COVID-19 has pushed many businesses to consider live streaming as a means to communicate with their customers and keep them engaged. The exciting thing is customers respond well and even prefer company live streams. New York Magazine’s research uncovered that 80 percent of audiences would rather watch live videos from a brand than read a blog post.

 

Live streaming your business allows you to build and reinforce trust throughout each customer journey stage. If you’re unsure what you can highlight, there are many things your business can live stream, from company processes and employee spotlights to frequently asked questions and product how-to tips.

 

To help you find success, below, we share eight best practices for live streaming your business.

 

 

 

Interact with Your Viewers

No one wants to tune in to a live stream to watch someone mindlessly perform a task. Besides being a form of communication, live streaming is entertainment, and your audience is looking for a show. Streaming is an excellent source of compelling and captivating content.

 

A best practice for live streaming your business is to interact with your viewers. Don’t be afraid to chat casually with them. Ask questions about their familiarity with you or your products. Host polls during the stream to gather valuable feedback from your audience. The beauty of live streaming is that it humanizes any brand and you get to understand your audience better.

 

 

Test Your Equipment

Nothing appears more unprofessional than malfunctioning equipment. Although technical difficulties are sometimes unavoidable, it is best to keep the challenges to a minimum. The best way to reduce the number of issues you have when you hit “go live” is to test your equipment before your stream.

 

If you’re working with a team, have them test all connections 20 to 30 minutes before your stream. However, if you make any adjustments to your setup, including adding or removing equipment, you might want to do a test stream a day prior to the stream. This allows you time to verify that everything is operating correctly.

 

 

Promote Your Stream in Advance

A crucial best practice for live streaming your business is to remember to promote your stream. If no one knows about your stream, how can you hope to have an exceptional turnout? An excellent time to promote is a few days in advance. It allows your audience to set reminders or make plans to be in attendance.

 

When you promote, share key details such as the day and time, where you will be streaming, and the focus of the day’s stream. You can also use your social media pages or marketing emails to spread the word about the event. For these efforts, send emails out approximately 48 hours in advance to inform and build hype.

 

 

Comply with Platform Rules

If you’re using a platform to live stream content, be sure to review the terms of service. Each streaming platform has a set of rules and regulations that you must follow if you want to use their platform.

 

For example, platforms like Facebook and Twitch are strict about audio copyrights. So, if they hear copyrighted music in the background, they will remove your live streams, sometimes without prior warning.

 

 

Save and Share

After live-streaming your business, make sure your masterpiece doesn’t go to waste. Many live streaming platforms have features where you can download your event and share it through a simple link. A great tip for building your viewership is to restrict access to your recorded live stream.

 

By making it only available to your social media followers and email subscribers, you create something called FOMO, or fear of missing out. Because people don’t want to miss out on your nuggets of wisdom, they’ll be sure to subscribe, so they don’t miss out.

 

 

 

Tulix

Live streaming can be a fun and entertaining way to increase brand awareness while growing your audience. These best practices for live streaming your business are only a few things to consider when you journey into the world of streaming.

 

If your company has yet to find the perfect streaming platform, consider Tulix. We are a premier global video company that provides end-to-end streaming solutions for live and on-demand video to any screen.

 

For more information about our company or our services, contact our team today!