Create and Connect Through Live Video

Applications to syndicate video and audio feeds to multiple social networking destinations have exploded in recent years. Apps such as Restream and StreamYard allow video creators to simultaneously go live to multiple streaming services, including YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Twitch, and more.

It’s also possible to upload recorded video, and sometimes just the audio, to those platforms plus podcasting services like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and others. For creators, the multi-stream apps have meant that live video isn’t constrained to just one channel. This can significantly increase your reach.

In over 600 episodes, Christoph Trappe’s livestream and podcast The Business Storytelling Show is where he and his guests share tips on how to connect better with target audiences. “Marketers and executives are trying to figure out how to tell better stories,” Trappe says of the audience for The Business Storytelling Show. “A lot of people struggle with how to share what they do and why they exist.”

Trappe uses Restream to simultaneously publish his live video episodes to YouTube, LinkedIn, and X. His feed also appears live on the Amazon shopping pages of those guests who have books or other products for sale. When I was a guest on his show, our live discussion was streamed to the Amazon page for the previous (eighth) edition of this book.

“Depending on the network, you can promote upcoming streams about a week before you go live, and restream will remind people with the link when the livestream begins,” Trappe says. He also shares the link with his guests so they can promote it on their social feeds. This strategy further increases the reach of each episode and helps generate new fans of the show.

Trappe advises those who are ready to make the leap into live video to start by focusing on a long-term strategy. “You’ve got to have a topic you want to talk about,” he says. “And you just want to be very clear what the goal is. There are a multitude of goals for live video, but the top one should not be to drive sales within the first 20 episodes or so. Yes, we see companies where all their leads come from video streaming, but they've done hundreds of episodes, and they have a huge following. You must be honest with yourself about how much time it will take to build an audience.”

This post is partly excerpted from the new 9th edition of The New Rules of Marketing & PR.