Getting more engagement with your live streams is vital to harness the true power of live video and thrive online.
Live streaming is on the rise. According to a report by Convina last year, the live viewing had year-over-year growth of a whopping 93%! Not only are live streams growing more popular, but they also represent content marketing gold for both individuals and businesses.
On average, viewers spent 8 times longer on live videos than on-demand. Live streams allow you to engage and interact with your audience at a more personal level. If you are having trouble finding out how to gain more engagement with your live streams, here are some useful tips to get you started.
How to gain more engagement with your live streams
- Look at what’s trending
- Collaborate with others
- Create hype
- Timing is important
- Interact while you’re live
- Check your equipment and internet before the event
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1. Look at what’s trending
To gain more viewers and garner more engagement on your live videos, find the topics in your industry that people are currently interested in and talk about them. Knowing what is currently trending isn’t difficult.
Visiting Twitter, for example, is a good way to find common topics that people are talking most about.
However, for more niche-based trends, you can take the help of insights from Google Trends to find out what’s trending hot within your industry.
Once you learn more about trends, you can create a live video marketing strategy that cover the most important topics and maximize engagement.
2. Collaborate with others
Expanding your online presence is a lot easier when you are collaborating with others rather than doing it alone. Invite others working within the same niche to your live streams. This way not only will you be gaining viewership and engagement from your audience but theirs as well.
You can also connect with influencers and invite them over for a live Q&A or a panel discussion. A big industry name attached to your live event is bound to generate a lot of interest. Of course, for some niches, finding industry experts and influencers isn’t easy. An easy way to do so is by visiting the websites of competitors and look at who they are following.
3. Create hype
Would you more likely watch an unknown live stream that suddenly appeared on your newsfeed or one that you already were anticipating? Before your live event, create hype for it on your website and social media. If more interested people are aware of your content before it goes live, the more viewership you will garner.
Do make note of the difference between promotion and hype. Promotion is a long continuous process of you generating awareness. Hype, on the other hand, is all about attracting as many people as possible for the main event in a short enough time that doesn’t allow their interest to wane.
4. Timing is important
No matter the quality of your video, don’t expect much engagement in your live streams if you are not timing it right. The optimal time, of course, can vary depending on the target audience, whether it is a public holiday or an extraordinary event such as right now the quarantine measure all over the place.
However, if you already have built up an online presence, the times when you regular posts get the most engagement is also the ones when your live streaming would as well. Still, there are plenty of online social media analytics tools such as buffer and Hootsuite through which you can gain better insights at which times your audience is active the most.
5. Interact while you’re live
To get more engagement, don’t just live stream your content but join in on the discussion with your audience. Respond and acknowledge your audience’s commentary. Answer their questions. Even share something relevant or witty on the live stream that a viewer may have said. All of this will make your audience appreciate you more and look forward to your next live event as it offers them a chance to be recognized.
6. Check your equipment and internet before the event
Nothing is more embarrassing than getting a lot of people hyped for your live event only for you to cancel it because your internet or equipment wasn’t working. Or it could be worse, a live event presented in horrible quality. With either of the two scenarios, expect less engagement on your future live streams.
Prior to the event, check your live streaming equipment and internet connectivity to make sure everything is in working order. Be sure to also have a backup in case of any unexpected hardware or connectivity failures.
Any tips you would like to share? Feel free to tell us in the comment below. If you found the article to be informative, consider sharing it with others within your circles.
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