Brands are Introducing Live Stream Video Content into the Marketing Mix

Do you ever wish you could bring your online fans into the kitchen with you? To show them how you craft the perfect better burger, or how you can create a down-the-line pizza in 180 seconds? Or do you wish you could deliver at-home fitness tips on Facebook and be able to field questions about technique right in the comments? Well, you can. And you should.

From Periscope to Meerkat and now Snapchat’s Video Chat and Facebook Live, live streaming is here, and it’s having a moment. While live streaming video isn’t a new concept (looking at you, Ustream), it’s gaining in popularity. That’s because real-time video is great for sharing live content with your personal social networks, and it’s also a great opportunity for brands to give fans a new perspective.

Live streaming provides users with an opportunity to tune in and engage with real-life moments happening between them and their audience. It’s a new way to deliver original content to fans and better connect with them. Based on user participation in live streaming video, this is an opportunity for brands to start taking advantage of now.

On March 26, 2016, the live streaming app owned by Twitter, Periscope celebrated its first birthday. According to the company’s blog, after one year of streaming there has been over 200 million broadcasts created on Periscope. Of those broadcasts, users are watching 100 years of live video ever day on the iOS and Android apps.

Here are a few ways to incorporate live streaming content into your marketing mix.

Exclusive Content

When users stream live video, they are getting a chance to view content that wouldn’t be available to them on any other platform. This is an exciting prospect as it makes it exclusive and time-sensitive. Who doesn’t want to be in with the in-crowd and know what’s going on ahead of all their friends?

Real-Time Engagement

Real talk, real-time engagement is one of the biggest benefits of live streaming. Users have the opportunity to comment and engage with the streaming content in real life. While live streaming, brands can sense the positive and negative sentiment felt by fans.

This type of engagement also allows fans to participate in the conversation. From running Q&As via the streaming comments to taking fans on a Choose Your Own Adventure-style journey (OK, maybe more like what to add on a pizza), the opportunities to connect with users are seemingly endless at this point.

Brand Exposure