What are the benefits and challenges of using live video on social media?

Out of all the choices we have for social media nothing connects people like Live-streaming. I’ve found it to be the #1 way to connect with people that are already active on LinkedIn. My advice is don’t worry about it being perfect. Show up authentically and help people with the pain points you have solutions for. That’s how you build a network that works!

TikTok is gold for this, the ability for people to stumble across you while you're live and instantly get involved is gold. It's a great way to gain followers if you're just having a laugh talking about a specific topic. It's a good idea to keep in mind the topic you want to talk about.

The use of live video on social media has gained tremendous popularity in recent years. Platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and YouTube Live have provided users with the ability to broadcast real-time video content to their audiences. Let's start with the benefits. Real-time engagement: Live video allows for instant and direct engagement with the audience. It enables viewers to comment, ask questions, and provide feedback in real time, creating a sense of community and interactivity. Authenticity and transparency: Live video offers an unfiltered and unedited experience, which can enhance authenticity and transparency.

If used correctly it’s brings a connection to the brand in no other way possible. Making it interactive and immersive with a Q&A can provide brand awareness and affiliation that is incomparable.

Use it to show you are actually there to engage. This is a relatively new feature of comms - removing the traditional barriers that normally stand between a person and their audience - and there remains a great deal of credibility to be gained by leaning into the unique qualities of a livestream.

I think one of the most challenging aspects as a participant is to get the balance right between being prepared enough, but not overly scripted. As much as you can, you should try to be as true to yourself as possible in you style, while not beating yourself up for fluffing lines or makibg a small error. If it's not natural, the audience will sense how stilted it is and you'll lose their attention. Try going live with a safe audience to hone your approach. It will make a massive difference.

With live video, it’s important to have a good host who can keep things moving and change directions on the fly. Other than the host, it may also be a good idea to have a technical director to ensure everything is set up properly and to handle any potential technical issues. Lastly, having a third person on hand to answer questions in real time or to round up questions for the host or guest to answer during the live production could be critical depending on the topic and audience size of your page.

One major challenge is the "viewer count" on most live social video platforms. If you don't have great traction, seeing a low and/or dwindling number of live concurrents on the counter can lead to a "death spiral" of sorts. On the other hand a growing number of live viewers can aid retention. Managing the live view count should be part of your strategy. Can you guarantee a steady base line of viewers through friends/family/coworkers/etc.? What levers do you have to pull to add viewers mid stream?

I find in sports media, live video can very much capture a lot of emotions so you have to be careful. First and foremost, you have to try and deaf out any swearing to ensure monetization can be achieved from the video. Obviously this can be tough if you don't have the technology to deafen your live video on the spot but talking over can often do the trick. You also need to ensure you are well rehearsed with what you are going to say because saying "err" every two seconds doesn't sell.

As Amy mentioned below, real-time moderation efforts are necessary for brands & individuals choosing to activate on Live video opportunities for increased engagements. Creating prepared responses before-hand, by anticipating what your audience(s) may say or how they may react, can help to send quicker replies real-time to your community. Brands should also consider working with Social Media Strategy teams like those at Khoros, whenever they expect increased incoming volume or larger moderation efforts. Another potential roadblock for live video content, is accessibility. AI-generated captions and alt-text should always be included whenever possible, and live applications for those technologies aren't always without crucial flaws.

You may want to think beyond livestreaming to a single platform. With tools like restream and StreamYard, you can broadcast to multiple platforms at the same time to widen your audiences. These platforms enable you to get all your comments come into one place and include features such as screen sharing and captions to make it all look more professional. Other presenters can also sync the livestream up to their own channels, bringing their audience with them.

I find it depends on your type of audience. Twitter can work wonders for sports media live videos if the news is breaking for example (like a new manager being released) but alternatively I have found Facebook as a good platform for if you want to do say a debate with comments coming in for a q&a.

Format is a key consideration to any live video. Examples in the business world include: ? Webinar - to demonstrate or educate around a particular topic, featuring one or more presenters ? Interview - usually 1:1 with a host and subject matter expert ? Roundtable - with a host and a group of subject matter experts ? Event - covering a trade show or industry event, including interviews and highlights to camera, for example ? Magazine Show - lots of different segments, one after another, including interviews, games and news ? Current affairs - a news based format, featuring discussion around industry topics, usually with more than one presenter ? Game - could be a quiz or video game that the audience watches or takes part in

Creators should consider the following objectives when delivering a live: 1. Are you looking to survey your audience for future content to create? 2. Are you looking to facilitate a discussion about your current project? 3. Are you looking to promote your current services or products? Creators should strategize in accordance with the objective that ranks the highest. For example, if it is to survey the audience, Instagram and Facebook are great tools to engage the audience with questions. It is also recommended because audience members can join the live.

To deliver live video on social media effectively, it's essential to plan ahead, promote your broadcast in advance, and engage with your audience. Ensure a stable internet connection and test your equipment beforehand. Choose a well-lit location with minimal background noise. Interact with viewers in real-time by responding to comments and questions. Have a backup plan in case of technical issues. Utilise engagement tools like polls or Q&A sessions. Re-purpose your live video content by sharing the recording on other platforms.

Besides creating text-based content or repurposing the video by creating short clips, you may also want to create branded images that feature a quote overlaid within the image. Also consider how you might use the video for email marketing or for promoting future live video events.

Live video can serve as a great marketing tool to preview content. As part of the content schedule, taking some time to use live content can build a buzz for your next project. Additionally, live content can increase engagement to enhance content that is already published. When content is published, the algorithm doesn’t distribute your content to 100% of your audience. Live video can circumvent the issue by reminding some of your audience to watch or interact with your content. Live video can also serve as an audience survey. Creators can use live video to facilitate a discussion that allows for the audience to provide feedback or to test out potential topics for future content.