Live stream events are quickly becoming an important part of growing your business audience. Live streaming gives you access to a wide audience, can attract new followers to your brand, and can even diversify your customer base.
Businesses use live streaming for all kinds of events, from one-on-one interviews with experts to product tutorials to discussing company events and news. If you’re looking to increase your views, you’ve come to the right place.
This guide is for anyone who’s looking into webcasting. New startups and established businesses can both take advantage of this often overlooked video content strategy, and we’re going to show you how. Here’s how to increase your viewership for live stream events.
Use The Right Platform
First and foremost, you’ll need to use the right platform to host your event. That means you’ll probably want to avoid Facebook Live and other social media tools.
That’s not to say those tools aren’t viable, and, for many startups, they’re more practical-but you want a more professional image for your live streams to maximize views and attract the right audience.
Using webcasting software like Vast gives you a distinct advantage by providing a polished, professional hosting platform that’s easily accessible for your audience.
Plenty of businesses stick to free live streaming tools like Facebook, but at the end of the day, webcasting software just looks better. It’s also an extra tool you can add to your business arsenal and marketing plan.
Most webcasting services only cost a few dollars per month, and the advantages speak for themselves. With real-time analytics, you can see who’s watching from where, and how many are engaged with the content you’re presenting.
While services vary by company, most webcasting software has some kind of analytics tool, so you can use the numbers to create better, more targeted presentations next time around.
Promote, Promote, Promote!
As with any event, promotion is everything. The more you promote, the better, but don’t fall into the trap of blanket-marketing things to just anyone. You want to be sure you’re targeting a niche audience for the presentation, otherwise, you’re missing out on an opportunity to turn viewers into customers.
As with anything in marketing, you must define your audience first. Once you know who you’re trying to appeal to and where you’ll find them, you can promote the event until you’re sick of hearing about it yourself.
Promotions don’t have to be flyers and going door-to-door. Luckily for us, the internet provides us with everything we need to promote events and pages. You can post links on your social media accounts, share with other content creators or websites, and use the right keywords to rank your live stream higher in Google and other search engines.
When you’re promoting your event, remember to include what you’re offering. People want to know that they’ll gain something from attending. Are you teaching a course? Showing a product tutorial? Interviewing an expert in the field? Don’t skimp on the details!
Keep Viewers Engaged With Great Content
The heart of any good live stream is the content. If you’re not writing engaging content, your viewers will tune out, despite your marketing efforts.
Even if you’re doing something like an interview, you still need to write good, compelling questions that get the audience thinking. Good content is what we crave as consumers, and live streams often seem to be lacking it.
A good way to look at content is the story behind what you’re teaching or showing. What’s the story behind the product you’re doing a tutorial on? What’s the story behind the course you’re teaching? When viewers hear a good story or feel they’re gaining something from the live stream, they’ll watch it through the end.
A good rule of thumb is to rehearse your live stream, or at least plan out your content beforehand. Is the content going to be presented in a way that would keep you engaged? If not, it’s a good bet that it won’t entertain your audience, either.
Offer Something Useful
Another helpful tip is to offer something to anyone who attends the live stream. Maybe you’ll offer a discounted course, product, or premium access to your services for a short time.
Maybe your audience can sign up for your newsletter and get a promotional code. The best webinars and live streams leave viewers feeling like they’ve not only gained valuable information and skills, but also something tangible they can use.
The Bottom Line
Creating good live streams is all about content and how it’s presented-and to whom you’re presenting. Be sure to narrow down your audience, create compelling content, and offer something real and tangible for your viewers.
Keeping your viewers engaged ensures they’re getting maximum value from the content, and increases the chances that they’ll be back for the next one.
