Live video streaming has come a long way from the old times when transferring video over the Internet was not even possible. Today, individuals and businesses across the world use live streaming as a tool for communication and marketing, as well as modern means of offering entertaining content to the audience.
The advancements in cloud computing have revolutionized live streaming and brought in the emergence of massive corporations and popular live streaming platforms. When you analyze in-depth, live streaming and the cloud network share a symbiotic relationship. One will not expand without the other growing. The increasing demand for live streaming has grown rapidly and the cloud business has also experienced a stable growth curve.
In the past live streaming was limited to traditional TV broadcast networks. However, today with the expansion of cloud networks, anyone can stream a quality video that is close to the broadcast networks. The increasing demand for live streaming will require cloud technology to expand at a rapid rate to meet this rising demand.
Benefits of Live Streaming For Your Business
Undoubtedly live streaming presents a brand new way of digital communication, content consumption, and promotion. Beyond the growth of the audience hooked to live content, live streaming presents a great way to drive revenue for businesses. Streaming live videos to your customer base may sound like a fun and easy thing to do. However, implementing a live streaming strategy requires careful planning to achieve your business goals. Before learning how to start a live streaming business, it is important to understand the benefits of live streaming.
Here are some of the benefits of live streaming for your business.
Low Barriers to Entry
Most of the time, all that is needed to live stream is a smartphone, an internet connection, and a social media profile. This ease of entry to leverage the potential of live streaming makes it the most effective marketing tool.
Real-Time Communication
When you conduct a live streaming event of your business, you are engaging with your audience in real-time. This gives your viewers a sense of belonging to the moment as people love being part of stories as they happen. They actively understand more about your business in a personal way and are likely to share it with their friends.
Interaction
Live streaming evokes a sense of excitement among your audience. During your live streaming, you can ask questions and connect with your audience, offer to poll, or get creative to any extent to engage them. The live streaming itself is inherently about building a community to make your customers feel inclusive and exclusive at the same time.
Cost Reduction
Some brands use live streaming as a part of their training programs, webinars, employee onboarding, or even seminars. Everyone who is physically and virtually present receives the same training simultaneously, thereby saving the company’s budget. Implementing live streaming in your business strategy can save a lot of money in the long run.
Why Is Live Streaming More Popular Than Video Streaming?
Compared to pre-recorded videos, live videos are in high demand with the younger audience. It is mainly because they feel more engaged with live content than pre-recorded content, Further, live videos are more engaging to users due to its “real” element as it is exciting to witness something that is not scripted.Statistics show that people tend to watch live videos 3 times longer than other types of videos on Facebook.
Video on demand content in many aspects is the exact opposite of live streaming content. Video on demand is a traditional system of creating and sharing content. Create a video, upload it on video sharing platforms like YouTube for the viewers to watch it, and you are good to go.
While there are some obvious benefits to video on demand like the ability to have more control over video creation and publishing, live streaming is a modern approach to the traditional way of creating video content and hence, the most preferable choice these days. But, it doesn’t mean that live streaming alone can satisfy your marketing needs. A combination of live streaming and video on demand is what your business needs.
Both have their own benefits and there is a lot you can achieve from embracing the best of both. For example, you can repurpose live content for on-demand viewing. Once the live stream is over, you can upload the videos to video-sharing platforms and make it on-demand content.
That’s not to say that live streaming doesn’t have its drawbacks. Live streaming can be more technically demanding than traditional methods when you want to add a professional edge to your live videos. It might require you to buy additional gears, capture cards, multiple card setups, and a professional live video streaming software for high-end streaming.
That’s without even mentioning the importance of upload speeds and cloud technology for live streaming. So yes, it can get demanding if you want to create a high-quality live streaming experience. However, the engagement factor is so popular today that it alone would make worthwhile to explore live streaming for your business.
Benefits of Cloud Technology For Live Streaming
The age of domestic servers has been surpassed by a quiet revolution of cloud technology. When you create a live streaming website, you have to deliver live content to a range of devices in a matter of seconds. To get things in place, you need to choose a technology to support your services. There is no one size fits all approach as every scenario comes with a unique set of requirements.
Handles Compatibility Issues and Encoding
A major advantage of using cloud technology for your live streaming service is that both encoding and device compatibility issues will be taken care of. For example, cloud services like Microsoft Azure offer a multiple platform player for displaying studio-grade encoding that is dynamically encrypted with 28 bit AES. There are no server upgrades to worry about which can free up resources as well.
Scalability
The scalability of cloud-hosted solutions for live streaming represents another major advantage of eliminating the startup costs associated with physical servers. This ensures that customers only pay for the services they are using at a given time. As the number of users increases, greater bandwidth can be allocated to offer multiple streaming simultaneously and offer buffer-free viewing on a number of output devices.
Current and Future Trends in Live Streaming
Keeping aside the ease of access, live streaming is loved by people. Live streaming is an excellent opportunity for two-way interaction with your target audience. The popularity of live streaming apps like snap chat, Periscope, Facebook live, etc. supports this idea. Here are some of the current trends in live streaming.
