The importance of Live Broadcasting

In this chapter, we’ll break down the importance of Live Broadcasting and explain what your consumers expect from you as a brand and their user experience. Discover why Live Video Broadcasting is the most powerful tool in your sales toolkit. Of course you’d rather meet your consumers in person – but let’s be honest: how often does that happen nowadays?

Live Broadcasting is the future of Retail

It is safe to say that the global pandemic has transformed almost every business, whether they were ready for transformation or not. But it’s good to understand that this trend has been going on for many years now. It just got pushed extra due to the pandemic. The hype made up more than 10% of E-Commerce sales in China 3 years ago. The US and European markets are catching up fast and customers love it. The add to cart and sales conversion rates are incomparable. 

‘Retail-streaming is the biggest thing that happened to E-commerce since smartphones’ – Digital Commerce 360.

If you think this hype is going to slow down whenever the global pandemic ends, you’re wrong. Customers are getting used to the idea of online shopping and the predictions say they will continue to use these tools in the future. That’s why it’s even more relevant to start implementing this trend right now.

The benefits of Live Broadcasting for sales

E-commerce is now the go-to shopping choice for consumers. As a result, the lines between physical stores and online stores need to converge. Make the buying process more personal: that’s the key ingredient for retailers. The fix to do that is live broadcasting for sales. And not just for product demos, but create videos or start live streaming at every stage of the sales cycle. You can literally live stream about anything. The benefits are huge according to Vidyard:

• Break through inboxes and earn 3x more responses
• Build relationships at a distance: live broadcasting makes people feel like they know you, which makes them more emotionally committed and responsive
• Explain complex topics simply: video allows you to show – not just to tell – and explain more thoroughly
• Save time: higher response rates mean more time spent actually selling
• Accelerate deal cycles: some companies cut their deal cycles in half with video

Customer Expectations from brands

There are literally no limits to the many ways that an event or store can continue to engage with their audience and generate sales, well beyond a physical event or store. Live streaming solves the problem of stores not being able to open – because you can still interact with your customers in this way. The only question is how to do this correctly, so your audience will continue to engage with your brand and for you to generate sales.

Digital customers want to see authentic content, which means no pre recorded and produced videos. Also they would like to participate in the live stream and engage with different brands. It’s very important to them to self-select the way they want to learn about products and engage with the brand or channel. They need to see the ‘right’ content at the ‘right’ time – which is almost always now or “on demand”. Customers want to be entertained throughout the live stream and brands should provide a human experience for them to keep watching and stay engaged.

Techjury shared some impressive numbers:

• 80% of consumers prefer to watch live videos from a brand than read a blog
• 63% of people aged 18-34 watch live streaming content regularly
• 47% of live streaming video viewers are watching more live videos compared to a year ago

The shift towards Live Broadcasting

Live streaming video has gone from a marketing trend to a must-have form of marketing, and businesses are taking note. Salesforce did a survey and found out that live streaming video viewers feel more up to date, and better informed, involved and excited compared with live TV viewers. This connection to content has real implications for brand awareness, recognition, and affinity. Therefore it makes sense that companies are making a shift towards Live Broadcasting and implementing this into their marketing strategy.