In this digital world, the importance of integrating videos into your marketing techniques is only projected to rise. Innovative marketers are increasingly using videos and integrating these new ways to engage users to remain relevant and competitive in the industry. In the past decade, there has been a rapid shift from text and visual content to more engaging video content. Businesses who are slow to adapt to their transformation might find themselves dealing with underperforming sites and marketing campaigns. A visitor tends to spend 88% more time on a site with videos than they do with any other type of content.
Businesses can use videos for landing pages, YouTube, emails, training purposes, landing pages, and a lot more. Videos also help brands to introduce themselves to potential customers and build lasting relationships with existing customers and earn new customers.
Live Streaming and VOD
Video streaming is quickly gaining momentum these days with more online audiences embracing streaming like never before especially during the time of COVID-19 pandemic. According to Statista, the Coronavirus outbreak has led to increased digital media consumption in many countries across the globe ac
While most businesses understand the power of videos for promoting their brand and growing their business, they find it challenging to choose the right type of video content for various scenarios. For example, video on demand and live streaming are the two main types of video content which comes with its own advantages and disadvantages.
In recent years there has been a rise in popularity and usage of live streaming apps like Facebook Live, Periscope, Instagram Live, etc. Likewise, video streaming services like Netflix, HBO Now, Disney Plus are gaining momentum as well among viewers who prefer viewing on demand videos. Live streaming probably is an easy way to introduce your brand to the online world. It is a great short-term option that will help you get online and start making money. But considering the longevity of your business, you must consider video on demand (VOD).
According to the type of your business and the demographics of your customers and their preference, any of these content types can be chosen. But, how to choose between VOD vs live streaming. Let’s find out. Once you finish reading this blog, you will have a clear idea about the two and so that you can make a decision fast.
What are on-demand videos?
Video on demand is a way of accessing content from online libraries according to the convenience of users, anywhere, anytime, and on any devices. When traditional broadcast services force users to view content on their schedule, video on demand platformsallow users to access videos at their time.
VOD offers a wide selection of online videos including entertainment, sports, educational programs, movies, TV shows, and feature films. VOD services allow customers to stream content through computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets, smart TV, etc. delivered over the internet.
VOD streaming is not just confined to watching movies and shows on Netflix. You can create on demand videos in any niche like entertainment, sports, religion, education, etc. according to the interest of your audience.
Let’s look into the benefits of video on demand content.
Convenience of access
It is for no reason that video streaming services like Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, and HBO now are gaining popularity among the audience. These video streaming services allow people to view content whenever they like, unlike traditional TV networks. Traditional broadcast services allow people to watch programs on their schedule, whereas the VOD platform allows viewers to watch programs in their own time according to their convenience and choice.
Fewer mistakes
Video on demand content is pre-produced and edited making adequate room for improvements. As making on demand videos take more time in producing and improvising the content, it leads to fewer mistakes as well. VOD allows content creators to improve the videos to a greater degree for delivering a better viewing experience to the audience.
Content varieties to select from
VOD content can be edited to be personalized according to the unique needs of your business before distributing the content. There is always a big space for customizations so that you can bring much-desired variety to your content. You can craft your videos in a way it can go viral than live broadcasts. VOD content is easier to implement if you want to provide the best video quality to your viewers provided that you have a lot of time to create and edit videos.
Ability to leverage editing tools
As on demand videos are pre-made, you can use different editing tools to create and make your videos appealing. You can use creative tools to implement your creative ideas and bring them into life with your videos, which cannot be used in live streaming.
Live Streaming
Live streaming or broadcasting your videos live is a modern streaming technology that lets you create, watch, and share live videos as it is shot. Considering the fact that the live streaming industry is projected to hit $70.05 billion by 2021, live videos are growing popular every year with a huge user base that enjoys and supports live streaming.
Unlike VOD content that is pre-produced and edited, live streaming is live, authentic, and unedited. You just need a smartphone and a stable internet connection, and a live streaming platform or an application to broadcast live from. Let’s explore some of the benefits of live broadcasts.
Simple to produce
When compared with VOD content, live videos are much easier to produce and fits into your budget as well. While you might just need a free social media platform to stream from, you might need a more professional setup including a live streaming software to broadcast your live videos with the best quality.