Social Media Dominion
We have witnessed the demand for live streaming on social media capturing significant events across the world. We are also seeing eSports live streaming constantly breaking viewership records. Live streaming services like Periscope, Snapchat, Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and IGTV has skyrocketed its popularity, especially among the younger audience. Sending live videos as a method of communication with peers seems to be natural for the young generation.
Marketing Media of Choice
Live streaming video is reinventing the way brands plan their marketing strategies. Live streaming has already become an essential marketing tool that can help businesses grow. Brands are becoming more willing to invest in live streaming than ever. Reports show that 95% of businesses say that live video will be an important part of their 2020 marketing mix, with 25% stating that “live content will be a top priority, edging out the scope of pre-recorded videos. We also see businesses going live regularly on social media and their websites. Companies are getting better and better at using live video to bring down those unapproachable corporate walls, adding an authentic human interaction to the mix.
Internal Corporate Communications Booster
In business relations, brands are using live videos to strengthen their corporate culture and build solid relationships internally. Internal team meetings, employee training, etc. can be done through live videos which increases productivity and engagement. This is why Cisco acquired a video conference startup WebEx back in 2007. They successfully foresaw a future where live streaming is helping people to communicate better.
Education Empowerment
Live streaming is enhancing the way we learn. Conferences, talks, and events are being live-streamed on a regular basis. Universities like Harvard and Stanford are taking advantage of live lecture streaming. This gives their students access to knowledge anytime, anywhere, taking down barriers to education. Consequently, students who may not otherwise be present at the lecture are now able to partake.
Machine Learning In Live Streaming
Machine learning is the latest digital transformation that helps streamline and personalize the user experience for all kinds of technology. This algorithm essentially “learns” what yields a positive result and what doesn’t, and continuously improves itself based on this collected data. There are many opportunities for machine learning applications in live streaming scenarios of all sizes, including large multi-camera events, smaller single-camera live streams, and even lectures at educational institutions.
Computers will be able to learn certain cues like lighting, face and speech recognition, etc. in order to automate live switching, recording, and even adding lower thirds. For example, “smart” live video will be able to automatically start the stream when it recognizes a specific voice or person has appeared on stage. This technology can even track the presenter across the stage, keeping the focus on them. Once the stream is over, the technology can automatically generate and upload a highlight reel of the event based on cues like audience applause and lighting. The potential for AI and machine learning is huge, and there are many specific examples of how it can be applied.
Further Marketing and E-Commerce Involvement
Just like video ads before normal videos, we will also see the live video start to ingrain deeper into marketing, becoming its major tool. We will see more brands going live with their own shows, introducing their own brand ambassadors and trusted experts like the following example.
More live events will be used as “see-now-buy-now” eCommerce platforms for a live online shopping experience. As a result of frequent and intentional use in marketing, live video production will become a regular part of the marketing education curriculum. New and better tools for measuring ROI of live streaming campaigns will become available.
Purchasing Power
The revenue impact of live video cannot be ignored. Nearly half of the users say they would pay for live, exclusive on-demand video from a favorite speaker, performer, or sports team. In general, video boosts sales, as well as recognition of a brand. 64% of customers are likely to make a purchase after watching a branded social video.
Getting the Timing Right
Like with written content, length matters. Live videos up to two minutes long hold viewer’s attention, after which time there’s a drop-off. Many videos in that one-to-two-minute-long duration are explainer videos, which tell about a product or service and helps consumers understand the company better. The zone where you don’t want to be is between two to six minutes long. Attention span and time spent on videos picks back up again for those that are between six and 12 minutes long.
Of course, this timing is for video in general. The rules change a little when it comes to live videos, streaming videos which are often sporting games, events, television shows, movies and the like. With this type of watching, viewers will often spend up to several hours watching their favorite team play or binge-watching a favorite show.
For social videos, the rules are a bit different. Here’s the breakdown by the platform.
Facebook– While there is no minimum time for the length of a Facebook Live video, but it’s best if your stream is at least 10-15 minutes long. Facebook itself states that longer broadcasts attract more viewers, as more people have a chance to learn about the broadcast and tell their friends. Engagement on Facebook Live streams keeps increasing until about the 15-minute mark, then remains fairly stable through the maximum length of four hours.
Instagram– The ideal length is under 30 seconds for a regular video post and 15 seconds for a Story. For IG Live, it can go up to one hour.
YouTube– The average length of the top 100 most-watched videos on the platform is between five and seven minutes.
Video customer support
Live Q&A sessions as a way to receive help immediately and from real, knowledgeable people will become more and more widespread. Similarly, to current over-the-phone customer support, live video customer support centers will emerge. Receiving support with real-time visual aids will help solve issues faster.
Live streaming and cloud
Live streaming solutions have adopted cloud scaling to enable larger bandwidth and better speeds. As live streaming happens in real-time, it can’t be repeated. Hence it needs to get right the first time itself. The factors like speed and bandwidth are necessary to handle heavier video requirements and offer a better viewing experience to the audience.
