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Live Streaming for Brands: Engaging Your Audience in Real-Time

A man and a woman setting up various equipment for live streaming in real time

Today, live video streaming has well established itself as a dominant force in online content. As a powerful tool for engaging an audience, its popularity has led to every major social media platform providing the ability to view and produce live video content. Live streaming is an especially powerful tool for brands and businesses. It allows them to engage their audience in real time. We’ll explain some of the basics of live streaming and how your brand can use it to directly engage with its audience.

The Benefits of Live Streaming

One simple benefit of live streaming is that it’s extremely popular. it’s one of the most popular kinds of video content online with 23.7% of time spent on social media platforms dedicated to watching live streams. The other benefit is that live streaming is the best content for directly engaging with your audience. In all live streams, users can chat and react to the content in real time. In turn, the streamers can immediately respond and engage with their active viewers. This makes live streaming extremely personable compared to other kinds of content, and is why it’s also a popular choice for influencers. The result? Live streaming is one of the best ways for your brand to foster personal connections and communicate directly with its followers.

Streaming Platforms

With streaming’s immense popularity, there are many platforms to choose from. However, like any services, there are some clear leaders. 

Social Media Live Streaming 

Considering how fast they deliver and spread content, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the major social media platforms have their own live streaming services. Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and TikTok Live are all great and popular options for your brand’s live streaming. These allow you to stream directly to the audience you’ve already developed on any of those platforms. Plus, it’s easy to start right away. Streams on these platforms usually have simple production values, with streams coming directly from a mobile device.

Twitch and YouTube Live

The two other dominant streaming platforms are Twitch and YouTube Live. They are by far the most popular. Twitch users watched over 210 million hours in just the third quarter of 2022. It originally was designed for streaming video games, which is still the primary content on the platform. However, over the past years, Twitch and its streamers have diversified to now include more broad cooking and “Just Chatting” categories, the latter being by far the most popular. As a true testament to the variety, the BC Marine Mammal Rescue streamed the Vancouver Aquarium’s otter habitat for multiple years there. YouTube Live streaming is newer but has always been as diverse as YouTube’s on-demand content.

A difference for these platforms compared to social media streaming is production value. Twitch and YouTube streams tend to have more complex video and audio setups. Streams are meant to be horizontal video and rarely, if ever, come from mobile devices. Similarly, some brands and companies even just stream out pre-recorded videos or presentations. On the other hand, that complexity also means these platforms come with various tools like creating clips or countless plugins that social media lacks. Overall, these platforms are better suited for brands planning to make streaming a regular part of their content delivery strategy. 

Tips for Live Streaming

The ability to communicate and engage directly with your audience makes live streaming incredibly exciting for brands, but it can also be a little daunting. Here are some of our tips if you’re looking to start:

  • Engage your audience – The strength of streaming is the live component that allows for engagement, so be engaging. Address feedback, answer questions, laugh at jokes, etc. If people see you are engaging back, they will be more motivated to keep engaging with your brand.
  • Choose who and what to engage with – You can’t and shouldn’t engage with everything. If a stream has a large audience there will be a flood of chat messages, and you will have to be selective where you spend your time. Your audience will understand. Unfortunately, some material might be inflammatory or insulting. Ignore it and remove it. Acknowledging it could only fan the flames.
  • Announce and schedule streams – While many do regularly spend time on social media, many won’t be aware of your streams unless they stumble upon them. Announce planned live streams on your social channels so that followers are aware of when it’s going to happen. You can also provide some hints of the stream’s content, such as QA, announcements, a contest, or a giveaway. On dedicated streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube, it’s more typical to have a set schedule and announce streams on other social channels.
  • Spice things up with spontaneity – Spontaneous and sudden streams can also have a charm of their own. If they attract enough audience, they keep your following regularly attentive, checking your other content to see if a live stream is happening.
  • Remember you’re live – Live streams have no edits or cuts. Be attentive to what you’re saying and how. Mistakes are fine and part of the charm but keep them innocuous.
  • Choose the right platform – It’s best to stream where you have the biggest following, especially in the case of social media. However, as already mentioned, if you’re looking to make live streams a prominent part of your brand’s content, look towards Twitch or YouTube.
  • Consider streaming on multiple platforms – You may have a substantial audience on more than one platform. Consider streaming on multiple platforms at once. Various other tools and services help with this, such as OBS. Just remember that when you are streaming on multiple platforms, you need to be attentive to engaging that audience in multiple spaces.