Takes less time to produce
Considering the time to produce a different type of content like blogs, and VOD content, live videos take quite less time to produce. While the time varies when it comes to traditional video production, it might take a couple of hours to create and edit even the simplest vlog. However, if you create live broadcasts that are 5 minutes long, it just takes 5 minutes.
Real time experience
Online audiences want to become a part of brand stories as they happen. This is why live streaming services for businesses are becoming a sensation today. Nothing is better than seeing your favorite brand showcase something right at the moment. Unlike years before, you can easily become part of your customer’s life instantly with live streaming.
Direct engagement
Live streaming helps to establish a direct and personal connection with brands and the audience. Through live chat and other engagement tools integrated into live streaming platforms, there is a huge possibility of direct engagement with customers is much more direct and personal than VOD.
It’s cheap
If you think about the cost of creating live videos, it is incredibly cheap. In fact, if you are planning to do on a small scale using free social media platforms it’s completely free. Even if you want to do it in a sophisticated professional setup, the cost is quite low making it an affordable option.
When to use video on demand and live streaming
Now that you know about live streaming and streaming video on demand, it’s time to find which is the best option that will help you take your business online to grow your business and generate revenue. VOD makes an effective online asset for your business to deliver more value to your audience for a longer time frame than a live streaming. Whereas, live streaming is an easy way to reach and connect with your audience due to its raw and instantly engaging nature.
Let’s find out when is the best time to use VOD and when you must use live streaming and the advantages of using it together.
When to use VOD
Launching a VOD service works great when you want to provide your target viewers with the convenience of choosing when to watch your content. People use VOD services pretty much every day for various purposes. One of the biggest advantages of streaming video on demand content is that you can produce videos in large batches and create a video library with the content your audience would love. If you want to use VOD to power your marketing activities, you can consider creating VOD service in any niche of your choice.
Corporate training is a good example of when VOD might be a better choice to adopt. You can also use VOD when you are running a business like an online fitness class, or running an online teaching business, or looking for streaming church services, or simply you want your audience to access your pre-made videos.
For example, Fiit is a fitness VOD platform which brings you high quality fitness experiences, regardless of where you are.
With easy integration and security, you can create a video on demand platform that offers the best quality video streams for all types of enterprise solutions.
When to use live streaming
Now that you know the difference between VOD streaming and live streaming and when to use VOD, let’s see when you must use live streaming for your business advantage. Live streaming suits scenarios when you have to establish a personal and authentic connection with your viewers in real-time. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, people would rarely watch a live video again as the second time is not as exciting as the first time. However, the Coronavirus pandemic has changed how people consume live streams.
Online viewers enjoy watching live streams live and again to kill time. Moreover, as most businesses have shut down their services, most of them are shifting their business operations and activities online. As the setup is easy and cheap, more businesses are adapting live broadcasting.
Live streaming or VOD: Deciding factors
Video on demand services set the basics for video streaming for any business, whereas live streaming solutions help to enhance the viewing experience and engagement considerably. Most successful streaming businesses leverage both live streaming and VOD to power their business operations. Use both to create extra layers of value for your business.
An ideal online video streaming business makes use of both types of content. This is how you can utilize both live streaming and video on demand.
Use live streaming to create a premium viewing experience.
Build a foundation of the video library with VOD content.
When your live broadcast ends, you can save the content to repurpose it later and use it for on demand streaming. However, make sure you choose the right type of live streams that have long-term value like interviews with important personalities, Q&A videos, product information, etc. that can be repurposed for future viewing.
Using a combination of both will help you to create a reliable core offering to grow your business, and emotionally connect with your customers for better customer experience and engagement.
Conclusion
Live streaming is the best way to take your business online and reach out to a global target audience for better connectivity and engagement. Whereas, streaming video on demand holds equal significance if you want to ensure better performance of your marketing efforts and build a long term asset which you can count on.
While both live streaming and VOD comes with its own advantages, the best option is to use a combination of both live and on demand streaming for your streaming business that excites your customers, generates more money, and will help you grow your business through the challenges that come on your way. Both live streaming and VOD can be great ways to support your video streaming strategy, it just depends on who your audience is and what you are using your videos for. Regardless of the type of streaming type you choose, the content you create must always be exciting and niche relevant.
Deciding between VOD vs live streamingrequires a detailed analytics of your businesses and its unique requirements. Get in touch with us to know what suits your business the best and how to proceed with business idea execution. We have the expertise of helping businesses to realize their requirements and offering the right video streaming solution that suits them the best.