These days, even small businesses leverage live streaming o bring their customers close to their brand and make them feel more connected. These interactions help in taking their marketing strategies to the next level.
However, it also comes with the transmission of large data that results in latency issues. By scaling on the cloud, live streaming platforms can increase their bandwidth to offer better streaming performance and viewing experience. While CDNs handle that part efficiently, many businesses don’t have access to it to handle the heavy traffic and hence cloud scaling is very important.
Cloud technology also offers live streaming platforms a cost-effective, flexible, and secure solution for setting up their workflow. This serves to meet the requirements for both live streaming and video on demand services.
Let’s understand this with an example. During a live broadcast of a sports event, the traffic is easily 10 times or even more than on normal days. Provisioning for servers and other infrastructure will end up creating a large up-front cost for infrastructure which otherwise won’t be utilized in normal scenarios. The cloud technology with its pay-per-use strategy serves as an ideal solution for live streaming platforms with an effective costing method at a very high rate of security, scalability, and reliability.
A typical End-To-End functional workflow for cloud-based live streaming looks like the following.
Production
The production process begins with the acquisition of the camera feed. In the case of live streaming, the camera feed may be backhauled to a central production faculty via a dedicated Internet connection.
Ingestion
In live streaming, the camera feed is directly connected to the cloud-based live streaming solution. As opposed to video on demand content where the content is uploaded via a CMS.
Monitoring
Any disruption in the ingestion process during live streaming will directly impact the viewing experience. For the automated workflow running in the cloud, you need a way to identify any failure and report it. This is where monitoring will help to ensure that everything is running as expected.
Encoding
If you are looking for different ways on how to create a live streaming website, you have to be mindful of the various different platforms and devices on which your content will be played. The streams uploaded to the cloud will be of one format and specification. For your live videos to be played across different devices like smartphones, tablets, desktops, and smart-TV’s, the video must be converted to different formats and specifications. This process of conversion is called encoding and is an intense concept.
Ad-Insertion
To make money out of your live streams, it is important to insert monetization channels to your live streams. You can either offer your live content to your audience for a fee or offer it without any fee, but insert ads in between the broadcast. If you are using an advertisement based monetization method for your live streams, you need to insert it along with the process of encoding to serve as a reference point to display ads during playback.
Protection
The major challenge with live streaming or any digital video playback is content protection, especially if you follow a pay-per-view or subscription-based business model. If your business involves the scenario of piracy prevention and revenue generation, it is highly important to protect your content. Some aspects of content protection are authentication and authorization. Choose a secure cloud technology that adheres to digital rights management to encrypt the content. These security measures restrict viewing or copying of content by unauthorized parties.
Delivery
Besides understanding how to start a live streaming business, you must also learn in-depth about how to deliver content without any potential delays. This is where CDN’s come into play. Content delivery networks with their vast networks of servers spread across several locations offer web acceleration by serving users with a cached version of the live stream requested. Hence, it is highly important to choose live streaming solutions with in-built CDN’S to optimize the delivery of live videos with low latency, high speed, and low packet loss.
This is how a sample cloud-based workflow based on Microsoft Azure’s media service looks like.
Live streaming offers a great opportunity to reach out to a broader audience and is spurred to be on a positive growth trajectory with improving mobile broadband connectivity and increased Internet penetration. Demand for live videos is expected to rise along with cloud technology. Ensuring a smooth and swift playback experience across different platforms under different network conditions is a challenging task bringing some of the best cloud technologies to work together. A cloud-based workflow for live streaming is proving to be the core of building a scalable, reliable, extensible and robust live streaming platform.
The old concept of prime time has changed over time. Viewers today have a vast catalog of content to choose from, and there are certainly more places to watch the content, too.
The viewership of traditional TV is falling apart as the OTT platform is offering high-level customization to the content browsing experience. OTT refers to over-the-top devices that use the internet instead of traditional cable TV to broadcast and watch TV content.
In 2019 alone, there are over 182 million OTT subscribers in the US. In this article, we are going to discuss eight powerful trends that have influenced the growth of video streaming. From cutting-edge business models to sophisticated video streaming technologies, we will talk about everything responsible for bringing OTT to the masses.
Hybrid Monetization Tools
A prerequisite for sustaining an OTT platform is to generate a significant amount of revenue. There are mainly three monetization models that OTT streaming operates on: Advertising model, subscription video-on-demand model, and transactional video-on-demand model.
YouTube, one of the biggest OTT platforms works on an advertising revenue model. General YouTube users are ready to wait patiently for the Ads to finish before they can watch their favorite video. However, the advertisement model is not suitable for most new players as they don’t have a stable subscriber base to drive this model by volumes.
The subscription model is offered by major OTT platforms like Amazon Prime and Netflix where users pay a fixed subscription fee to access unlimited content available on the platforms. The major advantage of a subscription on-demand model is that it is convenient to use and you can unsubscribe whenever you want. Transactional on-demand model, on the other hand, offers a broader viewing experience by allowing users to down the content of their choice and pay a single time fee to watch the content of their choice.
