10 Ways B2B Marketers Should Look to Use New LinkedIn Live

You can argue that they're somewhat behind the curve, but the announcement earlier this week that LinkedIn is now adding a live-streaming option heralded screams of delight from B2B marketers everywhere. Both people and pages will now have the ability to host live broadcasts to either select groups or the world at large, making it easier for professionals and brands to engage with their communities, share their expertise, and connect with customers and prospects.

Following the debut of native video on the platform in August 2017, live-streaming has since been the most requested feature amongst LinkedIn’s 610 million global users. According to LinkedIn data, users are twenty times more likely to share a video on the platform than any other type of post. So broadening their video capabilities is something of a no-brainer.

The professional network is initially conducting a pilot test of the service in the US via invite-only. There’s no information at this stage on a broader roll-out, but you’d expect that wouldn’t be far behind. The network is also working with third party live-streaming developers to help users create more polished live videos for the platform.

The application for B2B businesses and brands is clear, but how exactly can you take advantage? Here’s ten ideas for how you can use LinkedIn Live to take your B2B presence to the next level:

1.    Product Announcements & Launches

Broadcast your product announcements  and launches to your wider professional communities directly in the environment where they’re already active. You could also create an un-boxing stream to add some drama for your big reveal or give advanced sneak peaks to build anticipation and noise before you launch.

2.    Demos & Showcases

Give potential customers a live walk-through of your product or take it broader and highlight your overall product range by creating a virtual showcase. A live demo is a very honest way of presenting your product, it shows how things work in a very practical and transparent way.

3.    Case Studies

Power-up your video case studies by doing them live with the customer!!! The live element can make them come across as much more realistic and authentic – and therefore relatable and trustworthy. You can also open them up for your audience themselves to participate, asking questions directly to your customer. This generates an honesty that breaks down the artificial ‘manufactured’ barrier with case studies. Clearly, you need to have considerable trust with the customer who you’re working with – but if you don’t, why are you using them as a case study anyway?

4.    Webinars

Using live-streaming for audience education can be a really powerful tool. Run your webinars as a live-stream to get your narrative out to your network and offer valuable information to your audience. Take this opportunity to cover something topical that your brand is an expert in.

5.    Live Interviews

Expand your presence by interviewing experts and thought leaders live on LinkedIn. If you’ve got guest speakers coming into your office, then grab some time to go live to your LinkedIn community as well. Partnering with the right influencer can have significant impact on expanding your brand reach. Not only look to invite people onto your own live-stream, but also be a guest on third-party live shows to get your message out even further and, ideally, bring people back to you.

6.    Office Hours / Live Q&As

What an opportunity to open up the team and expose them to customers and prospects for office hour sessions, live Q&As, or ‘fire-side’ chats. With live-streaming you can create appointments to view where the team can be on hand to answer customer questions and share their knowledge. This creates an opportunity to have conversations with your customers in real time. Opening up like this builds trust. It can also help create a strong sense of community around your brand as people are communicating with you AND each other, sharing opinions, advice and recommendations through live engagement.

7.    Events & Meetups

Broadcast live from the floor at events and conferences to amplify the impact. If it’s your own brand event you can build up the hype in advance so your audience can share their news and anticipation for the event. Stream the keynotes and sessions to the LinkedIn audience, interview speakers after their talks, or grab attendees to get the insights and learnings that they pick up. You can also live-stream from wider industry events that you’re attending giving your updates and perspectives on what you’re experiencing.

8.    Brand News & Storytelling

Brand journalism is all the rage. Use live-streaming to tell your brand stories and give them a new dimension. ‘Report’ on company or industry news, or open up your office to give an immersive ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at your organisation. Ever wondered what a day-in-the-life of a Systems Engineer looks like? Stream it. Introduce employees, share your culture, and show how your product comes to life.

9.    Customer Onboarding, Training & How-Tos

Training through video, either via live-streaming or on demand, allows you to impart large amounts of data quickly to groups of customers, and at a lower cost than if individuals needed to travel to attend in person. Live-streaming training provides the added benefits of immediacy when critical information needs to be shared, as well as interactivity between instructors and participants.

10. Sales Enablement

Provide field sales and channel partners with immediate access to business intelligence when and how they need it. You can also use live-streams to run customer promotions and offers tied into your sales efforts. These can reach beyond your immediate audience by using viral mechanics to activate your community as an additional marketing channel.

The above are just some examples of how B2B marketers can leverage the new LinkedIn Live streaming service once it’s rolled out. I for one can’t wait to take advantage! Let me know any other ideas for how your business is going to use it?

For more thoughts and insights on B2B Marketing visit get2growth.com