The wide acceptance and global adoption of live streaming have introduced huge opportunities for businesses that have given rise to various trends. The live streaming industry is booming constantly at a high pace and emerging as a highly sought- after technology and a big trend that is going to take off video content business after video marketing. It started a couple of years back when engagement was the most important aspect of a business goal. The growth of live streaming is incredible and that is why the entire world is moving live.
People love it when they experience live videos that are engaging as compared to the pre-recorded videos. Live videos offer a lot of engagement, interactive elements, and versatile content ideas. This, in turn, will help to gain more reach and increase the conversion rates. Almost all popular businesses have started using social media platforms like Instagram Live, Facebook Live, Periscope, YouTube Live to promote their brands. All these live streaming platforms offer a unique user experience according to the content type and business requirements.
What Will be the Future of Live Streaming?
Live streaming, in fact, is a big industry and highly influential and useful for businesses. Statistics show that live video is more appealing to brand audience to an extent that 80% of them prefer to watch live videos from a brand than reading blogs. Audiences like to watch live videos from their favorite brands as they can directly interact with the business. Statistics show that a typical online user spends 3 times longer watching live videos compared to normal videos. Hence it comes as no surprise that many brands and marketers are adhering to current live streaming trends to increase their brand awareness and to claim success.
Here are some of the recent live streaming trends 2020 prevailing in the industry.
Social Media is Driving Live Streaming Adoption
The increasing popularity of social media networks is driving live video adoption by businesses. We mostly see that live videos are breaking viewership records. Live video applications like Periscope, Facebook Live, IGTV, etc. have skyrocketed in popularity especially among young audiences. Social media live streaming gathers the audience together for a common purpose. From the launch of a new product to an inside look at your company’s work culture, live streaming gives your brand immense opportunities to build a strong community.
Broadcasting live on social media can bolster anticipation amongst your audience. Additionally, social media channels offer plenty of features to reach the live streaming announcements right on the feed of your customers.
360-Degree Videos Will Pick Up the Steam
A 360-degree video is captured with a camera with a lens on both sides to shoot everything around it.360-degree videos will be the new trend in live streaming as a full-on view makes videos completely immersive. Viewers can see everything within the range of cameras whereas the traditional video is limited to wherever the camera is pointing. Along with 360-degree videos, augmented reality and virtual reality also will gain momentum.
This current video trend provides a fully interactive experience where the audience can immerse themselves in a new viewing experience, which is a huge marketing opportunity for any brand. Keeping up with this trend can be a smart way to highlight how your company is favoring new technologies and innovations. Even though 360-degree video craze is still in its infant stage, adopting the trend before anyone else will give you a jumpstart amongst the competition. Additionally, virtual reality powered 360-degree live videos is great in allowing viewers to experience a whole new digital world by putting at the center of your live sessions. So instead of simply watching the video on their screen your viewers will be placed inside an incredible virtual world and become a major part of it.
More Industries are Adopting Live Videos
With live videos being extremely easy to access, many industries are adopting live streaming to power their internal and external environments. Enterprises, governments, education institutions, healthcare providers, and other organizations are all live streaming for a variety of reasons. Ranging from patient care in holding real-time training sessions to an offshore panel of doctors guiding surgical treatments, live streaming technology is gaining momentum in the healthcare industry and enabling patients to have direct communication with healthcare professionals. When you take the educational industry many education organizations have already started using live class strategy to stream lessons.
Live streaming has much to contribute to different industries to bring both brands and customers closer. You can also leverage live streaming to enhance the internal business collaboration of any organization through live meetings. Short live discussions, remote employee training, and communication will bring ample engagement of business with employees and clients. Through ideal live streaming strategies, businesses can amplify their marketing efforts, create more authentic interaction with the audience, and drive sales.
Live Video Experiences Will be Automated
Like now, both artificial intelligence and machine learning will continue to shape the live streaming trends 2020. They hold the key to offer outstanding outcomes when it comes to managing content production and distribution, streamlining encoding workflows, and personalizing the viewing experience. AI will help to create, organize, and distribute content to an audience with less human intervention. AI will detect certain cues in the videos like face and speech recognition, lighting changes, etc. to automate live video production including recording and switching overlays.
