The importance of livestreams in 2021 and why you should start using them!
2021 is around the corner and if you haven’t done it already, it’s definitely time to start planning your social media and marketing strategies for 2021. Like 2020, 2021 is set to see an increase in our online usage. In last week’s podcast episode, I shared 9 upcoming trends to look out for when it comes to social media. While I strongly urge you to listen to the episode, I wanted to take the time to highlight one of these trends. Livestreams!
As we are all aware, lockdowns and stay-at-home orders drastically changed the way we live our lives. “The new normal” as they say. Large conferences and in-person meetings were simply not possible anymore. Most of us with non-essential jobs were bound to our houses left with only one way to connect and communicate with others: online! This resulted in an enormous increase in Social Media usage and all of a sudden that friend over in France started doing livestreams.
In the past few years, livestreams have been gaining some serious attraction. Concerts and festivals are being streamed live, there are 24/7 live stream news sites, brands are launching their products through livestreams and the winner of all is live gaming! Social Media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, and YouTube have introduced various tools for us to be able to go live with our own audiences, making livestreams more accessible to all.
It’s safe to say that the livestream industry has been growing for a while now and 2020 has upped that tempo even more!
Livestream Statistics
Livestreams are not just intended for a fun chat. They are also a way of marketing and thus marketers have started to incorporate livestreams into their online marketing plans. But why are livestreams beneficial to your business? Why is it so important to start using livestreams? And what can you get out of them? Let’s take a look at some livestreaming statistics!
- 79% of marketers say live video facilitates a more authentic interaction with an audience. (Go-Globe, 2017)
- 61% of marketers say a benefit of live video is that it creates content that can be viewed or repurposed later. (Go-Globe, 2017)
- 60% of marketers say a benefit of live video is getting real-time audience feedback. (Go-Globe, 2017)
- 82% of viewers say they prefer seeing a live stream rather than a brand’s social posts. (Tech Jury, 2020)
- 80% of people would rather watch a live video from a brand than read their blog. (Tech Jury, 2020)
- Live video is expected to grow 15-fold by 2022 and reach a 17% share of all internet traffic.
- COVID-19 had an impact on marketing and live streaming, with 75% of survey respondents saying they increased live streaming investments in 2020.
- Since the pandemic started, 70% of enterprise streamers now stream weekly or daily.
- Video is a useful tool for marketers – 92% of marketers who use video say it’s an important part of their marketing strategies.
- Younger people don’t seem to like watching traditional TV as much. Traditional TV viewing also fell among 35- to 49-year-olds, by 8.7% YoY.
For more livestream statistics please visit restream.io
Livestreams and Virtual Reality
If these statistics haven’t convinced you yet then maybe this next technological development will: Virtual Reality! Now you must have heard from Virtual Reality. But before I’m telling you why this is such an important technological development for livestreams, let’s quickly cover what VR exactly is.
Virtual Reality is a digitally created, three-dimensional environment generated using advanced computer technology. It places users in a simulation and allows them to immerse themselves in a different world.
Between 2020 and 2027, the compound annual growth rate of the market is expected to come in at 21.6 percent (Grand View Research, 2020), enabling many possibilities.
While the technology is still in its beginning stages, large entertainment companies are taking a serious interest. Virtual Reality allows its users to watch livestreams in a three-dimensional setting. Imagine sitting on your couch watching a concert or sports game with the experience of actually sitting front row, or even on stage! Virtual Reality will allow us to get a much fuller in-person experience out of livestream events. Exciting isn’t it?
But why aren’t we using this technology already?
To put it plain and simple. Our current 4G LTE network doesn’t have what it takes to stream data live in such high quality. That’s where the new 5G network comes into play. Over the next 5 years, the rollout of the 5G network will allow us to stream live faster and in higher quality. Ultimately giving the space for Virtual Reality to become more mainstream and affordable. Expect the livestream industry to take all of these developments to their advantage. This is exactly the reason why you need to start going live already!
What do you livestream?
If you’ve gotten this far, you’ve come to understand some of the benefits of going live and have come to learn future possibilities. But what do you livestream? Here are a few ideas:
Announcements and product launches
Go live on your Social Media and create a live event for an important business announcement or product launch!
Behind The Scenes
People love to get a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes!
Interviews
Social Media like Instagram have the possibilities to go live with another user. This is great way to connect both audiences and hold interviews!
Conferences
Conference cancelled? Take it online and stream live through you Social Media. Don’t want to miss revenue? Platforms like Twitch offer paid livestreams where users need to buy access first.
Webinars
The first rule of content marketing: never give everything away! Host a webinar live where you touch on a small subject to educate your audience and make them hungry for more!
These were just 5 quick ideas I came up with but there must be plenty! I hope that by reading this you’ve come to understand why livestreams are going to become only more important and why you should need to integrate them into your online marketing plan!
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