Let the Live Streams Flow

Now that you understand some of the benefits, and fundamentals, and have some extra tips in your toolbox, your brand is ready to go live. If you’re looking for more specific advice, need help with live streaming, or are considering making it part of your brand strategy, contact our marketing team at Rosewood Marketing. Their expertise will help you get those streams flowing.

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The Role of Video Marketing in 2023: Trends and Best Practices

Someone working on a laptop beside a cup of coffee

Video is becoming a dominant tool in marketing. More people are consuming video content each day, and all the major social media apps, including Facebook and Instagram are pivoting to emphasize video to compete with the continued interest in YouTube and the rise of TikTok. To help you create great video advertising and social media, we discuss the role of video marketing for your business and the biggest trends and best practices to follow for 2023.

The Impressive Results of Video Marketing

Video marketing’s role has only grown this past decade as online video has become more and more widespread and easy to share. In 2018, already 78% of marketers found video marketing produced great ROI. This year, that’s grown to 92%. A study from Wyzowl also found that 79% of customers say a video has convinced them to purchase a service or product, while 91% want to see more video content from the brands they follow. Those numbers reflect not only the efficacy of video marketing, but also how its role as a marketing asset is growing.

Standing Out – The Role of Video Marketing

Video marketing plays a vital role by allowing your brand to show off more of its personality and character. Video ads and social media are great for showing off products, services, and your business in action. However, with video marketing also becoming a standard and a common part of most marketing strategies, you need to ensure your video gets attention by following leading trends and best practices. 

The Best Trends and Practices for 2023

To help your videos stand out, we’ve assembled some of the trends and best practices for 2023 to help your videos get those views they deserve.

Short Videos

As the rapid growth of TikTok shows, short videos get a lot of attention and are extremely effective for getting views. In fact, two-thirds of consumers found short videos more engaging, impactful, and memorable than longer videos. Although TikTok’s future in Canada might be a little unclear, since it has been banned on government employee phones, even Ottawa still recognizes the power of short videos for marketing. Other social media platforms have as well. Instagram launched Reels and YouTube launched Shorts in 2020. These short videos are an effective way to market parts of your business, especially since all three platforms prioritize these shorter videos for their users.

The Perfect, Endless Loop Keeps Them Watching

Along with short videos, the endless loop has become a best practice for increasing views and engagement. Together, looping and brevity cooperate to create snappy videos that your audience watches multiple times. Those multiple views will also give your video preference in the platform’s algorithm, so loops are great for growing your video’s reach. An easy way to create a seamless loop is to have the final moments of the video be the same shot or a few seconds earlier in the clip that starts the video. 

SEO

Short length and multiple views from seamless loops will optimize your videos for the suggestion algorithms. There are also methods to boost your videos’ SEO, especially any longer videos that won’t have these benefits. Properly title your videos to match search terms and include keywords in the descriptions. Focus videos on addressing questions and educating your audience; people are often looking for answers. Your videos will also receive SEO preference if you post consistently. 

Faces in Thumbnails

Another tactic is including human faces in thumbnails. You have surely noticed that a lot of video thumbnails on YouTube and other platforms often include people with emotive facial expressions. The simple reason is that those videos get more attention and views. People are naturally drawn to human faces, and expressive faces attract our interest. As a result, at least 72% of popular videos on YouTube include a human face.