8K Videos will Gain Momentum
It has not been very long since 4K has entered the market but audio and visual companies are not carting out 8K computers, TV panels, and cameras. In the coming years, 8K will enter the mainstream but the true adoption of 8K is not very near. As 8K cameras are yet to become affordable, it will take some time for 8K live videos to become the norm. However, considering its current growth rate, in a matter of a few years 8K live videos will become a standard for live streaming. With 5G speeds delivering 8k content to devices, broadcasting top-quality videos will be easier than ever. You will be able to view the power of8K streaming at the 2020 Olympics in Japan where 8k screens around the world will be streaming the event in the highest quality available today.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has laid new inroads in both online marketing and live streaming. The increasing popularity of influencer marketing has given brands a new way to meet the growing demand for offering exceptional customer experience to their audience.
For example, Mashable collaborated with America’s Test kitchen to live stream a cooking show on periscope which increased the exposure and reach.
As influencer marketing thrives on interactive content, live streaming will indeed become a powerful weapon for influencer marketers to reach their loyal audience in real-time on the spot with engaging content. Allowing a popular influencer to take over the live stream for brands is a great way to promote an event, a new product, or to each a group of the target audience in particular. Influencer marketing paired with live streaming can be a valuable resource to create content for promotions and ads. Leveraging affiliate marketing is also a great option for businesses that are new to influencer marketing.
Live Streaming is an Integral Part of any Marketing Strategy
Live streaming is reinventing the way brands plan their marketing strategy. Live videos have already proven to be an essential marketing tool that helps brands engage better with their audience. Today we see brands heavily investing in live streaming set up and content delivery networks to ensure a smooth lime streaming experience to the audience. With its element of authentic real-time human interaction, live streaming helps brands to emerge more approachable and transparent. 95% of businesses consider live videos to be a significant addition to their marketing mix for 2020.
Proven Ways to Use Live Streaming to Build Your Brand
Since 2016, we have been seeing a lot of brands joining the live streaming bandwagon as Instagram unleashed live video, snapchat gained steam, and Facebook introduced video ads. Live streaming has become one of the best ways to forge an authentic and personal connection with customers in real-time. Brands are using live streaming to build and establish a strong presence in the industry and to reach audiences like never before.
If you are a business looking to build a large and better presence, there is no other tool effective than live streaming. Given that 72% of customers engage with personalized marketing messages, you must strongly consider integrating live streaming into your business strategy.
Regardless of whether you are new to live streaming or a seasoned pro, there are some tips that will help you to broadcast successful live streams. Here’s how you can use live videos to build and grow your brand.
Make your Live Broadcasts Personal
When it comes to presenting information on your live videos, there are a lot of ways to do it. You can either narrate things in “first-person” or personalize it in a way that you directly interact with your viewers by addressing them and talking to them. This helps in building a personal relationship with your audience and works great in building your personal brand. Every time you broadcast live, make sure you address viewers by their user name, make eye contact with the audience as if you are speaking to them directly.
Don’t Script it but Prepare a Plan
If you are not used to the idea of live streaming, you might need a little help before broadcasting live. Plan your live videos but don’t make the mistake of trying to script your videos because reading from a script ruins authenticity. It is okay to be prepared and plan but ensure that the video feels natural and real. Reading from a written script creates an off-camera glance and leads to unnatural delivery. To be on the safer side, prepare yourself with a list of main points to guide your content delivery. Recall the written points and practice a few times before you go live.
Go for a Professional Live Streaming Setup
There are plenty of options to broadcast live videos, you can even go live with a quality smartphone. But, if you are a business using live streaming as a marketing tool, it is very important to go for a professional setup. Focus on the video and audio quality and to achieve a good set up, invest on a good camera and microphone. Use a good live streaming solution as well to ensure that there are no delays or lag in your streams. Always do a test live to check the camera, sample the sound and make sure the setup works before you go live.
Diversify your Content
Even though your goal to leverage live streaming is to build your personal brand, you don’t have to rely only on one content strategy. When it comes to content for live videos, you can choose to do product launch coverage, Q & A sessions, interviews, create webinars, show behind the stage, quick live tutorials, etc. For example, when Birchbox collaborated with Benefit cosmetics to showcase its new product BADgal mascara, it bagged in more views and engagement.
Likewise, you can use live videos to broadcast about your new product launch or to explain the working of a product or a service.
