Social Live Videos are changing the way your audience interacts with your brand.

Have you tried them yet? Many businesses large and small include this type of content in their marketing strategies.  Live videos present a format that encourages viewers to comment and share.

Social live videos include Facebook Live, XXXXX, XXXXX, XXXXX and XXXXXX, and their popularity is growing. But why?

Is it because of the quality of the video production process or the brand’s message? Not exactly. The magic of live video comes from the fact that it creates a type of immediacy and connection that other kinds of content don’t quite get (or, at least, not as well). It’s a way for brands to let their audiences participate in a more authentic way by commenting, asking questions, or indicating during the live video that they like the content by using “thumbs up” or hearts that fly across the video.

Here’s another reason: Fear of missing out, especially among millennials. If audiences can’t participate live, they can always catch the replay.

If you’re already using live video but you’re unhappy with the number of views you’re getting, or your videos aren’t selling as many products and services as you had hoped, we’ve got you covered. Let’s go through the steps for making the best social live videos to meet your business goals.

Before You Go Live

Plan Your Broadcast

No video or live video is complete without a solid strategy. One of the beauties of video streaming is the spontaneity and authenticity of the content. That means you shouldn’t be memorizing a script or using a teleprompter. Instead, prepare thoroughly so that your presentation sounds like you’re talking to your audience and note reading from notes.

Know your target audience, your goals for each video, the content you’ll present, and what you want viewers to do while watching live or during the replay. Start by answering these questions:

• If you want a lot of live interaction, will you host your video during a time that’s most convenient for your audience? For example, if most of them have 9-to-5 jobs, evening hours might be best.
• Do you want viewers to buy a product or service after watching the video?
• If so, have you created a short link that leads them to a compelling sales page?
• Is it easy to buy what you’re selling?
• Do you want to gather information about your audience before, during or after the presentation?

Set your goals, decide on your content and rehearse it so you avoid stage fright and awkward silences when you go live. The more you prepare the more valuable your content, the greater the chances that you’ll convert viewers to buyers.

Choose the Best Type of Content

Focus on content that your audience will be more inclined to watch live. Present a new product and explain how it’s the solution to a problem. Take your audience on a tour of your office. Or host a simple Q&A. Have a few qestions in your back pocket before you begin  (people love to be heard and to interact with brands!), show the backstage of an event… The sky’s the limit!

Just think for a while about what sort of live content your audience would be interested in, and try it out!

Promote Your Broadcast

 How do you make your audience tune in? Three words: Pro–mo–tion (okay, one word. But an important one!). You need to make your audience aware that an event is going to take place, so they can actively watch it.

There are many ways to promote a live video — you can share a sneak peek of the content, you can schedule Facebook Live or YouTube events so that people know when it’s going to be live, you can start a conversation by letting your audience ask questions that will be answered during the live video…

Always promote your video in advance! Make your audience aware of the event and share your upcoming broadcast across platforms.

Take Special Care of the Technical Details

There are three main technical factors that need to be perfected before you start your live video: The lightning, the sound, and the connection quality.

If you have good lighting, your video’s audio works perfectly and your Internet connection is 100% reliable, then you have all the technical aspects under control! It doesn’t matter if you’re filming with the newest and greatest video camera available or if you’re filming with your iphone, as long as these three technical factors are good.

Why? Because if your image is dark and uninteresting, or your audio sounds bad, most people will lose their interest and leave instantly. The same will happen if your wifi fails and your video starts stuttering.

Remember: Your livestream doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does need to look professional! Otherwise your brand’s credibility will suffer.

During the Broadcast

Brand Your Video

Some platforms (like BeLive or Lightstream) will let you add visuals to your videos (your own logo, custom designs and color schemes), and are as easy to use as dragging the item and dropping it on the screen.

This will give a whole new level of professionalism to your live video, and will help with brand recognition and cohesion. Just remember to make your visuals look pretty, but subtle. The focus should be on your message!

Remember: People Will Be Late!

No matter how much you advertise and promote your live video in advance, it’s very possible that most people will join halfway through. In fact, Facebook recommends to broadcast for at least ten minutes before commencing, to reach the most people.

So a good rule of thumb would be to give your video a nice intro, but don’t try to cram the important part of your message during the first couple of minutes, because a good part of your audience will miss it.

Always Finish with a CTA

Before you finish the livestream, give your audience some homework!

Use the powerful engagement that you got with your live video to point them to a next step to keep them engaged. Point them on the direction of the new product that you’re unveiling, or take them to a landing page with more information on what you just discussed… Don’t let that power go to waste!

Let’s review!

So, now you’re definitely ready to welcome live videos as a part of your branding! Long story short:

• Before going live, take some time to promote your broadcast across all of your social media platforms.
• Make sure you have a content strategy: an outline of the topics you’ll talk about, and something valuable to share with your viewers to keep them tuned in.
• Make it yours: Add some of your brand identity to your video, a proper CTA and make sure that this video is answering to a specific need (is it awareness, is it to generate conversions?)

And most of all, have fun and be authentic! Forget scripts and don’t let perfectionism hold you back. Going live shows the real people behind the brands, with real personalities, feelings and opinions. All of these will help your audience connect with your brand in completely new ways!

So there you have it. It’s time to press play!

How to Use Social Live Videos as Part of Your Branding

Social Live Videos are changing the way that audiences interact with brands.

