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The Ultimate Guide to Live Video Marketing – Part 1
By Tawanna B.
So…
WHY CREATE LIVE VIDEOS?
Video content is leading the charge in this rapidly changing digital age.
Ustream reports that this year, 80% of the world data will be video. In a 2015 Web Video Marketing Council study, marketers reported that video had a positive impact on their marketing results.
Video content has traditionally been viewed as a resource intensive task with pre and post production activities requiring extra skill, time and money.
Such is not the case with live video.
Much like the rest of social media, live video is all about the moment.
The spontaneity, rawness and instantaneous nature of live video create authentic experiences for both broadcaster and viewer.
For marketers and brands, live-streaming presents a unique opportunity to engage and connect with your audience faster than any other medium.
Even if you’re not a brand or a marketer, live video can be an asset to your business.
Whether you are a speaker, coach, author, home cook, fitness enthusiast, musician, real estate agent, blogger, influencer or tarot card reader, you can be successful using this form of content to market your product or service.
Why?
The Problem
Do you identify with any of these problems?
Creating a strategy is the solution.
First…
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?
Live videos have many use-cases for a business owner and marketer, some of which include:
Each of these use cases should fit within your overall live video strategy. However, before we can discuss formulating a strategy we have to identify your overall goals.
The types of goals that you could set include:
Whatever you determine as your overall goal, remember that each time you go live you may have a specific goal for a video.
Here’s an example:
Cindy has an overall goal of attracting new leads. She decides to adapt live streaming into her online digital marketing.
However, each time Cindy goes live she sets a smaller goal.
On Mondays, her live videos focus on educational material designed to send people to a landing page to learn more.
On Wednesdays she takes her viewers behind the scenes in her business to spur more views. And on Fridays she holds a Q&A session to garner more engagement.
All of the smaller goals that Cindy sets are designed to get the viewer to know her better, like and trust her.
Once Cindy provides her prospect with value and establishes trust, the prospect can easily ascend to becoming a customer.
Create an overall objective.
Then create specific objectives with specific time frames.
For example:
Now that you’ve seen examples of potential goals, what are yours? Identify at least 2-3 for your business.
Next…
HOW TO ACHIEVE YOUR OVERALL AIM
What I’ve found to be true about some of the best broadcasters is that:
Your live streaming strategy can look similar to your social media marketing strategy.
Decide on two major social strategies that will support your objective. They could include:
Watch what the competition is doing or not doing. Learn from them as a part of your strategy.
Once you decide what you will stream about and what your goals are for your live videos, decide when you can go live.
What types of videos will you create? Q&A, Behind-the-Scenes, Events, etc.
Be sure to revisit your customer avatar to understand what kind of video content she likes or how much she likes to consume content.
Think about the questions that she has about your business. This will serve as the content for your videos.
Will you commit to once a day, once a week, several times a week?
Choose a schedule that works for you and your team.
Which platform will you choose to create live videos?
Remember, this depends on where your target customer hangs out. Is she on Facebook, Twitter, Periscope, YouTube, Instagram or Snapchat?
Even if she hangs out in multiple places, choose one platform at first.
Master one platform. Get a rhythm before you attempt to be everywhere.
How committed are you in getting the knowledge you need of the platforms and third party tools to create the live content that you want?
Should you work with a consultant or sign up for a course first to gain your on-camera confidence, learn advanced functionality and tools, devise a marketing strategy and plan?
Can you outsource parts of the process? Is there a creator whose work and presence you like that you can use for your own company?
Answer these first couple of questions to devise your strategy.
In part 2 of the series, we’ll discuss 5 other elements you need to define for a comprehensive live video marketing strategy.
If you’d like to read it now, download the FREE eBook below for immediate delivery.