Unlike the advertising and subscription model, the transactional on-demand model does not rely on volumes. Now, live streaming platforms have begun to experiment with hybrid content monetization models and are leveraging multiple opportunities as users are willing to pay for premium content.
Increasing Demand For Originals
Netflix changed the game by rolling out House of cards, its first original web television series. The streaming giant has put more emphasis on its programs over the last few years with over 100 Netflix originals. Orange is the new black, American Vandal, Stranger things, Russian doll, Master of none, are some of the popular Netflix originals loved by the audience. Millennials and the new-gen audience are preferring VOD streaming platforms because of the exclusive original content.
Mobile Surpassing TV as a Primary Content Consumption Medium
Not everyone today watches TV shows on a conventional TV screen. People prefer to watch TV shows and movies on the go on mobiles and tablets. Mobile is emerging as a dominant content consumption channel. For example, a viewer who watches Game of Thrones in his TV screen while at home, whereas streams content directly from mobile devices while traveling.
AI to Make Streaming Better
The OTT industry is expected to leverage the power of artificial intelligence through recommendation engines. The recommendation engine is nothing but an AI-driven extension that keeps a tab on user activities and recommends customized content to subscribers. This offers your subscribers with a personalized viewing experience curated by a combination of user behaviors like content browsing trend, viewing pattern, when they prefer to watch, preference of genre, etc.
The Growth Of Niche Services
For the past decade, the OTT market has been dominated by giants like Amazon Prime, Netflix, and soon Apple and Disney will enter the scene. Recently it’s been clear that there is a real opportunity for a niche video content market. Niche platforms are ultra-specialized video-on-demand platforms that directly aim for a targeted audience. They offer independent cinema, niche sports, documentaries, fashion, luxury, children’s animated content, and Auteur cinema, etc. Niche platforms bring together active customers of similar interests around the content that excites them. Be advised that consistency and regular renewal are the keys to success for niche services if you are planning on launching your OTT Platform.
Content Goes Hand in Hand With Distribution
The OTT platforms not only focus on the content but also on the distribution side. Those who benefit from the widest distribution will have better chances of winning the stream services competition. For example, Apple plans to launch its own streaming services during fall 2019. Even if it is late to the scene, it can count on its 1.4 billion devices that are already in the market and one its final resources with avid support of Hollywood studios.
Similarly, AT&T relies on its network of subscribers to promote its warner media services that merge the HBO channel with the turner channels. To establish in the market for long term and to consolidate the business, distribution is an important aspect for OTT platforms.
The Cloud Revolution
Till a few years back, OTT VOD streaming was a risky affair, but thanks to the cloud revolution, new opportunities arise as cloud simplifies workflows, reduces maintenance, and seeds funding. The development of cloud solutions significantly lowered the costs associated with technical implementation. With that said, now just a 2k subscriber base is sufficient enough to cover the technical costs. This also allows broadcasters to reduce the costs and improve efficiency to a greater level. OTT platforms can be launched and grown quickly without compromising the service quality.
Being Interactive With Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
Source: empactlabs.co
Augmented reality and virtual reality have slowly started getting into OTT platforms and have the potential to become a new way of entertainment and engagement. In the future, we will see more live streaming platforms and OTT services depending on hardware manufacturers for the distribution of VR devices as a part of their service.
One of the most important content segments for OTT is sports, which when combined with AR and VR will increase views. Imagine being able to watch a sports event in VR as if sitting in the stadium. VR is expected to offer an immersive experience that will elevate the brand engagement.
To build your own OTT business, you need not have to invest too much. You can build your own OTT platform and stream videos using VOD streaming softwarein an affordable manner. Once the platform is ready, prepare a marketing strategy and focus on branding and promotions. As more people shift to online channels and more businesses join forces in many different ways, the challenge is to identify the opportunities to attract customers and maximize revenue. Taken as a whole, these popular trends affect the OTT ecosystems in significant ways. Where some business players see maturing the market, others see fresh opportunities in these emerging trends to transform their services based on the industry standards.
Finding new tactics to grow your business is a daunting task, especially when your competitors do the exact same things. In this scenario, you need to make yourself different. The old marketing strategies won’t help you. The best way to attract your audience is to use new platforms where they engage often. That’s where live streaming comes into the picture. It’s no secret that videos generate lots of traffic, views, and engagement. Though slowly, but surely a live video is getting established as the future of online video marketing,
Live Streaming on Social Media
It all began in 2011 with You Now, a live streaming app started streaming for the first time. Later in 2014, we saw the launch of Snapchat. A year later, Twitter integrated Periscope, a live streaming app into their social platform. Later in 2016, Facebook launched Facebook live and many social media giants including YouTube and Instagram followed it.
Video Grabs More Attention
80% of online users prefer watching a video than reading the content. The number of people staying tuned to live streaming content is increasing too. Popular video content marketers state that they drive 41% traffic higher than others. It reaches 100% more audience than a photo post. All these shows and constant growth in the popularity of live streaming among internet users. Considering the previous year, 2019 will be an even bigger year considering both audience and brands have settled into the format now.
