In a recent study that was conducted by Meetings Today, businesses that live stream an event get a 23% rate of conversion and eventually gain physical attendees in the future from those who virtual attendees.
When you get that type of return on investment, it's something you should be looking into. In this article, we're giving you seven reasons to live stream an event.
1. Your Brand Awareness Grows When You Live Stream an Event.
When it comes to marketing, brand awareness is critical to gain more customers. When you live stream an event, you are more likely to reach more people who are not in your target area, who may also be intrigued by your products or services.
Your brand becomes more engaging and humanistic when you can put faces, the actual product, or vital information to your audience.
In short, Live streaming is the bridge that builds trust between you and your customers.
2. The Cost is Minimal
The great thing about event streaming is that it is cost-effective. There are many platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram, where you can live stream to audiences on any mobile device. All you need is a decent HD camera or smartphone and a reliable internet connection.
Just a few years ago, in 2015, the social media live streaming industry was worth more than $30 billion. The value of this industry is expected to jump to $70 billion by 2021.
Free live streaming software such OBS: Open Broadcaster software—which is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux—allows you to live stream your event on multiple platforms at the same time.
3. Saves Money for Your Virtual Attendees
Any event will always have physical and geographical restrictions no matter the location
Its all about accessibility!
We know you want physical attendees to your business event, but you also don't want to lose out on benefits from those who cannot attend.
Live streaming for those who require long-distance travel (car, plane) will save them money and also valuable time.
4. You Spark Interaction and Conversation About Your Services
live streaming is a great marketing strategy to spark conversation, due to its ability to reach a broad audience.
The best thing you can do to grow your business is the have people talking about your products or services — Here’s how you can use live streaming to spark conversation.
Webinars
A webinar is a great educational tool to use for your live stream audience. Give insightful information. Your audience can ask questions, share ideas, and keep the conversation going.
Training and Tutorial
Training and tutorial streams can prepare your audience on how to get the most out of your product or services. It's a great way to show trust to your customers or leads and give them more insight into how your processes work.
Entertain
You have to incorporate some fun with business. Let your audience be entertained from time to time. Put out some behind-the-scenes content or relatable content that your viewers might enjoy.
CEO Chairman of T-Mobile John Legere also does a cooking show that he live streams on Facebook and also promotes on the T-Mobile website. This is an excellent way to find interest from one demographic and directing that audience to your core business.
5. Live Stream Could Make You Stand Out from The Competition
No matter what business—from event planning to retail merchandising, most likely, you'll face some adversity with the competition. The best way to face this adversity is to make sure you stand out from the crowd.
Using innovative techniques like live streaming will allow you to differentiate yourself from those competing in your niche and also gain some new customers who didn't know about you.
Bonus Tip
It doesn't always have to be you or your core members in front of the camera. It's also a great idea to connect with influencers to over your stream, which can help garner even more of an untapped audience in your industry.
6. It's Good for Business to Business (B2B)
Live streaming is a great way to incorporate into your B2B marketing strategies and creating networking opportunities.
For example, you want to show customers about how a specific service works—you may want to put together an online video that shows you the steps, but why not make it personal to the customer?
Why not set up an appointment with them and live stream a tutorial or demonstration on the product?
This marketing technique makes it more personal, and you also can answer any questions that customers may have. While you're live with them, you might even have a chance to go directly into the negotiation and sales process.
7. Live Streaming Can Generate Opportunities for Monetization
If your audience for your live stream starts to grow, there's a chance that you can start generating income from the live stream itself. Strategies to monetize your live stream content include:
- Doing a paid product review
- Gaining sponsorship from other businesses
- Advertising for other businesses during your live stream
- Syndicating your stream for publishers
- Selling your broadcasts to other publishers
- Diverting audiences to your affiliate businesses or sister companies
- Selling paid subscriptions to customers as 'exclusive' content.
There You Have It!
There are many opportunities available today that live streaming can give you. Industries are being more and more open to integrating technology, like when you live stream an event to help with marketing and boosting business.
In short, Live streaming is a powerful marketing tool that every business should take advantage of. We hope these seven tips gave you more insight into live streaming for your business. So don't wait, your audience is waiting for you—go out there and start your first live stream today!
Want to learn more? Join us at The Event Planner Expo 2022!