Silent Videos with Captions

Besides what will help your video get immediate attention and clicks, you need to create videos that people want to watch and engage with. One of the best practices that has developed in the last couple years is ensuring your video can be watched silently. Many of your audience will watch your videos in a setting where they can’t or prefer not to have audio on. As a result, you need to add accurate captions so that anyone can watch the video without sound. Otherwise, they will simply move on. All platforms include automatic tools to help you generate those captions, but you need to edit them thoroughly for accuracy. This will make your videos both watchable in complete silence as well as more accessible to those with hearing difficulties.

Creating Real Moments – Live Video and Stories

Another great way to generate engagement and attention in your video marketing is creating momentary content with live video and short-lived videos like Instagram Stories. Since these are time limited or specific to the moment, they create FOMO (a fear of missing out). Thus, live videos and interactive Stories are fantastic ways to directly engage with your audience, as they want to become a part of the moment themselves by participating in the chat, reacting, or providing their own input. This, in turn, forms real connections with your audience. 

Being “Real” – Raw Video, Behind the Scenes, and User-Generated Content

Since live content and stories are typically more “raw” and often show behind-the-scenes (BTS) footage, they capitalize on a trend that emphasizes your brand’s authenticity. Less edited videos that show your business’ operations provide your audience with a more sincere presentation. Similarly, reposting and sharing user-generated video content is a great way to show your brand’s authenticity and its engagement with its audience. 

Video Marketing 

Thanks to the ubiquity of smart phones, it has only become easier to start creating video content, and its growing popularity means it’s essential for your marketing. If you want to ensure your video marketing is following the latest trends and best practices, contact our advertising team to create attention-grabbing video ads. Our social media team will help ensure your video content is engaging. Plus, if you’re looking for some more professionally shot and edited content, be sure to look at our video packages.

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Why Updating Your Website Photos Is Important

A graphic of a man sitting on a stool taking a photo of a women. These will be used to update the website photos.

You only get one chance to make a good first impression with your customers, which is why it’s so important to put the time and effort into updating your website. If you haven’t reviewed your website photos recently, we highly recommend doing as soon as possible. Keep reading to discover the top reasons to update your website photos to keep attracting new customers to your site.

Make a Great First Impression

When someone visits your website for the first time, you only have a few seconds to make a good impression. Outdated images can completely wreck your chance of converting a browser to a customer. This is why you always need to offer high-quality and up-to date-images that are reflective of your current branding and your current products. If you haven’t replaced your images for years, it may be time to make some updates!

Your Website Photos Should Evolve With Your Business

No business should stay in the same place year after year. When you still have the same images up on your site that you did two or three years ago, it’s clear to customers that you haven’t improved your offerings or your products during this time. Your website needs to show growth and evolution, so make sure you keep updating it with images of recent events and changes within your business. Brand photography and videography services can help you to show a clear tone or message through each image on your site, which is important for consistency and to continue evolving your business.

Keep Your Clients Up to Date With Current News and Events

A picture is worth a thousand words, so it’s the best way to keep your clients informed about the changes within your company. Adding new pictures each week or month shows them the recent activity within your business, and can show off your employees’ achievements and the customer service you offer. You could even feature images of happy customers, showing how dedicated you are to offering the best service or product possible to them. A quick and easy way to do this is linking your Instagram to your website so it is seen as a gallery! 

There’s nothing worse than landing on a website which doesn’t look like you’ve spent any time or effort on it recently, so make sure you take some time out in the upcoming weeks or months to update your site as needed.

These are just a few of the top reasons to keep your website photos updated. Your website is an online storefront for your company, and you need to do all you can to stay ahead of your competition. When comparing two different businesses to purchase a product or service from, you’ll find that the images on your site could be the one thing that stops someone from choosing you in the future. If you need help updating your site this year, get in touch with our team today. We have a team of photographers and videographers with a wide range of specialties.

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