Just as the advent of social media allowed companies and brands to connect directly with their customers in the 2000s, video has become the proven way to expose your brand, build customer loyalty and interact in a fun way. The ability to livestream on all major platforms has taken customer interaction to the next level. From the fad of going live on Periscope and live Q&As to producing full shows and presenting them live, it is all within your reach.
For smaller businesses, going live on Facebook from your iPhone can be a fun way to show off a new product, introduce a new staff member, or take questions from your customers. And, you don’t need additional equipment.
Best Practices for Livestreaming
Some best practices to keep in mind for all livestreams include making sure to create catchy titles and continue the stream for at least 15 minutes to allow people time to join.
It is also important to remember that you will likely have zero viewers when you first start your livestream but that the audience can scrub back to the beginning or catch that portion on replay, so be sure not to comment on your lack of views. Always pretend you have thousands of viewers, even if you have zero or one.
Interacting with the viewers will build retention and engagement. Say hello to the people who have joined or who are commenting. These people will be more likely to stay around and watch the rest of the stream.
Take it to the Next Level
Some tips that can help take your selfie livestream to the next level are using a DSLR or professional camera and an encoder like a Cam Link. To add graphics, music, a green screen or other effects, check out the free program OBS (Open Broadcaster Systems), popular among gamers. Placing this program in between your camera and Facebook gives you almost unlimited options. And because it is popular with gamers, there are a lot of good YouTube tutorials on the subject.
We Can Help
We offer higher-end livestream services using broadcast-quality cameras, professional audio and mixers, with full broadcast graphics. We have seen these productions get exponentially higher engagement than any other video on our client’s social media pages. During the pandemic, this was the approach to host events that might have been in-person, like galas and award shows. We even conducted variety-show style telethons, raising thousands of dollars through Facebook Live.
Livestreams are incredibly scalable, from an iPhone going on Facebook Live to having four cameras, multiple mics, graphics and remote guests on a professional system. It depends upon your budget, audience, frequency of livestreams and skill level. Start small and work your way up, or better yet, give us a call. We can even do fully remote livestreams in our office and all presenters in their homes using much higher quality connections than a typical Zoom call.