Why Social Media
The majority of brands choose social media as the Live Streaming Platform to host videos for several reasons, as mentioned below.
Social Media Platforms are Free
You need not invest any money for live streaming on any of the social media platforms. Having a smartphone with a good camera, and an internet connection, the mobile app is just enough to start with live streaming. However, if you want a professional grade streaming quality, you can go for professional live streaming applications like Ustream.
It’s Interactive
Source: skedsocial.com
While live streaming itself is a great engagement booster, social media platforms combine an array of interactive features like live commenting, sharing, stickers and donations. Add it to your profile and users can take part in discussions even after the event is finished. If you are representing a brand, you can also conduct live streams in the form of a chat session or Q & A session to interact with your audience.
Live Video Content Shows to Dominate Social Media Feed
Source: newsroom.fb.com
Facebook live and Instagram live has received a high uptake. Therefore in social media feeds, in the coming years, we expect to see more video content. Social media uses text and images to express opinions and feelings. With the introduction of live video content on social media, both people and brands prefer video content to express their feelings. Therefore, it is one of the biggest social media trends that are here to stay for long.
With the introduction of a live broadcast on Facebook and Instagram, this trend is gaining traction across all Live Streaming Platforms. Brands have also been using live video content in their marketing campaigns.
Masters of Storytelling Will Dominate Live Streaming
We have been seeing many brands utilizing live streaming to market their products and services. However, the more engaging content is, the chances are high for it to create an impact. We will soon see social media dominated by storytellers.
Wonderinghow to start a live streaming business? The secret to reaping success with live streaming is sharing stories in a unique way that your users feel the appeal. While individuals take advantage of features like Instagram or Facebook live to share personal stories, the brand will move towards investing in advanced technology like Facebook watch to broadcast their stories through shows.
The Challenges and Drawbacks of Live Video
The most prominent challenge that businesses face with live video content is that they are live. The live content demands authenticity in a way that is not easy for businesses to deal with.
Consider this example- A small business goes live to show the new collections in their store. In the background, you hear noises and disturbances that make it difficult to what is being spoken. Along with such things, live streaming also poses the challenges of unexpected interruptions. Maybe it can be any technical difficulty or interruptions like the phone starts ringing or something else. Or simply, an unexpected disruption comes in the form of you slip up and say something incorrect or even stumble.
With live video, things always happen in live and you can’t go back to re-record the video to make it perfect. This can bring in pressure, but if you follow best practices, you can take care of this.
Live Video Streaming Best Practices
All the live video content best practices come down to preparation. Though it’s live and at the moment, you have to be prepared for it as it would be any client interaction. You have to represent your business well and make a good impression.
Some of the best practices include:
Actually Practicing
Have an idea of what you want to present in the live streaming ahead of time. Go through the content until you are comfortable with it. This makes you comfortable with what you have to present and the chances are less to go blank when you go live.
Have Notecards Handy
Though you have practiced the content and got familiar with it, it is better to keep notecards handy. Have your content written in bullet points so that you can quickly go through what you want to talk in the live video.
Make Sure the Location is Brightly Lit
Choose a location that is quiet and doesn’t have background noises. Similarly, the location must be well lit and free of any possible interruptions.
Announce That You are Going Live Ahead of Time
If you want to improve the views and engagements, let your users know when you are going live before you actually do. For example, Facebook makes it easy with their scheduling features, but even on other social media platforms, you can post a day or so in above. There are facilities to remind users an hour before. Ensure that you cross-promote on other social media platforms, too.
Choose Strong Headline and Descriptions
This helps you stand out and get more viewers. It also keeps users to have an idea about what you will present in your video. As you will have viewers entering and exiting throughout the video, it is recommended to have a clear headline and description so that people understand the essence of your video. The only exception is Instagram, which doesn’t have the option to create descriptions.
Share the Video Later
It is a great idea to save and share your video alter with your users. This maximizes the reach of the video and allows users who couldn’t actually watch you live to listen to your content. You can share the video on other platforms if it meets the time requirements.
How Successful Brands Get Results with Live Streaming in Social Media?
Have a Plan
Live streaming is not about the produced video. It is not a place for polished talks. Start it casually, ask questions to your followers, and have them talk to you. People want to see who you are in real. Live streaming is a real kind of two-way exchange. There is always a market for polished and produced video, but a Live Streaming Platform is not meant for that.
Viewers will have questions and they won’t be ready to wait till you finish. Have a clear strategy on how you will pull it off. When your plan isn’t working, adopt spontaneity by ditching the script. Plan, change, adjust, let go and have fun interacting with your audience.
Let Your Audience Know You Value Them
Once you start the live streaming, welcome your audience and thank them. Tell them how much you care and value them. Use these conversations to make your content strong. Brands who can establish a strong connection with the audience are likely to succeed with their live streaming efforts. This connection makes your viewers believe you. Another great thing with engaging your audience is discovering their needs and using it to sharpen your marketing strategy.
