketing strategies for small businesses who are ready to take their enterprise to the next level.

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