Now that in-person business connections have undoubtedly changed, the landscape for interacting with customers and selling products is seeing an evolution. What are new and relevant ways to keep customers interacting with your business and ultimately purchasing your products?
Let us introduce you to the power of social media livestreaming! Sure, you know what livestreaming is, but have you witnessed just how much of an impact it is having on businesses right now?
This your opportunity to learn everything you need to know about the value of social media livestreaming, so keep reading for the details!
The Spark
As Plato once said, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and small businesses have taken on the setbacks that business closures, curfews and more have brought and they’re becoming innovators!
For brands that rely heavily on in-person business to drive interest and sales, being held back by closing their brick-and-mortar stores was not an option.
And along came livestreams as their solution!
It became a free and direct way to reach customers through safe means.
So, in case you ever doubted its impact, social media is continuing to prove its worth outside of simply being a way to share photos and videos.
It has transformed into a place where small businesses can harness the engagement that comes along with it to find success in even the most trying times. Now, let's breakdown exactly how livestreaming works.
Livestreaming in Action
Imagine the TV shopping networks that your family used to purchase kitschy holiday décor items from, but now, they are accessible to any business and a worldwide audience!
Livestreaming is available on numerous social media platforms. From Facebook to Instagram, livestreams allow brands to broadcast information to a live audience to promote their business. Outside of social media, Amazon has gotten in on the action with their Amazon Live platform.
If you are curious about how to start a live stream on Facebook, we walk you through the process in our blog.
And remember, this promotional tool is not limited to certain types of content. Whether a business uses livestreams to answer frequently asked questions or as a means for selling their latest products, the opportunities are endless to interact with and grow clientele.
Livestream promotion has specifically taken shape for retail and E-commerce businesses.
Even companies like Louis Vuitton and Hilton have taken to using this outlet to reach customers. From streaming fashion shows to hotel walkthroughs, brands are using this channel to their advantage and it’s not slowing down any time soon.
This is the highly interactive content that social media users and consumers alike want to see from small businesses, so why not give the people what they want?
You can do this by planning weekly livestreams to show followers the latest pieces that are available at your jewelry shop or to talk through the latest special promotions and discounts that your medical spa is offering.
If you need a little more convincing, though, we’ll dive into the numbers that prove just how effective this outlet has become.
The Facts and Figures
Ultimately, the numbers speak for themselves when it comes to the value of social media livestreaming. First, let’s take a look at a few reasons why video content, in general, is worth your business’s while.
- 72 percent of consumers prefer to learn about a product or service via a video.
- Engagement rates on videos are 50 percent higher than static photos.
Clearly, the value of videos greatly outweighs that of photos on social media, and this is especially true when it comes to informing a consumer about a product or service that they may potentially buy.
Beyond just social media posts, though, 82% of users prefer to watch livestreams over a brand’s social media post. Here, it is evident that while video content is engaging for viewers, your business has the opportunity to take this a step further by introducing livestreaming into your promotional strategy!
Over the past year, with the increased need to take business online, livestreaming metrics have proven just how valuable it has become. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, the online streaming industry has grown 99% between April 2019 to April 2020. We say it’s fair to expect even more traffic in 2021.
Final Thoughts
While livestreaming grew immensely out of a need to interact with customers while businesses were forced to move their efforts online, the landscape is now changed. Livestreaming is no longer an additional marketing and sales strategy, it's a promotional tool that all local businesses should be utilizing for its convenience and ability to drive connections.
Has livestreaming been a part of your marketing efforts over the last year?
It’s time to stay ahead of trends and opportunities to put your business on the map and get customers choosing your business even when they are scrolling through social media!
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