Be Ready to Trust People and Take Risks
Investing in ideas and people are much more important than technology. Invest in and empower your best storytellers. Popular brands conduct short Q&A sessions before a show or match and use live streaming to weigh in behind the scenes or the actual show. The key to finding success with live streaming is to collaborate with others and explore new things. You need not do it alone, you can invite others to extend the reach of your brand to their networks. This requires trusting people.
Demonstrate Business Value for Your Audience
Use the live streaming to initiate conversations, offer your customers significant information, highlight employees and fans. Sharing the behind-the-scenes clips with your audience is yet another way to thank them and help share your brand story. When done right, this gives returns in terms of downloads, publicity, customer engagement, lead generation, and influencer marketing.
Conclusion
The world of live streaming and social media is constantly undergoing changes and deriving new ways to reach customers. Thanks to technological advancements and improvements in networks and connectivity, we can now watch our favorite personalities in real time. Live streaming can cover a large number of topics from video games to sports. Social networking applications andlive streaming platforms have introduced new features, giving users a genuine way to connect with brands and celebrities.
Every brand in the market is earning huge revenues and is undergoing unscathed success with the commencement of video streams and live broadcasting features. One can be hassle free while connecting with their audience and can relate to their viewers with a high level bonding. Allotting invaluable content to the viewers keeps the audience glued to these live streaming platforms and engages them to certain activities which in return help in the funding of these live stream providers. Marketing geniuses have ascertained than the video streaming industry has overshadowed other content selling websites and has given a tough competition to them. Video streaming platforms whether be it live or recorded carries the ability to entice its audience towards them. This aids in branding purposes and engage more masses to achieve one particular goal. It is probably the best platform to grow your own brands and market them online.
There are various advantages if one is using Live Streaming videos. The benefits are irresistible if the positive yield per year is taken into consideration. Amalgamation between you and the end user is fulfilled by this procedure. The bond between live streaming providers and their customers is definitely getting sharpened day by day.
Some of the advantages gained by implementing live videos are:
Spectators will get a preposterous value for money by allocating and distributing contents, learning and demonstration videos.
Post viewing a commodity endorsement, consumers will be most likely to acquire that product with a proper payment.
Your fans can access the backdoor of your brand and investigate the content in it.
Integrity and commitment from both side is enhanced. Customers will be trustworthy as well as loyal.
Video broadcasting alone generates revenue of 1200% more shares than that of content based on documents and images.
Live streaming is crucial if you are indebted to digital marketing and your objective is solely based on improving sales alteration and adaptation rates.
Let us start discussing five live streaming platforms which will enhance exposure and influence:
FACEBOOK LIVE:-
A platform which has engrossed Facebook users all over the globe is none other than Facebook Live. Live Streams don’t get better than this even if you are using the best in the world. A socially connected platform where you can get millions of viewers depending on your content is basically child’s play. Real-time event sharing has become painless and straightforward. However controlling Facebook gets, its live streaming software is authoritative enough to create such software which would easily connect you to your viewers in no time. Facebook live videos can also be recaptured anytime even after they have been stopped.
Initiated during the month of August in the year of 2015 Facebook users since then have been blessed with this deal using the Facebook mention application. Users are able to comment on any content real-time. January 2016 marked the beginning of this live stream feature for use among all and sundry. With admirable live video streaming software and a stellar API, this project made it viable for drones and other recording appliances to consolidate with the live streaming platforms.
PERISCOPE:
Commenced in the year 2015, this ingress owned by Twitter has made live video streaming exquisite and immaculate as ever. With various options including the tweet of a link which would redirect you to a live stream triggered by Periscope itself this application has been culminating and has also given a brawny competition to applications such as Facebook Live. Accounts have stated that every day customers if combined together watches videos worth 110 years. Options between streaming a public video or a private one is susceptible. This provides a heads up to the security management of the application. Broadcasters here are also able to paralyze comments which are unethical.
With impeccable live video streaming software, Periscope in 2017 is the most established among all live streaming providers. A two way ability to block each other from the side of the user and the broadcaster is enabled.
YOUTUBE LIVE:
YouTube, the most established video streaming application in the world also introduced a live streaming feature back in 2008. Inaugurated by celebrities, this application is now one of the largest growing businesses in the globe. YouTube live can be coined as the most agile among all other live streaming platforms. It is commendable to use YouTube live on different platforms such as smart phones including both android and iOS devices. With enhanced and user-friendly features videos on YouTube are aired moments after the commencement of the event with a feature that allows the video to be uploaded immediately on the channel of the broadcaster. Customer and broadcaster relationship strengthens since uploaders can easily connect to the audience in between the feed. The video however stays in the channel so that it can be experienced at a later stage. With monetization options and run anywhere features YouTube live using the best live video streaming software is the sturdiest and the most symbiotic application available.