Build Your Audience to Promote Your Videos
When you start with live streaming, you might not see much traffic in the initial days. This is why it is important to build a community early on. Once you build your audience, you can promote your live streams through social channels to drive in traffic and increase engagement for your videos. Most importantly, make sure to actively engage the people joining your live videos. This keeps the engagement up, spreads the visibility of your videos and encourages sharing.
Maintain Authenticity
When broadcasting live, make sure you don’t go over the top to drive a point just for the sake of gaining views. You don’t want to grow your brand in a direction that doesn’t reflect the true personality of your business. When you try to portray something that doesn’t match with your brand personality, that will have a negative effect.
Maintain an Entertaining Tone
Although you are a business broadcasting live, it doesn’t mean that you have to maintain a formal tone. By its very nature, live videos are engaging, and hence it is very important to maintain an entertaining tone throughout your live sessions. The content you share will be more memorable when its entertaining and encourages viewers to share what they have watched. You can also add a humorous touch to your videos but with a purpose. The right type of humor, when used at the right time, can keep viewers entertained and will help to improve your brand.
For example, Best Friends paired with Laura Clery to promote the release of their app and Laura infused her live videos with her characteristic humor which turned out to be a huge hit.
Broadcast Live Consistently
With live streaming, it is important to create a schedule and stick to it if you want to build your brand. The more often your stream live videos, the easier it gets, and often your viewers will remember you. This will also ultimately help to improve the quality of the videos you share. Sticking on to a schedule will help your audience to visit your channel to expect regular videos.
Conclusion
Live streaming is one of the fastest-growing marketing tools out there as it is incredibly easy to set up and doesn’t require a lot of investment but it can do wonders for your business growth. When you facilitate a personal interaction with your viewers, you are creating an authentic connection with your target market.
The future of live streaming video is quite bright. By 2021, videos will account for over 82% of the whole internet traffic and live videos will make up 13% of it. For channeling effective business growth along with live streaming trends, brands must ensure to avail the technology in the most efficient way to increase profitably.
As the devices are getting smarter and the internet is getting faster, the closely associated trends are also clutching the stage. Online video streaming has gone through an unprecedented evolution and has influenced the market share of its closely related segment –traditional pay TV t a great extent. Looking at the stats released by Deloitte for the year 2017, we can conclude that-
55% of the US population is now using paid video streaming services.
48% of US consumers stream the same TV content via online services.
US consumers paid $2 billion monthly subscriptions to video streaming services.
The taste of entertainment and media consumers is changing. We can see a shift both in the ways video streaming services function today and the ways consumers consume the media content. Though this massive shift did not occur overnight. It was a gradual proliferation that actively involved the advancement in the technologies being used to-
Broadcast the online content to the global audience.
Consume the online content from the end-users’ side.
How did this shift occur?
2015 was an imperative eon for upgrades in the streaming friendly internet technology. We saw a shift from the legacy streaming protocols to the specially crafted overlay networks, dedicated streaming protocols, and custom servers for faster buffer free content delivery. The new infrastructure supported the advanced content delivery mechanisms like –
Breaking data packets in small chunks
Enlarging the geo-boundaries and loss-less streaming.
HTTP-based WebRTC streaming directly direct browsers.
These advancements when implemented on contemporary video streaming software, aided streaming services to –
Reduce video infrastructure cost.
Simplify the network organization.
Upscale the IT and server infrastructure.
Enhance video streaming quality and UX.
How it affected the legacy streaming operations?
For most of the video streaming services and organizations that used the legacy technologies, infrastructure, and protocols, the modern shift was a decisive modulation. For example, the new setup offered a better alternative. So most of the video streaming software development companies,white label streaming services, infrastructure providers, and the associated service vendors adapted to the change and closed their legacy operations.
Now, the video streaming services still stuck with the legacy technology faced a forced situation to adopt the inevitable change. Otherwise, they would have to be ready to face challenges such as –
Limited choice of hardware infrastructure
Limited streaming software support
Limited vendors for associated API support
An eventual boost in the delayed migration cost
Bottom line: The shift to the modern stack was not an option but a necessary move if the streaming services and business intended on continuing their operations and enhance the end-user experience with a better tech stack, reduced operational cost, and up-scaled streaming quality.
How the world adapted to modern video streaming?
Early adopters took no time to migrate. They saw a new arena of broadened possibilities and enhanced video streaming business operations. However, this transition was not a sudden explosion. The 2008 Summer Olympic had already laid a foundation of new expectations for it.
