Live video is quickly becoming one of the most powerful methods of reaching people.

Think about some of the major product releases you (or people you know) have been excited about in recent years. Maybe it was the newest iPhone or Macbook. Maybe it was a really cool I.M. product that was hyped up.

Chances are, live video had a part in all the product’s hype.

Apple does live streaming events on a regular basis. Why? Because they work! They make product announcements cool and fun, and people feel like they’re learning something before anyone else, because not everyone is able to watch the live event.

People can make comments and ask questions. Sometimes you’ll even learn more than your listeners!

In fact, many people are using live video in place of webinars, which is actually beneficial for many reasons, such as:

Webinars usually limit the number of viewers to a relatively small number, while many live video platforms don’t have limits or have much larger viewer limits.
Many live video methods can promote your live stream for you, even to people who don’t follow you, something webinar platforms can’t do.
Most live video platforms are free, while webinar platforms usually charge you a one-time or monthly fee.
People are often more comfortable using Facebook or YouTube, whereas they may not want to download software or learn how to use a new website in order to attend a webinar.

There are many benefits to using live video over webinars!

In this guide, you’re going to learn some of the best ways to use live video to promote your own products and generate the kind of interest companies like Apple do!

Why Use Live Video?

In the introduction, we talked about how live video can be huge in generating buzz for a product launch, but that’s not the only use for it. There are several other ways live video can be beneficial to your business.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can use live video to bolster your business.

Generating Buzz

Obviously, live video is great for generating buzz. Apple reportedly had more than 20 million people tune in to watch their keynote address in the summer of 2014. 20 million! That’s absolutely astonishing, and you can imagine how much buzz it generated.

But you don’t have to be as big as Apple to make use of live video for generating buzz for product. Even if you don’t have a big list yourself, you can always promote your live event through partnerships and other methods. We’ll talk more about how to promote your live event in a later chapter.

Conducting Surveys & Research

Another great way to use live video is to conduct research. There’s no better way to get feedback than to ask people during a live broadcast, because people are more open to asking questions and giving their opinions during live broadcasts. This is probably because they see others doing so, which gives them the confidence to speak up themselves.

If you’ve tried doing surveys and didn’t get much in the way of results, this can be a great way to encourage people to give feedback.

Teaching Something

Teaching is another great way to use live video, because you can show people how to do something live, and then answer questions right away instead of fielding questions for days or weeks afterwards like you might if you just posted a video online.

That way, if you haven’t been clear enough about a particular step in the process, or you inadvertently left something out, people can let you know right away and you make changes.

Keeping Interest

Keeping interest is another great use for live video. If you have a list or a fan base on social media or some other platform, live events and streams can keep people interested in what you’re doing, what you have to offer, and who you are.

In this day and age, when thousands (even millions) of people are competing for the same eyeballs in certain genres, it pays to keep your audience interested. You want to keep all eyes focused on you as much as possible. People only have so much time to watch content online. Live streams are one way to ensure more people watch yours instead of someone else’s.

Replacing Webinars

You can use live video to replace any kind of webinar you might think of, and you won’t be charged a fee for the privilege. Webinars can be quite costly, and they have viewership limits, but using a platform like YouTube or Facebook is free and they usually have no limits on viewers or have much larger limits than webinars.

Additionally, most people are already comfortable using Facebook or YouTube, but may be reluctant to download special software or learn how to use a new platform just to attend your webinar.

Live video makes a great replacement for webinars, and once you start doing live events, you may never hold another traditional webinar!

Live Video Platforms

There are many different platforms you can use to go live online. We’re going to concentrate on a handful of the most popular ones, because those have the most viewership and are generally the easiest to use.

It really doesn’t matter which platform you use unless you already have a good sized following on one of them. In that case, it’s probably best to stick to the one that has the largest following.

Facebook

Facebook is probably the most popular platform for live video streaming. This is due in part to its immense popularity as a social media platform, but also because many people already have a substantial following on the site.

Facebook’s live streaming is also incredibly easy to use. It’s literally as easy as pushing a button and entering a little information.

To live stream on your personal page, just proceed as though you are going to create a post, and press “Live Video”. You’ll have to give Facebook access to your device’s phone and camera, if you haven’t already. Next, you’ll have to enter some information for your stream, including privacy settings and a description. Finally, set up your camera view so it’s facing exactly what you want to record and click “Go Live”.

To stream from a fan page, you can do the same as with a personal page, or you can use the Facebook Pages Manager app. To use the app, just load your page in the app and then:

Create a new post.
Press “Go Live”.
Enter a description for your live session.
Press “Go Live” again.

It’s that simple. And once your live stream is done, it will be saved so those who missed it live can watch it later!

You can broadcast for up to 90 minutes at a time, but a lot of people may get bored before that time. Keeping broadcasts under 30-45 minutes is best unless you have a special event that requires longer time.

YouTube

YouTube is one of the most popular platforms for going live, because a lot of people already have followers on the site, and because it’s already got a massive built-in user base that could watch the video after the live broadcast has ended.

