One of the areas that I’m experimenting with more and more is live video. This is in part because of social media marketing world and what other entrepreneurs are doing. Naturally, at Social Media Marketing World (SMMW), I wanted to attend some sessions on live video to gain more information. Luria Petrucci’s, from Live Streaming Pros, presentation was quite informative.
Wirecast sponsored this session. A number of people I follow use Wirecast to send out live streams. The benefit of Wirecast is users actually have a studio controller at their fingertips which allows them to easily switch between the different elements they want to show on the screen. They can show a screencast, talking heads, or a video clip and easily switch between them. I have recently purchased Wirecast and I am extremely happy with it.
At the beginning of Petrucci’s presentation, she stressed a couple of things that I thought were really important:
- We should be focusing on engagement rather than the numbers. This was a consistent thread across most of SMMW this year or at least the sessions that I attended.
- Be human. Be more than a brand. Be authentic.
Live Video
There are two types of live video:
- Live shows – where they are scheduled and reoccurring.
- Live streams – which are more spontaneous and not predictable.
Live Video Strategy
Petrucci share that there should be four parts to your video strategy:
- Technology strategy
- Content strategy
- Promotion strategy
- Sales strategy
Technology Strategy
As you are developing your technology strategy you may go through one of these for phases or one of these for levels.
- Level 1 – Phone: This is where you would use your smartphone to send live video to your platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Periscope, etc.
- Level 2 – Browser: This is more static where you are behind a computer and you are using a webcam to deliver content to your different platforms.
- Level 3 – Software: This is where you are using software such as Wirecast to deliver your show. This is the level that I have presently moved into. With software, you can do more complex streams using overlays, picture-in-picture, etc.
- Level 4 – Hardware: This is where you set up a dedicated PC. You may have dedicated video and audio equipment as part of that setup.
If you want to learn more about the hardware and software that you need for live streaming check out Live Streaming Pros.
Content Strategy
When you pull together content for your weekly shows, you have to be purposeful and cohesive. Ideally, you want it to lead to an end result. What do you want your viewers to do at the end of your series of videos? How do you want them to change?
Your content should be adding value. It should help people whether or not you end up with a client. However, you should always be working on lead generations.
Petrucci provided an example showing how content could be cohesive across all the different media. For example, your podcast could share 3 different tips, whereas your live video could show you deep dive into one of those tips. The email that you send to your list could share a success story related to those tips.
While presenting live, you need to specifically ask for engagement. When you asked for engagement, you need to be as specific as possible. Tell your audience exactly what you want them to do. If you want them to leave a comment, you specifically have to tell them to leave a comment. If you want them to send you a message on Facebook Messenger, you need to tell them specifically to do that.
Also, you need to go for the easy wins. Get them to do something specific on your live show. For example, have them tell you where they are viewing from. Once you’ve done this then the other asks go much easier.
Promotion Strategy
Prior to your live show, you need to take time to announce on your different platforms when the live show will take place. This is something I need to do a better job with. This can be done on different platforms:
- Social platforms
- In person network
- Live streams
A live stream is something that you would be doing or sharing that is educational, fun, inspirational, or promotional.
Sales Strategy
Once again the conversation of messenger bots came up. In this case, Petrucci recommended using messenger bots in live video. She pointed out that messenger bots result in higher engagement, higher retention, and higher conversion. I will have to explore how to use bots as part of my live strategy more in-depth.
This was another highly informative presentation. It spoke to the importance of having a live video strategy. This is something that I will be exploring with great interest over this next year.
