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Why do you want to get into live streaming? Well, we hate to sound greedy, but how about: That’s where the MONEY IS! According to PR Newswire, the live streaming video market has grown from $30 billion in 2016 to $70 billion in 2021. 

Live streaming is also becoming so mainstream that not only have 63% of millennials said they’ve watched live content, 42% say they’ve created it. And 80% of people would rather watch a video than read a blog. 

So what are some ways that you can get in on the action? How can you be where the people are and how can you make a splash? Here are some ideas for live streaming marketing, some of which will tell you how to get started and some of which will tell you how to soar to new heights.

#1. Keep It Simple

Live streaming is not a hard technology to master, but we can make it more difficult. You can get special cameras with special cables and special lights and special audio. Or you can use your phone, your webcam on your laptop, an inexpensive microphone, some decent lighting, and as few moving parts as possible.

The thing is: while all of the fancy cameras and cables and microphones increase production value (which is a good thing) they also increase the learning curve (which is a hard thing, especially if you’re just starting out). Also every single piece of equipment you use is one more opportunity for a technical failure. 

So our tip is to start out easy, just use your phone to start out! And, as your success and experience grows, upgrade slowly.

#2. Make Sure You Have the Bandwidth

There is nothing worse in a live stream than when you’re going strong and then everything lags. Your connection may drop. And you can be assured that the minute you start to get connectivity issues, you’re going to start dropping viewers who don’t want to wait for things to get better. 

Test your network. Test your bandwidth speed (there are a lot of websites where you can run a speed check). And if you have other people using your WiFi at the same time that you’re doing an important stream, maybe ask them if they can pause what they’re doing to make sure all the juice is going to you.

#3. Test Your Stream

This is really simple, but if you don’t do it you will certainly wish you had. If you’re live streaming on YouTube Live, then stream on your laptop and have someone next to you watching the stream on their phone making sure the audio and video are good. If you don’t want the stream to be live on your official account, just create a second private account that your viewers don’t know about and stream on that one. No one will ever see it except the person double checking your feed, and it’ll give you a lot of peace of mind.

#4. Pick Compelling Topics For Your Audience

Now we’re getting away from the technical aspects and into the content of what you’re going to be live streaming about. You need to pick something that people care about. The attention span of the average internet user isn’t very long, so you want to grab viewers by the eyeballs and don’t let them leave. 

By now, you should be getting good at this. If you’ve been creating posts on a blog or your Instagram or your other social media, you know what gets attention and what falls flat. All that you’re really doing here is choosing content that people want to watch, and that you’ll be comfortable talking about on the live stream. It’s as simple (and as hard) as that.

#5. Respond to Live Comments

If you’re on a live streaming service like YouTube Live or Facebook Live, you will have comments streaming alongside the side of your video. You can try to pay attention to the comments as you go (YouTube sometimes makes this easier with things like the SuperChat) or you can have someone helping you, filtering through the questions as they come in and then feeding them to you. 

Part of the appeal of a live stream is that it’s live! Leverage the fact that it’s live and respond as quickly as possible to viewers. Make it a dialogue, not a lecture.

#6. Have An Extra Host or a Guest on Your Live Video

It can often be very intimidating (and awkward) to be staring at a computer and talking to a camera. If you have someone with you who you can chat with and interact with then, one, not all of the weight is on your shoulders to carry the conversation, and two, it will be a natural dialogue. Also, extra hosts and guests can be especially good if you’re trying to grow your audience: do a collaboration with someone who has followers of their own, and you’ll cross-pollinate.

#7. As With Everything You Publish, Title Matters

If you’re going to live stream, you need a compelling title or no one but the most diehard fans are going to click on it. One researcher said that the most successful YouTubers spent as much as 40% of their video production time on making the perfect thumbnail for the video. That may sound extreme, but when you’re vying for views in a VERY crowded social media environment, then you need all the help you can get to draw in the views. 

Hopefully these tips will help you get started on using live streaming marketing as a source of business growth, but if you want more info, we’re here to help! Check out our Show Up With Video Marketing course! Apply for an online growth business call to catapult your live video streaming to success!