Creating live videos can help you gain more followers on YouTube, as well, because people who come to your live event from other sources, such as partners or paid promotions, will likely subscribe to your channel if they like your content. YouTube actively promotes live streams that are currently happening, so this can really help you boost your subscriber base.

Keep in mind that if you want to stream on mobile, your channel must have at least 1,000 subscribers, but streaming mobile is a great way to add content when you’re on the go and you want to show people what you’re up to.

To stream live on YouTube, there are a few steps you need to take first to make sure your device is ready to stream live.

Go to this URL: >> https://www.youtube.com/live_dashboard

This page has a list of steps you need to take before you can stream live on Facebook, including:

Installing any necessary encoding software
Add stream info
Adding optional features

Streaming on YouTube has the added benefit of adding more content to your channel, because those streams are saved as regular videos after they are aired live.

Additionally, you’ll get 55% of any ad revenue earned by your live stream as long as you’re properly set up to monetize your channel!

Periscope

Periscope is an app that is owned by Twitter, and it makes it very easy to stream live. You may wonder why you’d want to use an app like Periscope to stream when you can use sites like Facebook and YouTube that are more universally recognized and have more users.

Well, Periscope is connected to your Twitter account, and anytime you go live, your Twitter followers will receive a notification. So if you have a larger following on Twitter than other sites, you might want to use Periscope instead of the other sites.

Periscope seems to have a more newsy vibe than other sites or apps, so it’s probably best to use it for broadcasts that include events and news-like broadcasts.

Instagram

Instagram now has live broadcasting, but there’s one major caveat. There’s no backup. Once you finish streaming, your broadcast is gone forever, much like Snapchat.

However, if you have a large following on Instagram, using the live feature can be quite beneficial, as not that many people use the function so it can really help you stand out from the crowd.

Tips For Great Live Shows

Creating great live shows isn’t as difficult as you probably think. You can even watch some live events from people in your niche—if you can find any—to get some motivation and ideas. Don’t copy, obviously, but you can definitely gain some inspiration from others.

Let’s take a look at some tips that can help you create a better live experience for your viewers.

Don’t Be Afraid Of Mistakes

Many people are afraid to do live shows, because they’re afraid they’ll make a mistake and people will laugh at them or get upset. But don’t let this hold you back. In fact, the occasional mistake, if handled correctly, can actually make you appear more human and make people like you even more.

If you watch some of the more popular YouTube content creators, you’ll see this. They’ll make silly mistakes or screw something up, and people laugh at them (in a good-hearted way) in the comments. They find it endearing when their favorite creators make mistakes.

So please don’t be afraid of going live because you might mess up in some way. Unless you offend people, mistakes will only likely endear people to you more, especially if you laugh about it and don’t make a big deal about it.

Have A Script Prepared

Live events should always have a script, or at least a rough outline. The reason for this is that there’s too much potential for having long periods of dead air while you think of what to cover next if you don’t have a script or outline.

Don’t Follow The Script Exactly

Never, ever read your script word-for-word. While it’s a really good idea to

Know your Topic

When you write an article, report, or other content, or create a video, you don’t have to know a topic inside and out. You can just put in what you do know, or do research before you start, or even as you go.

But if you’re doing a live session, you really need to know the topic you’re covering very well. You won’t be able to look stuff up easily if someone asks you a question during a live broadcast.

Promoting Your Live Event

A live video is no good unless there are people watching it—aside, of course, from the fact that you can save the video and keep it online for others to watch later.

Promoting live events is actually pretty easy, even if you don’t have a big following. This is especially true if you’ll be broadcasting something extremely interesting or exciting, or if you’re offering some sort of major incentive for attendance.

Let’s take a look at a few methods you can use to promote your live events.

Partnerships

The best way to promote a live event, by far, is through the use of strategic partnerships. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, from simply asking people to promote your event, to paying them to do so, to developing deeper partnerships such as interviewing other people in your niche and having them promote the interview to their own followers.

Social Media

The most obvious way to promote your live events is through social media. If you don’t have a large following of your own, you can seek out groups to promote your event to or even use paid ads.

Since you may actually be holding your live stream on a social media platform like FaceBook, your event may be promoted for you, but this will only get you a limited amount of traffic. Promoting the event everywhere you can is smart.

Giveaways

Holding a giveaway during the live event is a great way to make sure people show up, and more people are likely to promote the event for you if you have an interesting giveaway, too. Some people may even promote you for free just because of the giveaway.

Conclusion

With all the noise online these days, it’s really hard to stand out from the crowd. There are thousands, even millions of people competing for attention from the same people in every niche, and you need to do something that will set you apart from the crowd.

Live video is one of the best ways to accomplish this, because most people are too uncomfortable with live video. They’re afraid they will do something wrong and look foolish, but what they don’t realize is that is exactly what can make them seem more “real” to their audience.

So don’t worry about making mistakes. Everyone does. Just relax and have fun. That’s what will make your live stream interesting and make people want to watch.

I hope you’ve learned a lot in this guide, so I hope you will apply what you’ve learned for great success.