Why is it so important to create live streaming videos?

As one of the most versatile ways of presenting content to your audience, video marketing is more important than ever. If you want to get people to know you and get your message across, help them with something or sell products and services, you need video. But, truth is, there’s already a lot content out there. In fact,

“It would take an individual more than 5 million years to watch the amount of video that will cross global IP networks each month in 2021. Every second, a million minutes of video content will cross the network by 2021.” – Cisco Visual Networking – Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2016–2021 – June 6, 2017

that’s how much video content is out there and it’s growing, fast. The only thing growing faster than video, is LIVE video.

How can you create live videos that stand out?

Many factors will contribute to the success of your live stream, such as the way you promote it, the topic you choose, how relatable it is to your audience and so on. If your topic is interesting, relatable and shareable, you’ll get a head start. And then, all you’ll need to do during your live video is DELIVER. Deliver great content, engage with your audience, be conversational and encourage them to interact with you.

If your live stream is interesting enough and delivers great content, your viewers will come back for more. Make sure you create a schedule to do this on a regular basis, each time you’ll get more viewers and stand out a bit more.

It can be tricky to constantly come up with new content, while keeping up with everything else. Therefore, we’ve put together this list with 10 live streaming ideas!

Live Streaming Ideas

Share your thoughts on a trending or an ongoing topic related to your industry

It’s a great way to connect with your audience because they will get to know you better. It’s also an opportunity to give them useful insights and advice. This type of content is very cost-effective, since it doesn’t require a lot of preparation and it can cause a positive impact.

Instead of writing a script, you’ll just need to outline your topic, writing down the main points and what will be discussed in each of them. The outline will ensure a logical flow to your video, while still maintaining a natural conversational tone. You can and should add some pre-recorded videos and images to make your live session more dynamic.

Breaking news important to your niche

Similar to the content idea above, talking about the news in your industry can generate a buzz around your videos. It will get people’s attention and establish yourself as an authority on that specific topic. Particularly if you quick enough to be one of the firsts.

NASA, for example, creates live streams for everything related to their expertise and their audience tunes in from all over the world.

Broadcast Events

Whether you take part in, give speeches or simply attend events regarding related subjects, you can always find live streaming quality content. Maybe parts of the events might be interesting to your audience or share your take on what you’ve seen so far. More than that, you can talk to other participants and make them part of your broadcast.

Q&A

Go live and answer your viewers questions, as simple as that. Take some time to prepare, to guarantee you’ll have enough questions and more importantly, good questions. Collect some of the questions your viewers have asked you on previous videos, and get your audience to send more questions before the live stream.

These pre-selected questions, combined with the live ones, will definitely result in a great live video. You’ll allow people to know more about you or your brand and this interaction will make them feel connected to you.

Office Tour / Behind the scenes

Everyone is interested in what goes on the backstage and not only in a concert. They want to see a little bit of your routine, your surroundings, your workstation, where the magic happens. People are curious to see how and where you do what you do.

Showing the “behind the scenes” establishes a greater connection between you and your viewer. To make them feel like part of the show, give them a backstage sneak peek.

Dunkin’ Donuts did a great job creating this live streaming video, where they showed a little bit of the company and how things are done.

Show your audience what you can do

Your abilities within your industry are invaluable, so, put them to good use and share them with your audience. If you can dance, sing, play videogame, make jokes, etc. Whatever your talents are, if it relates to your channel, give it a go and see how your viewers react.

If it works, do it more often. If it doesn’t, try it differently next time.

Announce new products and offer demonstrations

More often than not, people want to see the product or test the service before they buy, which is a great opportunity for a live stream. On your live session, you can show them how it works, explain all the benefits of purchasing and even teach them how to use it effectively. If it’s an online product or service, then you can share your screen with the viewers, give them almost a “one-on-one” tour and give them a tutorial.

For example, Teacher Elly uses videos to give her fellow teachers tips on how to use ManyCam for their classes.

This may take a bit longer to prepare, because you’ll want to make sure everything is working perfectly and properly rehearsed. Otherwise, too many things might go wrong, your delivery could be confusing and you wouldn’t be able to manage your time. So, take your time, make sure you have all the material necessary and rehearse a few times.

If you’re creating a webinar or an online presentation, have a look at the 6 things you should do to prepare a successful webinar.

Collaborate with others

Get an influencer in your industry to be a key speaker on your live video. This way he will prepare his presentation and you’ll be giving your followers an opportunity to see something different. If it wasn’t for your channel, your viewers might never have had access to that speaker’s content.

Another way to get great content and deliver value to your audience is via interviews. Interviewing people in the industry will bring awareness to you and your channel, because usually the person giving the interview will also share it with their audiences. Which will then lead you to reach a broader range of viewers. And the best part is, you won’t have to worry about creating a lot of content. But make sure you have some interesting questions for your guests.

In the example below, Grazia UK created a live debate with powerful women, where they also answered questions from the present audience and online viewers.

By now, you probably have some ideas for your next live stream, so don’t waste any time and put these live streaming ideas to work today!

Find out how ManyCam can take your live streams to the next level!

Which one is your favourite idea?

Let us know in the comment section below. =)