6 Ways to Leverage Live Streaming to Help Your Brand Growth

By Jenna Bunnell

Thanks to the growing popularity of remote work and the world generally going digital, live streaming is the most prevalent it has ever been. That makes it an essential tool in business to share thoughts and communicate with colleagues, peers, and clients alike. Live streaming is a great way to show people that you know what you are talking about, and that your brand is taking a step into the future. 

The concept has become popular amongst influencers, celebrities, and even regular everyday folk. But for businesses, it is a chance to show off products, knowledge, and the impact they are having on the world. Possibly most importantly, live streams are a way to help a company to gain traction and get noticed. 

You could be looking for new ways to optimize Video On Demand streaming. Or maybe you are simply looking for some tips. Whatever the reason that brought you here, here are six ways to leverage live streaming to help your brand grow. 

Show What Things Are Like Backstage

Everyone loves seeing what life is like behind the scenes. So, creating a live stream of what really goes on in the office is a great way to engage people with your company. It helps create a level of authenticity and shows a side that people don’t normally get to see. 

One way to do this is to give an insight into the meetings you are having or the ideas you are developing. Say, for example, you are discussing speech analytics for call centers. Having a meeting about something like this gives you a chance to show what goes on in your day-to-day life. As well as allowing you a discreet opportunity to show off any exciting statistics you may have. 

Another idea is to take people on a tour around the office and show what the culture of the company is like. This is a good way to show the humanistic side of a firm and represent a little more of what the company is about. 

Go Live

Okay, so the point of the whole article is to talk about live streaming. But this is to reiterate that a video really does need to be live, rather than pre-recorded. As this gets the most views. Of course, it’s very tempting to pre-record videos and edit them to make them as smooth as possible. But the beauty of live videos is that they do have imperfections and that’s why people like them. 

Doing things live also means that people have the opportunity to react to videos. This can be a great learning point for you as you discover the aspects that people enjoy… And those that they don’t. Say, for example, you are doing a live talk on exploratory tests. Perhaps when you explain what it is, you get lots of likes. However, when you quickly brush over how it is used in agile testing, you get some dislikes and some negative comments. 

You will know for next time to explain the agile points in more detail and will get more people watching. Allowing you to create great quality videos that people are genuinely engaging with. This really helps to take the guesswork out of what works and what doesn’t.

As live streaming does have such an interactive element to it, it’s important to make streams secure from leaks and hackers. That way, you are protecting yourself and those watching. 

Plan Ahead

Whilst the improvisational side of a live video is something that makes it appealing, for the sake of the business, it’s important to plan ahead. This helps to prevent any big mistakes from happening, and also reduces any stage fright. It also means that you won’t find yourself umming and erring halfway through a video. Especially as you want to look confident and knowledgeable about the topics you are discussing. 

It’s particularly important to plan ahead when you are talking about complex topics. Say you are doing a live video about voice analysis software . With this being a relatively uncommon subject, it’s important to make sure you are giving correct information. And are talking with confidence. No matter how knowledgeable you are on the subject, it’s vital to prepare your speech. 

A good way to do this is to write a list of the points you want to cover and in what order. Then practice, practice, practice. If you need to, you can always stick a piece of paper behind the camera with your plan and notes on it. Doing all this will ensure you are a trustworthy and go-to firm. 

Make The Most of Spontaneity

Without contradicting the previous point, it’s just as important to realize that things may not go as smoothly as planned. And that you have a way to deal with this. The internet might cut out halfway through you asking, “What does outbound calls mean?” Your nerves might get the better of you when it comes to discussing content migration. Or it might even be that a dog starts barking in the background of a finance talk and throws you off your stride. 

So, no matter how much you plan, it’s important to be prepared for spontaneity too. Being imperfect will show your personable side and will make you more relatable to people. Rather than give the impression that you are uptight and can’t let loose. It’s also important to do this in case things do go wrong. You need to be confident enough to throw away the plan, not panic, and be able to improvise if needs be. 

Even learning to use a range of online video platforms can help get you out of a last-minute sticky situation. Especially if you need to do something like quickly move from a laptop to a phone because the internet has cut out, for example. It’s also okay to subtly address the situation and acknowledge this isn’t what you planned. As long as you don’t focus on it too much, this again adds a human side.

Appeal to a Global Audience

We now live in a society where we are realizing the importance of sharing information across continents. When we talk about Gmail notes, for example, we know this isn’t something that is confined to the USA alone. It is something that is used in every country in the world and its accessibility is one aspect that has made it successful. 

Therefore, appealing to people globally will help to get a bigger audience in general. One of the great parts of doing this is that it allows people to attend events that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to. Making your firm open to all is something that will help give your brand a good reputation. 

Live Stream a Company Event

It’s a regular occurrence nowadays for companies to host some sort of live event. These range from award ceremonies to sports-based days. If you are doing live events for whatever reason, then why not live to stream it? These are a great way for audiences to get in on the action and to show that you care more about than just making money and being stuck in a stuffy office all day. 

You can even encourage the audience to get involved in their own way. Like making bets on which outbound call team member can run the fastest. Or asking them to suggest music to put on in the background. 

Even if you don’t want to do something on such a large scale, you can easily host a company Q and A event. This allows customers to talk to you on a face-to-face level and ask questions they may not normally get a chance to. Plus, doing this allows you to get an insight into the minds of customers and gives you better chances of reaching your customer satisfaction KPI. 

Say you run a marketing agency. You may feel that customer interest mostly lies in SEO. However, after running a live streaming Q and A event, you soon discover the most asked question was in fact, “What is advocacy marketing?”

Doing a live stream is an excellent way to talk to an audience on a wider level while showing a human side to your firm. Whether planning in advance or deciding to film a live event, following our tips will certainly help your brand grow.

About the Author

Jenna Bunnell is the Senior Manager for Content Marketing at Dialpad, an AI-incorporated cloud-hosted unified communications system with cold calling tools that provides valuable call details for business owners and sales representatives. She is driven and passionate about communicating a brand’s design sensibility and visualizing how content can be presented in creative and comprehensive ways. Here is her LinkedIn.