For the first time ever, they streamed the entireSummer Olympicin high definition video quality. With a partnership between Microsoft and NBC, they delivered the smoothest video streaming world had ever seen by then. In a very short span of just 2 weeks, almost 50 million unique visitors streamed 70 million times to watch 10 million hours of video content.
This joint venture by a tech giant and the well-known broadcaster laid a milestone. It’s not that such attempts were not made in the past, but this time a complete broadcast in HD quality was a wonder. The event made it clear that the internet is much scalable to stream huge, high-quality, stable, and seamless video content.
Foundations of Modern Streaming Technologies
The success of HTTP streaming for the Olympics was mainly an indication for something bigger. They used the simple but very powerful architecture. HTTP streaming proved its significance by fully adapting to the laid network topology and leveraging the stateless and cache-based internet architecture. Contrastingly, the custom streaming protocols hinder the underlying architecture and fail to leverage the internet to the fullest.
Here are a few of the fundamental aspects that make contemporary video streaming infrastructure better:
1. Content delivery in small chunks:
The modern transmission protocols divide a video file into multiple smaller chunks and transmit each chunk independently through different routes across the internet. The routing manages the sequence of the delivery and transports the final content in the original form at the user end.
2. Independent chunk transmission:
Each of the chucks takes independent routes while in transmission and none are dependent on the previous requests. That means the video playback is independent of the need for a persistence connection between the device and the origin server.
3. HTTP-based transmission protocols:
The chunked-segments travel across the internet and the local WAN networks using a single HTTP protocol. The HTTP protocol is equipped with both abilities to transmit unencrypted content through TCP port 80 and 443 for SSL-encrypted content.
4. CDN-based global HTTP caching:
Content delivery networks (CDN) have made transmission smoother through dynamic caching. CDNs use HTTP caches across the internet and corporate WANs. This helps them to cache and store segmented data to different nodes and deliver them to the nearest device much faster. This passive network architecture ensures a dynamic buffering of the content from the nearest nodes without fetching them from the origin server each time.
5. Adaptive bitrate switching:
The biggest driver of advancement in the video streaming market is adaptive bitrate switching. The video is encoded on multiple formats and resolutions for different qualities. Streaming engines use adaptive bitrate switching to dynamically adjust the stream quality according to the internet bandwidth and device playback capacity. It minimizes the buffering efforts and delivers seamless packets in an adaptive environment.
Benefits of modern streaming for businesses and consumers
The advancements in the tech stack and addition of modern protocols opened doors for easy broadcast to the multitude. The HTTP streaming was indeed superior to legacy protocols like RMTP and RTSP in terms of streaming quality. However, it also made the paid streaming services possible and allowed an enhanced user experience to the end users. Ultimately, we could see the positive effects on business operations as well.
1. It slashed the infrastructure complexity
The default HTTP streaming using TCP ports 43 and 443 were competent to adapt to the caching-friendly internet architecture. Unlike legacy protocols, you are no more required to develop dedicated infrastructure for caching management.
HTTP protocol can seamlessly travel the firewalls. Every corporate network always keeps its TCP ports 80 and 443 open while restricting the RMTP and RTSP protocols. Hence, it made the streaming implementation easier in corporate WAN networks and businesses could by-pass the need for dedicated infrastructure to manage the flow of traffic from white-label video streaming services.
2. It reduced the overall implementation cost
In addition to the cost saved by eliminating the need for above to separate infrastructures, the streaming services and corporates can now also save the investments in server hardware and additional software to manage video overlay.
Next, by using the CDN based dynamic caching, the business can now save the extra bandwidth required to fetch the content from origin server each time some user makes a request. The HLS based streaming can adapt to the existing HTTP server network and save the cost of extra hardware and software for caching. CDN implementation made streaming smoother and allowed branded and white label video streaming services to expand their business globally.
3. It enhanced the user-end payback experience
With dynamic bitrate switching the video streaming has become accessible through any device and even via a slower internet bandwidth. Besides that, HTTP can adapt to the popular video and audio codecs (H.264, AAC, etc.), which make streaming further accessible across a wide range of devices. It gave a broader consumer base to the video streaming services and opportunity to expand their business. Now a user could stream both from a high-speed Ethernet connection and through a mobile internet network.
4. It scaled the infrastructure for streaming businesses
Legacy protocols had limited scalability. Streaming services could upscale their broadcast capacity only by investing in additional hardware and software. With HTTP-based modern protocols, they got inherited scalability and also some advanced native supports like mirroring and edge caching, which also allowed seamless CDN integrations.
