Looking for a way to get up close and personal with the people that you talk to online–your customers, your fans, and the influencers who are important to your business? There is nothing quite as effective as social media live streaming for showing off your real side in all its glory. (This may be intimidating at first, but trust me, this is super effective and with my help you can become a natural–a Prepared Performer!)
We all have grown used to streaming apps throughout the pandemic be they Zoom or Google Meets or Teams–whichever you use, you get the idea that it’s going to be you, live, talking in front of a crowd of people.
A social media live streaming event can be anywhere from a handful of followers to tens of thousands of people all tuning in to see you, and you need to know what the best streaming service will be for your situation–there are SO many to choose from.
What Are the Benefits of Social Media Live Streaming?
- Live streaming helps you connect with your audience
- Live streaming is cheap (and often free)
- Live streaming can be as easy as turning on your computer or phone
- Live streaming has been proven to get your better sales conversions
- Live streaming itself can be a source of monetization
- Live streaming can be recorded so that you can use it later (for people who missed it) or use it in future campaigns
The Best Social Media Live Streaming Apps
YouTube Live
YouTube Live is the go-to live streaming service for many bloggers, businesses, websites and content creators, and there’s a reason for that–it’s incredibly useful and easy to use.
It’s easy to use with just a webcam or a mobile device, though you can up your game to something more powerful if you’re reaching out to a ton of people. But one of the best things about YouTube Live is that it provides you with powerful analytics (it is run by Google, after all) that can give you important insights and data that you can use for future live streams.
YouTube Live also lives on long after the live streaming is over, as a video that you can make public (so anyone can watch it) or private (so you can refer back to it if you need to address a question from a viewer or want to take a clip from it for a promotional campaign.)
There is a chat tool along with the live stream that allows your viewers to be talking to you and to each other throughout, and there are also chat moderation tools if you want to have a moderator watching out for spam or other negative comments. As part of the chat there is Super Chat, Super Stickers, and channel memberships in which you can better monetize your channel and viewers can get their comments seen more easily.
YouTube Live is really THE social media live streaming service to be use if you’re looking to start out. Easy to set up, easy to use, and with a ton of great features (that aren’t too complicated to use.)
Facebook Live
Facebook Live is social media live streaming that–you guessed it–takes place on Facebook. It has a lot of high end features that make it attractive, but there is the downside that your viewers do have to have Facebook accounts to watch (whereas they don’t with YouTube Live)
Facebook Live allows for pre-scheduling streams and promoting them as they are coming due, and then the Live Broadcast Post will be automatically published when you begin.
There is also a chat feature, as with YouTube live, and you can monetize it further with donate buttons and in-stream ads. (You will want to check ahead of time to make sure that you are following all of Facebook’s ad guidelines as they are rather strict.)
There are some analytics that come from Facebook Live, but not as many as with YouTube Live. Still, if you’re target the Facebook crowd, they may be much more willing to jump on a Facebook Live stream than switch to a YouTube Live.
Instagram Live
Any Instagram account can have an option for live streaming through Instagram Stories.
There’s a lot to be said for Instagram, and depending on your audience it might very well be the one for you. For example, more than 88% of Instagram users are outside the United States, so if you have a national brand this can be a great way to connect. It also, unlike some of the other platforms, has almost a 50/50 split between male and female–the same can’t be said about a lot of social media sites.
Also, 500 million people use Instagram Stories every day, and 50% of Instagram users have visited a website to make a purchase after using Instagram.
The Other Social Media Live Streaming Options
While YouTube Live, Facebook Live, and Instagram Stories are by far the most frequently used social media live streaming options, they’re far from the only ones out there. Others include Tik Tok Live, Amazon Live, Reddit Live, UStream, LinkedIn Live, Twitch, Brightcove, Wowza, Vimeo, DaCast and Panopto.
If you’re interested in looking into these sites in more detail I encourage you to do so. Some of them will be perfectly suited for a specific demographic (Twitch is where you’ll find gamers, LinkedIn Live is where you’ll find business professionals, etc).
Whichever social media live streaming site you choose, The Prepared Performer can help you get ready to put on the best live stream possible.