Going Live
Livestreaming is the latest trend in social media marketing, and it’s here to stay. In an increasingly digital age, users crave authenticity from their favorite content creators, and livestreams serve as a way to lower the barrier between celebrities and their followers.
Businesses looking to boost their engagement and deepen customer relationships can use livestreaming as a way to connect with their base while promoting products in a way that’s casual, friendly, and free.
Here are five of the most commonly asked questions about going live on social media, complete with answers to help you leverage your audience, make a lasting impression, and convert casual viewers into raving brand fanatics.
1. Why should I go live?
Simply put, livestreaming can draw an audience like nothing else. In a recent poll, people shared they were 80% more likely to watch a live stream than read a blog.
Live streaming also has a low barrier of entry, making it virtually effortless for people to join in. Rather than RSVP to an event invitation or sign up for a course, live streaming takes place directly on a host platform like Facebook or Instagram, with users merely tapping once to join the virtual experience.
Wondering what the difference is between pre-uploaded content and a live stream feed? While it’s hard to say for sure, the research speaks for itself: Facebook lives get six times more interaction than pre-recorded videos.
In a nutshell, live streaming is a sure-fire way to capture your audience and draw a crowd, making it a valuable tool in your marketing belt time and again.
2. Where should I be going live?
In short: wherever your audience is.
Businesses can now go live on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, TikTok, and Twitter, with several sites allowing for overlap between platforms. Understanding where your customers spend time online is critical to targeting them via livestream, so poke around a bit before rolling the camera.
Factors like age, gender, and location all impact where your audience prefers to spend their time online. Data shows that younger audiences prefer apps like Instagram and TikTok, while the thirty-and-up crowd prefer Twitter and YouTube.
Facebook is still the number-one most popular social media platform, but tends to skew towards older folks, meaning live streams hosted there should be aimed at a more mature audience.
3. What’s the best time to go live?
Think about when you usually go on social media. Data shows more people are active online on weekdays between 1-3pm, typically during their lunch break. The next most popular time is around 8pm.
For livestreams, make sure you leave yourself at least 10 minutes to gather a crowd, deliver your content, and provide a call to action before heading offline. You can also save your Live on sites like Instagram, allowing them to be viewed at any time during a 24 hour window immediately following your livestream.
4. How do I generate interest for my livestream?
Post, post, post.
Post to your story, post to your feed, send followers DMs, and announce it across your social platforms in the days leading up to your live.
Sites like Canva provide free resources for creating social-media-friendly fliers and ads, along with video reels and animated GIFs to get people interested in your feed.
If you are planning to announce an important event, personal update, or business sale, make sure you leave plenty of time to whip up curiosity before letting the camera roll. The more people you can attract to your livestream, the more likely they are to take an action once you’re finished recording.
5. What should I talk about when I go live?
While it’s true you should never post just for the sake of posting, livestreams give you a chance to toe the line a little.
If you have important news to share, by all means, hop online and cue up a video feed. Live streams are excellent for product demos, unboxings, get-ready-with-me’s, and a host of other intimate, relational online trends.
But even if you don’t have anything massive to share, live streaming is a great way to connect with your followers by hosting a Q&A session, taking them behind the scenes, participating in a virtual coffee chat, or just sharing some fun facts about yourself or your business.
The key to a truly great live stream is authenticity. Don’t overthink it—have fun, make connections, and leave your audience wanting more.
At Goalpost Group, we help our clients break the cycle of bad marketing using strategy, structure, and killer content that drives sales and wins the day. Get in touch with a member of our team to learn more about how we can help transform your marketing.
