Live video streaming has been around for a long time, but what has changed is the availability of technology that makes streaming more accessible to anyone with a smartphone.

51.9% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI.

Why should event organisers adopt another technology if they are already involved on various sites of social media? Yes, each social networking site provides a slightly different opportunity for business owners but live streaming video is a great way to interact with your audience in real time.

What makes live streaming different from recorded videos that you can upload onto your social channels? Live streams imbue the videos with a touch of sincerity that recorded videos doesn’t; your authentic, unrehearsed moments during live streams videos conveys the authenticity that attracts the attention of viewers.

How would you be able to leverage live video streaming at your event?

• Behind-the-scenes videos of concerts, workshops that viewers don’t normally get access to
• Broadcast live from events like conferences, tradeshows, or speaking engagements
• Live Q&A sessions with key speakers and guests
• Product demonstrations
• Sneak peek of new launches
• Giveaway discounts, coupon codes and prizes

What are free tools that you can start using straight away?

Facebook Live Feed

Facebook Live Feed is available to iOS users in more than 30 countries, and is being steadily rolled out to android users. This is exciting because you can now build up hype leading to your event on your Facebook page, and use it as means to foster better engagement with both old and potentially new followers. You just need to be in area with strong wifi for this to work well. Facebook has shared some tips that can help your videos gain more traction: click here for more information.

Periscope

The fashion world has always been quick to adopt new technologies and fashion houses like Burberry, DKNY, and Marc Jacobs were quick to integrate Periscope into their arsenal. This allowed them to provide their fans with virtual front row seats to their shows and made them feel like that they were part of the fashion house’s journey.

Take your viewers backstage, conduct intimate Q&A sessions, and share with them the world your brand is part of. Viewers can engage with you by commenting live to each segment.

Meerkat

Here’s how Meerkat works. You can live-stream video content from your phone to your followers. The mobile application sends out push notifications to your followers, alerting them that your live-stream is about to begin. That’s another thing – Meerkat – like Snapchat – is currently one-time-use only. If you don’t watch a stream as it broadcasts, you miss the opportunity to watch it at all.

One of the key differences between the two is that Periscope saves the video streams once you are finished, so that anyone can view them for up to 24 hours; Meerkat’s live video disappears once you choose to end the broadcast.

Google Hangouts on Air

Google Hangouts on Air let you share live events on Google+, YouTube and your website, which means your audience can choose how to consume your content. This is particularly important since many mobile users prefer to watch video on YouTube. You can also do this on Youtube Live.

Snapchat

Snapchat is easy to use: Snap a video, share it to your public stream, and it stays on it for 24 hours. If someone has watched it, then the video disappears on their feed. Kylie Jenner has become an undisputed queen of snapchat, uses it to show her followers the behind the scene production of her lip kits and her followers get hyped up about her product launches (which are always sold out in minutes!)

Conclusion

Social media engagement is a two way street- just as much as you are live streaming, so are your consumers -listen to them and react. Before you decide to jump on the bandwagon of live streaming on yet another new channel, think about which channel could actually benefit your strategy and how you would integrate it into your existing marketing plans. Live streaming does make a big change in the way event marketers share their event experiences. Go start streaming now!