The use of videos as part of a retail marketing strategy is a tried and tested method to catch consumers’ attention and drive sales.
If you remember the days of TV shopping channels, and now, online shopping, videos have demonstrated that they are the best method to connect with customers at the convenience of their home.
When the pandemic hit, businesses have turned to digital channels to continue connecting with customers. Some have upped the ante on their online stores, beautified their social media pages and some have tried video livestream marketing.
Live-streaming is the act of broadcasting or transmitting live video footage on several online platforms to an active target audience like Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.
Live-stream marketing allows you to give your target audience a clearer window into your business. Some businesses have used live video content to offer sneak peaks at their upcoming products or create how-to videos. Live-streaming also allows you to host a webinar where the audience can interact with whoever is presenting and ask questions.
Winnie Lee, co-founder of the micro-influencer platform Spread-It, said at the Marketing Pulse virtual conference that with the majority of online consumers now viewing livestream shows, demand for livestream marketing has grown over the past few months.
She said this trend may have just risen in popularity during the pandemic, but it really looks like it’s going to be a permanent fixture of e-commerce.
“A brand might ask, should I really set aside a marketing budget for live-streaming? My answer is yes. With its growing popularity, you can’t afford not to,” Lee said.
Here’s why you should include live-streaming in your marketing strategies:
1. Live-streaming is akin to window shopping
Lee said when people go to shops, they look around, browse, look at an item and when they see something they like, they stop and look at it some more. Live-stream marketing is similar to this. Video content should be engaging to your audience and this will help spur them to action.
2. Live-streaming is inexpensive
Since incorporating live-streaming into your marketing strategy actually won’t cost you much, it will make it easy to secure a return on your investment. A study shows about 73% of B2B businesses that have used live-streaming to reach their target audience reported positive results to their ROI.
3. Strong social media magnet
According to Lee, combining live-streaming with a powerful social network can draw views, shares and of course, sales. And since it is the end goal of any digital marketing tactic to drive sales and increase conversions, it is definitely worth having this digital marketing tool in your arsenal.
So how do you develop a live-stream strategy?
Just like any other video ad campaign, creating live-stream video content requires strategy. An unplanned or sloppy content could damage your brand. When it’s your business’ reputation at stake here, it’s definitely worth it to brainstorm beforehand.
1. Draft bullet points.
On the occasion when you come across a live-stream video, you might think it’s all spontaneous, and that’s good. It shows authenticity. But you need to know that going live without any plan in mind or script on hand can be tricky, so you need to at least create a rough script and draft them with the use of bullet points.
2. Give your followers a heads-up.
If movie companies want people to watch their film, they post teasers or post announcements about it. This is the same with livestream marketing. You want your audience to be there for your event so you need to make sure you post a teaser or an announcement to give your followers on social platforms a heads-up.
3. Diversify your content.
To know what your audience likes, you need to try several strategies like creating a How-To content, offering viewers tutorial videos on how to use your products or solve a problem related to your industry.
4. Entice the audience with deals.
You should consider incentives to entice your audience while you’re live, offer them deals and specials. This will give you a huge potential for conversion.
5. Forge an emotional bond with the audience.
In the end, creating a live-stream marketing strategy is the same as any strategy where you create an emotional bond with a potential customer. Make your content relatable to your audience and it can go a long way.
Millions of businesses worldwide are not tapping into this marketing strategy. If you want to incorporate an inexpensive but proven to be effective form of attracting an audience, then you should start now.
Do you need help understanding Livestream Marketing, developing strategies to adapt to this trend and what platforms to use? Give us a call for a free consultation.