How do the various livestream platforms stack up?
Livestreams are an
effective tool as we can leverage on its capacity to generate sales for our
businesses all year round. Its accessibility makes it possible for you to tap
into markets or reach demographics that have never been done before.
Unlike pre-produced marketing materials such as IGTV or Youtube videos, livestreams are all about engagement by listening in to the viewers in real time and interacting with them. It is less production intensive as livestreams are made to look a little gritty for authenticity purposes and this makes it cost efficient as compared to pre-produced videos.
Social streaming: Facebook
Facebook live stream
is targeted at business profiles that wish to connect with their audiences from
different communities and demographics. Users of
Facebook live streams are usually 40 and above, or the Gen X as we
call it. Their applications usually surround more formal events such as
conferences, panelist talks and corporate agendas (townhalls/ AGMs).
On a Facebook live
stream, there are more privacy settings available depending on the Facebook
page or group that you are streaming through virtual events organiser . There
are allowances on Facebook for live streams on a business page to be
crossposted onto other pages, however this is only possible with live broadcasts.
As the live broadcast is automatically recorded, you can eventually share it to
a group or page. This makes it more versatile than the other social streaming
platforms. For most users, going live using the Facebook app is the most
efficient way for a basic product. To achieve high quality visual and audio
content, all you need to do is ensure that your internet connection is at a
higher speed.
Facebook has rolled out ‘Live Producer’, a
feature for high value productions that require a more expansive set-up. This
feature works if you are using a professional camera and have access to a
streaming software (encoder).
Social streaming: Instagram
You can’t miss out on
Instagram live streams as users automatically get a notification when someone
is going live, this gives the profile a boosted presence as their story is
bumped to the front of the story feed. Like other livestreams, Instagram live
is an unedited video presence for you to engage with your followers via textual
commentary and emojis. It is commonly used for media personalities such as
celebrities and makeup artists to promote products and share basic tutorials to
boost brand awareness and sales figures.
Unlike the other platforms, the stream remains
on your story for 24 hours after the stream ends and this is great leverage for
e-commerce businesses who are doing timed sales events. Otherwise, the streams
can be turned into IGTV and be kept on your feed for as long as you wish. For
instagram, privacy settings include choosing your followers that are allowed to
view your livestream and turning off offensive comments that may occur during
the live stream. Users of Instagram range from Gen Zs to millennials and this
demographic currently holds a large market share in e-commerce. This site is
more preferable for a stream thats less than 30 minutes. Meet virtual events organiser for instagram
streaming.
Social streaming: Linkedin Live
Linkedin is a platform for working professionals to connect and share their experiences. Demographics for Linkedin Live spans a wide range of age groups but is concentrated with tech-savvy millennials looking for professional advice. This platform is great for guest speakers and prominent industry figures to hold conversations on current affairs or business trends. Organisations have been known to use this platform to promote their corporate culture in hopes of recruiting talent. Engagement duration on Linkedin Live is usually longer than 30 minutes and after a standard presentation, it is followed by an in-depth question and answer or interviews with stakeholders within the industry. The only downside to using Linkedin Live is that you would have to source for a third-party broadcasting tool such as Sociallive and Switcher Studio. Linkedin will automatically post your video to ‘recent activity’ or ‘page feed’ after the stream ends and you can repost this video onto other social media platforms.
Social streaming: Youtube Live
Some of the commonly
used platforms for shoppertainment are actually e-commerce applications that
double up as a content community with its own live-stream hosts. Taobao
reportedly is home to over 4000 live-stream hosts and they produce content
round the clock keeping shoppers entertained and product launches running
smoothly. Some of the biggest events in shopping history like singles day sales
and 12.12 has its own line-up of entertainment. China’s most famous live-stream
host, Viya, reportedly commanded S$6 billion in sales last year just by talking
about products in front of an audience.
Some of these
e-commerce phone apps even have interactive games available for shoppers to
earn vouchers and cash rewards that can be redeemed immediately when they check
out their carts and so it is unsurprising that they have teamed up with other
video game applications on the app store to run their event campaigns.
In physical outlets, brands use a variety of
ways to entertain their customers, some of the common ones can include
interactive touch-screen displays fitted with sensory motion technology where
customers can play virtual football games or be transported into another
location.
Zoom
Zoom is the current
industry leader in livestreams and teleconferences so much so that the word
‘zoom’ is self-explanatory. The demographics for Zoom are rather widespread as
its servers and interface allow high capacity events to be held concurrently in
the highest quality and this alone has won them a huge market share. The virtual events
organiser commonly uses
zoom. They service educational institutions, corporate organisations and even
religious communities with their webinar feature. The webinar feature allows
multiple speakers to present via screen sharing and essentially give the
attendees a view only function for a smooth event flow.
You can choose to link the live stream to
Facebook or Youtube to capture a larger audience. For a basic Zoom account, it
is free for all at a maximum of up to 100 minutes per session, consisting of a
maximum capacity of 100 attendees each time. To host a webinar, you would
require a Pro, Business, Education or Enterprise account that entitled you to
the webinar add on and all of its features.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams announced in March this year
that its platform had over 44 million daily users, the jump was in part
attributed to work from home practices due to the pandemic. For education,
Microsoft teams allows teachers to distribute, edit and grade students’ work
via the software itself and has distributed breakout rooms that make it
conducive for team learning and project discussions. One of its favoured
features is its ability to share files within the assigned group/chat and this
makes it easier for attendees to refer to any event materials when provided by
the host.
Cisco Webex
Cisco Webex was
founded in 1995, making it one of the earliest teleconferencing software
companies to roll out packaged plans and had a Global network servicing
on-demand TV programs. It features a wide range of products and the most
commonly used livestreaming services in its portfolio includes Webex meetings
and teams where organisations favour it for its collaborative features.
Cisco Webex is highly rated on Google for its
security features, it has functions to lock rooms and this is especially
important for upper management as confidential details could be leaked through
hackers eavesdropping on virtual conference rooms. Cisco Webex has data centers
globally and this accounts for its high quality video and audio content, which
is why it has garnered plenty of praise. Their livestreaming software is
famously used in the prime-time TV show ‘Ellen Degeneres’, where the host
herself calls participants through a live TV recording. One of the conveniences
Bluejeans
Bluejeans is a cloud
video conferencing service and was founded in 2009 before it was acquired by
Verizon in May 2020. Its name ‘Bluejeans’ is a tongue in cheek reference to its
user-centric focus, wanting the software to be as easy and casual to use just
like wearing a pair of jeans. It’s viewers are mostly working adults who tap
into the Bluejeans network for its interoperability between platforms and
devices. For businesses, Bluejeans by Verizon provides conferencing solutions
via partnerships with Cisco, Microsoft Sync and polycom, making it accessible
to a wider range of organisations. With its paid plans, Verizon has made
standard pricing as affordable as possible starting from $9.99 a month and for
video webinars at $83 a month.
If you’re thinking
about setting up an online event to generate sales for your business, contact us today!
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