Social live streaming is a gleaming phenomenon that millennials and marketers alike are falling in love with. What live social media streaming does can do is give us the opportunity to connect with others face to face despite physical limitations. Nowadays, businesses have so many live streaming social media sites to choose from that it can be overwhelming. This article will help you choose the right live streaming social network to magnify your business’s digital footprint.
Define Your Purpose for Live Streaming
Some businesses wonder why they should even use social media live streaming. Well, the truth is that any business can unearth multiple benefits by using live streams, including growing your audience, The ability to connect with others–employees, followers, customers, other businesses, anyone–with the click of a button is a powerful precept.
Business Communication
Live streaming is a priceless tool for communication. For instance, video chatting via Skype is one way that you might already be using live video streaming for business. Check out these ideas for how your business can use social live streaming logistically:
- Business meetings
- Recruiting
- Training
- Customer support
- B2B outreach
Marketing & Sales
Building brand awareness is a common reason for live streaming on social media. It’s fresh & trendy, and any business that uses social live streaming apps is considered modern. If you want to increase your sales and market your brand with social live streaming, consider these ideas:
- Production demonstration
- Live-only discount codes
- Q&A sessions
- Interviews
- Behind-the-scenes
- Events
- Tutorials
As you can see, businesses can use social live streaming sites in a variety of ways. You can even develop your own creative ways of using live streaming for business. Ideally, you may want to use live streaming for several different purposes. Either way, clearly define your goals for social live streaming video so you can prepare to choose the right platform.
Social Live Streaming Platforms – The Choices
With the advent of live streaming on the Internet, countless websites and apps are striving to become the biggest name in social live streaming. This race continues into 2017, as Twitter released its own live streaming capabilities only weeks ago. Let’s take a look at all the noteworthy contenders in social live streaming.
Periscope
With the death of Meerkat, Periscope is now the largest social live streaming app with almost no close contenders. What makes Periscope stand out from the other live streaming platforms in this list is that it was made for–and only for–live streaming.
Reasons why you should use Periscope for live streaming:
- Your live content is unique.
- You want to easily promote your Periscope account to your existing following elsewhere on social media.
- You want to build an organic following on a new social network.
Reasons why you shouldn’t use Periscope for live streaming:
- Your business is just starting out with live streaming.
- Your business is just starting out with social media.
- You’re not ready for heavy social media competition.
Facebook has been a competitor in the live streaming industry longer than Instagram and Twitter. Because of Facebook’s title as the number one social network in the world, consider the potential it has in the live streaming sphere.
Reasons why you should use Facebook for live streaming:
- You want to reach a massive audience.
- You already have a Facebook following.
- Your live streams are intended for business communication purposes.
Reasons why you shouldn’t use Facebook for live streaming:
- Your business wants to build an organic following from your live streams.
- Your Facebook followers prefer other mediums to live streams.
- You want to centralize your live streams on a video-based social network.
YouTube
YouTube has some edge over its competitors because it is the number one video-sharing website in the world (and the number two website in the world, according to its Alexa rank). It was the earliest player in the social live streaming game.
Reasons why you should use YouTube for live streaming:
- Your business regularly produces YouTube content (live or not).
- You already have a YouTube following.
- You understand how to effectively use YouTube as a marketing tool.
Reasons why you shouldn’t use YouTube for live streaming:
- Your business wants to build an organic following from your live streams.
- You want to keep up with the latest live streaming trends.
- You’re not ready for heavy social media competition.
Twitter just launched its #GoLive campaign in December of 2016, making it the latest addition to the list of social live streaming networks. Even though Twitter owns Periscope, the two social networks are different and should be used for different reasons.
Reasons why you should use Twitter for live streaming:
- You want to join the latest live stream trend.
- You already have a Twitter following.
- Your business wants to start a social live stream campaign (hashtags, people!).
Reasons why you shouldn’t use Twitter for live streaming:
- Your business wants to build an organic following from your live streams.
- You plan on producing regular, distinguished live streaming content.
- You want to centralize your live streams on a video-based social network.
Instagram is probably our most inconsequential competitor at the moment simply because of its size as a social network. Although it was originally an image-based social media platform, the app has expanded into video and is now live streaming.
Reasons why you should use Instagram for live streaming:
- Your live streams are brief.
- You already have an Instagram following.
- You are experienced with using Instagram as a marketing tool.
Reasons why you shouldn’t use Instagram for live streaming:
- Your business wants to build an organic following from your live streams.
- You plan on producing regular, distinguished live streaming content.
- You want to reach a large audience with your live streams.
What’s Next?
Every business has a different mission, so not every one’s marketing plan is going to look the same. Once you have chosen which social live streaming platforms are the best fit for your business, producing content is your next step. Statistics show that high-quality promotional videos perform better than low-quality ones. If you want to create the best live streams in your niche, consider hiring Valoso’s freelancers to help film or edit your masterpieces. Just click below to learn more.
