19 Mar USING LIVE STREAMING TO ENHANCE YOUR EVENTS

Video has proved its dominance as a marketing tool, and live video has proven to be its most engaging incarnation. More brands are beginning to acknowledge the importance of this technology as well as engage massively as part of their marketing strategy.

Live streaming simply means to broadcast video and audio of an event over the internet as the event takes place in real time to viewers. Applications such as Periscope, Facebook, Instagram, Tweeter, YouTube and more helps you live stream your events and engage more audience than are physically  present. Events such as e-sports championships happening in several locations at the same time can be merged using these live streaming applications. Keynote speakers who couldn’t make it to the event can also deliver their speeches to the audience via live streaming.

How can live streaming improve your event?

• Remote attendees: Live streaming your event helps you engage more audience than are physically present at the event. Remote attendees connect with your event by listening in to keynotes and workshops. Depending on the channels made available, they might even participate by sending in their questions and comments. For example, GTBank was able to engage their Instagram audience at their #SocialMediaWeekLagos segment through live streaming and answered the questions sent in by this remote audience.
• More marketing content: The live streaming reaching a wider audience can act as a sneak peak into your event which might help drive attendance for your future events. Copies of the live stream videos can also be re-purposed for social media marketing and future promotional purposes.
• Boost attendee engagement:  Encouraging your attendees to share and broadcast their event experience through live streaming can also be a way to increase your attendee engagement. When your attendees live stream your events, you are not just engaging them, you are also leveraging on their networks to spread your awareness.
• Merging multi-location events: If you have an event series happening concurrently, you are able to use live streaming to connect all the events which adds to the excitement and ‘oneness’ of the whole event! E-sporting events and video conference calls are good examples.
• Making the best of a tight budget: When your budget is not robust enough to host as much guests as you would prefer, it is possible to live stream a whole event! Just make sure that the target audience know that it is an online event and have a clear engagement strategy.

Have you used live streaming at your events before? The advantages are numerous and we will like to help you engage this strategy on your next event!

Photo credit: internet

Esther Moyo Bodunde

emca