Using it, now a particular stream was accessible by the masses and CDN services could use the existing infrastructure to boost the reachability with reduced network latency. With faster content delivery, the HTTP protocol now supported both on-demand and high-quality live video streaming.
The above benefits allowed white-labeled video streaming services to extend their operations from corporates to general consumers. Now they could broadcast as many content to as many users at a time. Which ultimately got the names of branded video streaming services or OTT streaming services. For example, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu, etc.
5. Introduction to the e-sports
The reduced latency and improved stream quality did not only evolved the way video was broadcasted but also for a lot of other media too. Be video, image, text, or Gif, the contemporary HTTP based CDNs can transmit any type of content.
On this budging edge, a new form of streaming is budding gradually- eSports. The new concept leverages multi-player video game competitions as content and broadcasts the live gameplays direct to the internet audience. This sphere alone is a multi-billion dollar global industry and is expected to grow over $1.5 billion by 2020.
Video streaming market has changed a lot since modern protocols were introduced. There is a lot more that can be done in this industry. With this rate, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see global Paid TV market being surpassed by the OTT-streaming very soon. The coming era of 5G infrastructure is yet to come. You never know what is possible with a 5G speed and what else can you broadcast further. It is certain that AI will become an inseparable part and we will see some intelligent routing, bitrate adaptation, and smoother content transmission. AR and VR streaming will become more prevalent. For now, just know that the finest of online video streaming wonders is yet to arrive.
Live streaming industry is full of marquee names. The industry has Facebook Live, Twitter’s Periscope, Instagram Stories and Snapchat. Businesses have lofty expectations on live streaming platforms as they help brands communicate with audiences. Interaction and customer engagement is the formula that brands are faithfully sticking to. And yes, viewers prefer live videos from brands and not just run-of-the-mill social media posts.
To say live streaming is an overnight phenomenon is wrong in many ways. Many industry leaders are convinced that live video streaming is an extension of video marketing. They are also convinced that live streaming lends stability and shape to marketing strategies.
The returns on live video streaming are amazing. Brands do not require any expensive or fancy paraphernalia. They just require an HD camera, a tripod, and a good internet connection. Many popular live streaming platforms are absolutely free. Let’s look at some numbers.
Facebook has more than 2.2 billion active users. Interestingly, Facebook Live has 360 million active users. Periscope has 10 million users while the number of active users is 1.9 million. Of course, its numbers aren’t as impressive as those of Facebook. Let’s now look at Instagram. Instagram Stories has more than 300 million daily active users. Snapchat has an estimated 191 million daily active users. To be upfront, the numbers are overwhelmingly large!
Can brands ignore such numbers? No! Brands should use different live streaming platforms to their advantage and to the fullest.
There is this FOMO – Fear of Missing Out factor which is fast catching up with viewers. To satiate their curiosity and immense anxiety, viewers are tuning into live streaming. More importantly, audiences want to gratify their intellectual curiosity and hence, brands should use live video streaming to educate customers about the benefits and advantages of their product and service offerings.
The infographic below gives a quick insight into why you should consider live video for your business or brand, which platforms to use, and what formats to explore.
Live streaming business has developed to become the most loved in the course of a couple of years. Consumers are inclining toward live content to on-demand content recently. Everybody needs to perceive what’s going on live. The transformation started with user-created live content and with Snapchat stories being the pioneer.
Previously, over-the-top (OTT) live content was restricted to games and news just, and in a few sections, it may have been received for religious projects and lecturing sessions as well.
In any case, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram took live streaming service to the next level. Watchers are presently ready to appreciate the ongoing content by streaming live instead of the recorded content that can be played on-demand.
Live video streaming is pertinent for broadcasting live projects, occasion coverage and so on. It’s more helpful for individuals who are in various locations and need to get up to acquire a program shot somewhere else. This, however, diminishes the cost of relishing a program by dodging costs caused due to commute, lodging, nourishment, time, and others.
How about we see why Live Streaming and the live stream service have picked up fame?
Live content does not suffer from lag. It empowers ongoing conveyance of content to a few gadgets over the globe in the meantime. In any case, some live streaming stages offer a deferred live support of games content with the expectation of free clients and in the meantime a constant stream with zero lags for premium clients.