YouTube being a commonplace in lives of the general masses has become one of the most dependable platforms ever. Aiding in stellar video creation and ventures which would definitely be fruitful YouTube is one of the most robust and steady podium in the live video streaming business.
USTREAM:
Accepted by more than 80 million viewers in the planet Ustream has literally been up and running since the year 2007. Owned by American brand Ustream Inc. , this application was initiated as the first live gaming service for Play Station 4. Monetization options are widespread with Ustream. Ustream is completely a video marketing stage which incorporates the generation with supremacy and assists in capturing the live video streaming software to get subscribers without any hassle and money making advertisements. Live web seminars, drill ceremonies and online training endeavor are originated on this platform. Supporting content which is comprehensive and exclusive is a distinct but salient feature of Ustream. Webinars act as a subsidy for in-depth content which is generally educational.
Revenue collection get easier and beneficial from such a platform which earns form paid ads as well as subscriptions. Watershed was a formerly accessible paid service which used to charge communicators via a pay per view basis or advertisements and endorsements. Watershed was overshadowed with the commencement of Ustream which in turn invoked easier attributes for the collection of money from live streaming. A copyright service provider called Vobile depends on the fingerprint scan procedure for the detection of monopolized material. Falsification and security breach is beyond the bounds of possibility in such a website. Payment gateways are more than 100% sure and are authenticated beyond imagination.
SNAPCHAT:
With an insurmountable and colossal figure of 150 million users daily Snapchat is a portal for entertainment which remains unscathed and unblemished. Permission to share instant photos and abbreviated videos is what makes Snapchat cool among smart gadget users of this generation. This application allows involvement of peers where one could easily share videos and engagement in long chat sessions with their contacts. Discount coupons and other major giveaways, live shoots for events such as fashion, musical and promotional altogether improve the effectiveness of the platform. Content uploaded by you won’t be stored anywhere and is for one time use strictly making it most effective among others when it comes to you wanting your audience to only witness the content and not plunging deep into it.
The inaccessibility to photos and videos once the live stream is over is an incredible boon and also somewhat a meager curse for the audience. Once done, you cannot share or upload the content on any platform. This might be annoying for the spectator but certainly makes the platform a more secure one. Users share billions of photos everyday among each other making Snapchat the most used application in a prolific manner. Filters, edits and effects have made Snapchat more interesting than ever. Videos can maximum go on for ten seconds. Later for the discretion of viewers Snapchat came up with yet another feature labeled as “Memories” where private videos, photos and any other media were allowed to be stored in a personalized folder to avoid discrepancy. “Voice Filters” and “Backdrop” are visage which were added earlier this year to enhance the quality and the beautification of the application. Alas, a more attractive product sells better in the market than a shabby commodity.
CONCLUSION
Stated above are only 5 applications which act as live streaming providers whereas thousands of others have been developed only with the vision of creating an interconnected planet. Live streaming platforms such as Instagram and Kanvas which has not even been mentioned also holds a high authority in the video streaming industry. Video streaming is the most widely used method to hold people millions of miles apart from each other together. These commodities can even aid your digital marketing employment scheme in launching an esteemed business strategy. A couple of years from now on the world will not only witness a change in the digital media market but also a transformation of facet is buoyant.
Live streaming is a great option for getting the first impression for your organization. Live streaming is more powerful than one can even realize. It could be the first point of contact with your organization. And we all know that first impression is always hard to reserve hence, a company having live streaming could make a better progress compared to the one without it. Live streaming can also generate revenue, making its contribution to an overall success to your organization. The live streams are supported by live streaming platform provider that makes a good mark. A live streaming provider is said to be the best if it has got an excellent branding, viewing experience and messaging, support and monetization options.
Live streaming is significant for your business and here are the reasons why you need to choose it for your business:
Growing online videos:
Online videos are having massive growth in recent times. Companies like Cisco expect that online videos account for 80% of all the internet traffic by 2019. Huge social media websites like Facebook expects their platform would be all video by the next five years. Online videos improvethe communication medium that enables to capture the experience of the viewers. Videos are the best ways to communicate within technical limitations and the images added make it popular. The users expect more content of videos because they are easier to use and immediate connectivity within live streaming.
Engagement of audience:
Social media websites are very keen in making live streaming a significant option for their business. Facebook gives live stream content a boost on the live streaming platform and the videos generate more reach to the audience than any other content type. The videos need not be highly produced or scripted much and this is a great chance for brands, to promote their usage and live streaming is a great way to do that.
Future challenge for television:
TVs being an only entertainment device is now being replaced with online contents particularly video content. These videos promote the brands through ads which are mostly viewed through online resources. With time, more people started tuning-in to live streaming which resulted in a bigger opportunity for brands to reach targeted audience.
Live Streaming Platforms
Live streaming platforms offer built-in marketing modules and in 2017, businesses have got a wide variety of social live options to promote their brands such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Periscope. Periscope is easy to expand to the audience and can easily gain new followers and viewers. But, each business has different live streaming needs.
