On Friday, September 28th, at approximately 5:30 am you could’ve found me tiredly stumbling into my co-worker’s car, as we began our four-hour journey from Exeter to Brighton. Brighton SEO, Brighton’s huge, twice-yearly search marketing conference and training event, our eventual destination. There’s a lapse in my memory shortly after entering the vehicle and setting off on our advertising adventure, it could be something to do with the three-hour nap that I promptly took upon getting sufficiently comfy in my seat. Nevertheless, and thankfully so, the escapades at Brighton SEO were much more memorable and infinitely more insightful.
The particular episode of Brighton SEO September 2018 that I want to focus on is Kaizen’s ‘How to Use Live Video in Content Marketing’ presentation, delivered by Kaizen’s Head of Creative, Bobbi Brant. Over the course of forty slides, Brant delivered a fascinating look at the benefits of utilising live video in content marketing. Throughout the duration of this blog, I intend to share with you my main takeaways and most informative insights from Brant’s presentation. Read on and you’ll be live video marketing in no time at all.
Did you know that 80% of people would rather watch live video from a brand rather than reading a blog? Factoids like this does beg the question of why I’m bothering to write this blog post at all, however, I digress. Nevertheless, it highlights the powerful influence that live video marketing has and eludes to the popularity that the marketing tool holds. Moreover, Brant elaborated upon this statistic, providing two excellent examples of live-video marketing from companies such as Red Bull, and IPs (independent properties) such as the popular mobile game, Clash Royale, both of which raked in millions upon millions of views.
Additionally, one of the greatest strengths of live video marketing is the potential reach that comes alongside it. There is a wide breadth of live video platforms to make use of. From Periscope and Facebook, to YouTube and Instagram, the vast amount of people that you can hypothetically reach with live video marketing is truly staggering. However, which platform you decide to utilise depends entirely upon which platform works best for the brand that you are advertising. Remember to bear this in mind.
Furthermore, when you consider the huge variety of forms which live video marketing can take, it’s easy to understand why the marketing tool is so popular. Competitions, AMAs (Ask Me Anything) and interviews are among my personal favourite and each have their unique advantages. For instance, AMAs provide a forum in which to directly engage with your target audience and react to their questions and queries in a more intimate and personal manner. Brant suggests for example, that audiences are 87% more likely to watch online videos rather than traditional television if they are provided with behind the scenes content. Live video of all types is the ideal tool in which to cater to the wants and needs of your audience and more specifically, provide that inside look that they crave.
Likewise, live video marketing is also very easy to create and distribute, further heightening its usefulness and popularity among marketers. This, in conjunction with the fact that its relatively inexpensive and results in first-rate supporting content for social campaigns, means that there are absolutely no excuses for why you aren’t engaging in live video content marketing yourself!
Before concluding this blog post, I’d like to leave you all with several special suggestions from Brant’s presentation that’ll no doubt benefit you in all your live video marketing endeavours:
PROMOTION
When organising a live video on any platform, it’s always a great idea to promote the video before, during and after the event. Not only will this help with general brand awareness, but it will also drive additional viewers to your content. Don’t be shy, make sure you share, we’re all friends here.
‘WE’LL DO IT LIVE!’
When preparing to produce a live video, don’t rely on any sort of script. The imperfections and humorous mishaps are part of what make the video enjoyable, simply brush it off. That being said, it is wise to be prepared beforehand. Plan sections or topics that you want to cover in your video to make sure you don’t wander too far off track.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Similarly, try not to have set timings in your videos. Sections are fine but attempt to let the conversation flow naturally and conclude organically.
MANY HANDS
Don’t be afraid to ask for help in the production of your live videos. It’s worthwhile having a buddy on hand to assist in case anything goes terribly wrong or to prompt you in the right direction should you become utterly stumped by a question.
FOLLOW UP
It’s additionally important to have a follow up plan after your live video event. Share your archived live video on social media platforms and remind your audience and those who might have missed it originally, to check it out. The more people you can drive to your video, even after the fact, the better.
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
Brant highlights that 90% of Facebook Live viewers say video quality is the most important aspect. With this in mind, make sure that your video quality is high-grade or else viewers will undoubtedly be turned away from your video.