Live broadcasters can talk to watchers on user-created live streaming stages, for example, Bigo, Facebook Live Streaming, Live.me, and so on. This makes live content more responsive and intuitive as watchers will have the capacity to bring up issues and broadcasters can react to them and connect with their issues.
Although live streaming administrations, for example, Periscope or Twitter Live Streaming enable users to spare their broadcasts for some other time, individuals can pick not to demonstrate their content again. This attitude can enable viewers to drive viewership because of the concern of missing out on a great opportunity among their millennial fan base.
Viewers look to wind up being a part of stories as and when they happen. This is one major motivation behind why applications streaming live video are a sensation today. For viewers, getting their most loved celebrities live in real life presents to them a continuous fan encounter that they unquestionably would prefer not to lose a major opportunity for.
Viewers would now be able to end up being a portion of their most loved stars’ life in a flash. Broadcasters can stream occasions like photo-shoots, celebrity gatherings, get-away, and also include their devotees as a piece of their life. Organizations, then again, can give a sneak look into their corporate culture and hardworking attitudes utilizing live streaming talks and sessions with top administrators.
Live streaming brings a practice that does not stop on the double; being an innovation that captures occasions and emotions live. It ordinarily keeps running on HTTP Live Streaming convention or Real-Time Messaging Protocol and requires a detailed content delivery chain that can procedure a live stream support incorporated into a streaming stage.
Video-on-request (VOD) has cemented its place in the OTT business by enabling individuals to watch anything whenever. Netflix remodeled the VOD situation worldwide and afterward, the online streaming business boomed. A couple of years back tech organizations and micro-blogging destinations, for example, Twitch, Facebook, and Twitter drew out the genuine energy of online live streaming.
Twitch let gamers broadcast their gaming sessions on the web and it was an immense hit in the realm of video gaming. Gamers around the globe could watch and learn best practices, grabbed tricks and tips, and stalked professional gamers for self-improvement.
Not quite a while later, Facebook thought of a live streaming service that enabled any client to go live on air and audiences could interface with them.
To top this, committed live streaming stages came up in the market, Bigo being the principal mover. The stage not only empowered live broadcasts and viewer connection as well as brought online gaming into the act.
Clients could manufacture profiles in the live streaming application and in light of their usage and fame they were granted badges and level ups. This urged more clients to join the stream and they started paying to achieve more elevated amounts.
Just after Bigo which is generally well known all inclusive, came Live.me and YouNow. Periscope is another player in the live streaming section that spotlights on labels like travel, games, and music. Different applications and sites have come up off late that give stages to average people to communicate live and possess their own live stream ideas and gears. All in all its just a totally new involvement.
Live online video has outpaced the development of VOD, with a 113% expansion in promotion development since a year ago.
For mobile live streaming, normal time spent is 2.8 minutes for VOD while it’s 3.5 for live streams. On tablets, normal time spent is 4.1 minutes for VOD while it’s 7.1 minutes for live streams. On the PC, normal time spent is 2.6 minutes for VOD while 34.5 minutes for live streams. Obviously, live streaming eclipses VOD in terms of utilization on all sharing media.
Another fascinating reality is that watchers take 8 times longer observing live video (42.8 minutes) than on-demand video (5.1 minutes).
80% of viewers like to observe live video from a brand than experiencing their blog, and 82% of viewers favor live video from a brand than read their social posts. 45% of live video groups of onlookers would pay for living, elite, on-demand video from a most loved group, speaker, or entertainer.
Disregarding the business utilization of live streaming, generation and utilization of live content have taken off huge in the US and Latin America, however, APAC is by all accounts the problem area, particularly China.
With the dawn of the year 2018, live streaming business in China surpassed USD 4.76 billion. As per Wu Jiangbo, leader of the service’s Cultural Market Department, live streaming income enhanced by 39% since the earlier year.
Games live streaming platforms has been awarded as one of the greatest upgrades and it is only one stage towards the microscopic approach which we can find from live streaming and live streaming stages.
The live streaming pattern has turned out to be popular to the point that Nasa and SpaceX are in chats with top tech players to utilize live streaming stages and fine-tune their approach towards the crowd by upgrading their own knowledge. It would be exceptionally intriguing to see how this configuration of over-the-top (OTT) content does in the years to come.
Going through these details you can certainly find out how the live streaming business is growing as fast and huge as VOD.