There are few areas that need to be evaluated before selecting a platform. They are:
Messaging & Branding:
A first impression is the best impression and this impression should be reinforced in the organization messaging and branding. There needs to be an attractive portal for viewing custom built for the organization, the ability to upload notifications and graphics and a notes or news section such that users can know about the social activity and announcements of the organization.
Experience:
The video content should be having relevant and immersive features for the viewers. It should have enhanced integration with social media, access from any device, highlights and live data feed.
Monetization:
This helps the business to get most of it from the live stream through pay-per-view (PPV) or ads and sponsorship. The funds generated in this way can help the program keep going or even improve it. Stretchable PPV options should be available on the platform. There should also be a flexibility to adjust inventory options and ability to generate 100% revenue from ads.
Support:
There needs to be an awesome support system not only for the business but for the viewers too. They need to identify the issue early and help the users and handle customer support problems and questions. When live streamed events take place, they need to work consistently.
Various Live Video Streaming Platforms
There are various live video streaming platforms available in the market. Based on the features, one can choose a live streaming platform for their business.
LiveStream: This is a paid live streaming platform where a user can upload videos from cameras and mobile devices through the internet. It has more than 200 TV affiliates and it can be used with World Economic Forum, Spotify and many more.
UStream: it has more than 80 million viewers and it is used to helps soldiers to communicate and let their families know what they are doing and how they are rather than waiting for a letter or call. This can be used with Twitter which gives a chance to connect with more viewers.
Dacast: It is one of the widely used live streaming platformsfor many users. This can be streamed through the cloud, which can save the device space. It is simple to use and monetize. It is used by many business individuals as it is customizable. Simple to use, particularly for beginners. The support system of this platform is round the clock which would be useful for the business.
StreamShark:To record and stream high profile events worldwide, StreamShark is a best live streaming platform for your business. Users can manage different parts of events streaming and reach them worldwide giving an opportunity to grow the business. Many people like to have an experience of 360-degree videos, with StreamShark they can get the feature and make it easier for their viewers to view it from any device.
Facebook Live: Social networks are the best place for live streaming videos. Facebook is one of the biggest social networking platforms, Facebook live streaming platform, it has many benefits. This has control over viewers who watch the videos and targeting a particular kind of audience is easy. Here you can target audience geographically which is great for business to reach out their purposes. There is no payment option here and live videos have been shown to be watched over three times compared to non-live video.
Periscope: This is a live streaming video platform that allows the users to shoot using cell phones. The app can be conveniently used with iPhone and other devices. Live streaming videos can reach the masses faster because they watch the video without edits. Through Twitter, people are notified about the videos and they are available to be watched for 24 hours allowing those who missed up.
The Best Amongst all Live Streaming Platforms: StreamNow
StreamNow is the best solution to start a live streaming business. StreamNow is highly scalable live streaming software with various revenue channels which includes features to serve as Ustream clone or Twitch. This live streaming software can transmit live video and audio coverage for an event over the internet. It is available to the audience for free of cost or through payment on a monthly or per view basis.
Features:
Communication system:
A peer to peer comment or chat system helps the user to discuss about videos, and can express their view or opinion. This can help the business to increase the brand value in a long run.
Unbeatable Live streaming:
The quality and continuous live streaming without any kind of technical issues make SteamNow a widely used live streaming platform by many business firms.
Follow-up:
A live streaming viewer or a user can easily follow others and gets a notification each time the person update anything or does any activity like attending an event or a session.
Subscription:
For viewing a premium live streaming sessions, the user needs to subscribe. StreamNow has got various plans for a subscription for its users.
Dynamic Administration:
It has a dynamic and robust admin panel which gives a wide range of options to the users. Such options include deleting a videos, flag or changing the social login configurations.
Pay per View:
Some users may not be convenient with the subscription plans. In such a case, StreamNow gives them a feature called pay per view, where they can pay depending on the live streaming videos they watch.
SEO Friendly:
Search engine optimization (SEO) has an important role in digital marketing. StreamNow has implemented different strategies of SEO to get more quality visitors or traffic through an organic search.
Payment Options:
The payment collections are through PayPal which seamlessly facilitates payments from all over the globe. It has other convenient payment options too.
Suitable for Android/iOS App:
52 percent online orders are from mobile devices. StreamNow is available as an app for Android and iOS for the users of streaming business.
Social Login:
StreamNow helps users to sign up or login through various social media networks such as Google accounts, Facebook or Twitter.
StreamNow is a live streaming platformwhich provides live streaming servicesfor any business. Using it one can generate billions of dollars profit every year. This can happen through live streaming ads alone. The platform has a ready-made turnkey solution which can launch live streaming solutions. The business can launch their own live streaming videos and get the users subscribed for the same. StreamNow has various social features which make it the best live streaming solution.
If you have any doubts or concerns, feel free to drop a line or two in the comments section. I shall reply in a day or two. Keep watching this space for insights on live streaming servicesand live streaming platforms. Do subscribe to our newsletter to know more about live streaming solutions. My best wishes are with you and your live streaming venture. Cheers!