Have you tried them yet? A lot of brands and institutions are including this kind of content in their marketing strategies. Live videos present an extremely engaging format, with high rates of brand awareness and user interaction, and more people are catching up to it!

But why?

Is it because of the quality of the video production process, or the brand’s message? Not exactly. The magic of live video comes from the fact that it creates a type of immediacy and connection that other kinds of content don’t quite get (or, at least, not as well). It is a way for brands to engage their audiences in a more authentic way.

There’s another reason though, which is a little bit more millennial. FOMO, a fear of missing out.

People are having live video sessions with millions of views (influencers, politicians, and even institutions and brands!) — because audiences do not like to miss out on things going on! They need to know, they need to be a part of it. That’s FOMO right there!

Still, even though this tool is available to anyone, not every brand knows how to use it right. Maybe you’re not having the amount of viewers you’d like, maybe you’d like to use your live video to increase awareness of your product or increase your sales but you don’t know how to benefit from it correctly.

Well, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Let’s go through the steps for making the best social live videos for your business strategy!

Before You Go Live!

Plan Your Broadcast

The first thing that needs to be done is to plan the broadcast. No video or live video is complete without a solid strategy!

Yes, one of the beauties of video streaming is the spontaneity and authenticness of the content, so you shouldn’t be memorizing a script or finding a teleprompter. But it’s necessary to know some of the basics before you start!

You should know who your target audience is (Who will you be speaking to?), what are the main goals for this particular piece of content. What are the themes that you’ll be speaking about. Setting these goals can be a bit intimidating, but a good way to start can be by answering this questions:

• Are you planning to make sales with your live video?
• Is this video going to raise awareness for your brand?
• Is it going to be informative?
• Is it going to humanize your brand?
• Is it going to help you gather information about your audience?

Set your goals straight, outline your main topics of conversation, and you’ll have a nice strategy. This will help you, not only with your sales and conversions, but also with any stage fright you may have. Having a plan means no awkward silences!

Choose the Best Type of Content

Yes, you could just sit down in front of a camera and start babbling about your day, but that’s not the best way to get all the juice out of the live video!

Instead, focus on sharing the things that your audience may be more inclined to watch live: present a new product, organize a Q&A (people love to be heard and to interact with brands!), show the backstage of an event… The sky’s the limit!

Just think for a while about what sort of live content your audience would be interested in, and try it out!

Promote Your Broadcast

 How do you make your audience tune in? Three words: Pro–mo–tion (okay, one word. But an important one!). You need to make your audience aware that an event is going to take place, so they can actively watch it.

There are many ways to promote a live video — you can share a sneak peek of the content, you can schedule Facebook Live or YouTube events so that people know when it’s going to be live, you can start a conversation by letting your audience ask questions that will be answered during the live video…

Always promote your video in advance! Make your audience aware of the event and share your upcoming broadcast across platforms.

Take Special Care of the Technical Details

 There are three main technical factors that need to be perfected before you start your live video: The lightning, the sound, and the connection quality.

If you have good lighting, your video’s audio works perfectly and your Internet connection is 100% reliable, then you have all the technical aspects under control! It doesn’t matter if you’re filming with the newest and greatest video camera available or if you’re filming with your iphone, as long as these three technical factors are good.

Why? Because if your image is dark and uninteresting, or your audio sounds bad, most people will lose their interest and leave instantly. The same will happen if your wifi fails and your video starts stuttering.

Remember: Your livestream doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does need to look professional! Otherwise your brand’s credibility will suffer.

During the Broadcast

Brand Your Video

Some platforms (like BeLive or Lightstream) will let you add visuals to your videos (your own logo, custom designs and color schemes), and are as easy to use as dragging the item and dropping it on the screen.

This will give a whole new level of professionalism to your live video, and will help with brand recognition and cohesion. Just remember to make your visuals look pretty, but subtle. The focus should be on your message!

Remember: People Will Be Late!

No matter how much you advertise and promote your live video in advance, it’s very possible that most people will join halfway through. In fact, Facebook recommends to broadcast for at least ten minutes before commencing, to reach the most people.

So a good rule of thumb would be to give your video a nice intro, but don’t try to cram the important part of your message during the first couple of minutes, because a good part of your audience will miss it.

Always Finish with a CTA

Before you finish the livestream, give your audience some homework!

Use the powerful engagement that you got with your live video to point them to a next step to keep them engaged. Point them on the direction of the new product that you’re unveiling, or take them to a landing page with more information on what you just discussed… Don’t let that power go to waste!

Let’s review!

So, now you’re definitely ready to welcome live videos as a part of your branding! Long story short:

• Before going live, take some time to promote your broadcast across all of your social media platforms.
• Make sure you have a content strategy: an outline of the topics you’ll talk about, and something valuable to share with your viewers to keep them tuned in.
• Make it yours: Add some of your brand identity to your video, a proper CTA and make sure that this video is answering to a specific need (is it awareness, is it to generate conversions?)

And most of all, have fun and be authentic! Forget scripts and don’t let perfectionism hold you back. Going live shows the real people behind the brands, with real personalities, feelings and opinions. All of these will help your audience connect with your brand in completely new ways!

So there you have it. It’s time to press play!

Author bio:

Victor Blasco’s an audiovisual designer, video marketing expert, and founder/CEO of the explainer video company Yum Yum Videos. Besides running the business, he’s a lifelong student of Chinese philosophy and a passionate geek for all things sci-fi.