How to Use Live Streaming Video Marketing Strategy to Grow Your Business
8 Jul , 2021
Live streaming is all the rage across the globe. Thanks to the real-time technology, we got our boredom busters and businesses could reach their customers on live to thrive in the COVID-19 adversity. Some are wondering if it is worth the digital marketing spending facing the post-pandemic. Well, with the 250% increase in live stream watch last year, we are pretty confident in the benefits of joining the bandwagon in 2021. Although lockdowns have got people become familiar with live streams, are you still haunted by how to put together this digital marketing strategy for your brand? Read the following insight integrated by AsiaPac and start going live!
Why is Live Streaming Video Marketing Your Must-have Digital Marketing Strategy
Select the Right Live Streaming Video Marketing Platform
Live Streaming Along Your Digital Marketing Objective
1. Why is Live Streaming Video Marketing Your Must-have Digital Marketing Strategy
Video consumption has no signs to be dropping at all for the past decade. But it is just the beginning chapter for live streaming which has been deemed to be privileged for large-scale events for years. It made no exception for the pandemic that live concerts and performances were successfully held live online by artists such as the renowned soloist, Yo-Yo Ma, and pop singer, Sam Smith. Live streaming goes beyond text and images, like what video streaming does, to gain longer attention span of the audience. Its significant features of instant content broadcasting and simultaneous interaction between the host and the audience were not utilized the best out of it until the lockdown.
Live streaming is the silver lining of COVID-19. People went from made redundant and looking for online entertainment to becoming live streamers of different niches during the time. There are singing and dancing performances, make-up, talks and more unfiltered content of their talents. Marketers, on the other hand, discovered the incomparable authenticity in live streaming video marketing as it has no pre-recorded and edited material, unlike the other digital advertising formats. Ever since, the trend of live streaming video marketing has transformed the retail and e-commerce industry by collaborating with variety of KOLs as live streamers to promote and sell their products online immediately.
For instance, HKTVmall, the local online shopping platform, has included live streaming video marketing strategy since last July. Its media advertising revenue has risen to HKD 48 million, which is 5 times higher than last year and 70% is attributed to its live streams. On the global stage, Apple has showcased another good example of using live streaming video marketing strategy well to meet the demand of the tech fans. When other companies were still testing out live streaming technology, Apple has been holding its live events for years and continuously captured full attention in its all-online Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2021. Perceiving the huge global live streaming market of $247 billion by 2027, brands are suggested to include live streaming video marketing as one of the top priority digital strategies.
2. Select the Right Live Streaming Video Marketing Platform
Although businesses of all scales are experimenting with live streaming video marketing, don’t do it for the sake of it! Before getting started, carefully consider your digital marketing objective and target audience. Live streaming video marketing is never limited to only one platform at a time, but an in-depth digital marketing plan in advance will give you the result-oriented guidance for choosing the suitable live streaming video marketing channels and budget allocation. Amongst the many social media and e-commerce platforms which all have the live features nowadays, we have wrapped up with the top live streaming video marketing platform of different markets for your use in digital marketing.
2.1 China Live Streaming Market: Douyin, Kuaishou, Taobao Live
There are no doubts that live streaming video marketing is highly developed in China and has driven an explosive growth in e-commerce businesses.
Douyin Live Streaming
Dominated in the short video industry and powered by the tech giant ByteDance, Douyin is the second leading live streaming player in China with 13% market share. The app itself is connected to e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and Jingdong which brings convenience to the customers and drives conversions. At its latest event of “ecosystem conference”, Douyin’s E-commerce Vice president Mu Qing predicted that more than USD $15.3 million will be produced on the app in 2021, revealing Douyin’s confidence in its ongoing development in live streaming commerce. Douyin advertising is no longer solely about the 15-60s eye-catching videos, but has so much more business potential with live streaming video marketing.
Kuaishou Live Streaming
A little outshined by Douyin, Kuaishou is occupying 8% of the live streaming market in China. As another early leader of short video industry in China with 330.4 million active users, its live streaming has substantial influence in e-commerce industry as well. For instance, the popular influencer and live streamer, Xinba, was banned from Kuaishou for promoting fake products but was able to create USD $330 million of sales in a 12-hour live show right after he returned to the platform this year. His remarkable resilience was a shot in the arm for both brands and streamers that live streaming commerce on Kuaishou deserves an attempt.
Taobao Live Streaming
We did not forget the biggest live streaming commerce platform in China, Taobao Live! Integrated into the Taobao’s e-commerce app, sellers can reach and engage its potential customers via live content and direct them to shop directly. Taobao’s number of sales from the several shopping festivals, e.g. Double 11 and 618 Shopping Event, have not failed to surprise us each year. It gained further momentum with the live streaming feature that in just one month during the pandemic, 719% increase in the number of Taobao Live subscribers was achieved. With the announcement of supercharging the app by supporting 2,000 live stream channels and hundreds of partners, Taobao Live maintains its most competitive market position by nearly 80% and will definitely boost your sales in the favourable China market.
2.2 Global Live Streaming market: TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook Live
You may already know well of the following prominent digital marketing platforms. Still, take them into consideration for your global live streaming video marketing strategy in terms of brand building and customer relationship.
TikTok Live Streaming
In overseas countries, Douyin is known as TikTok which is also owned by Bytedance. The major difference between the two widely popular short video platforms is that Douyin users can sell goods on the e-commerce sites via Douyin, as we mentioned before, while TikTok does not. Don’t walk away first as the platform will likely include new e-commerce tools in the coming “TikTok World” showcase event! Perceiving the new live streaming tools it has introduced not long ago, such as “live moderators” and “Picture-in-Picture”, we are very hopeful that TikTok is enthusiastic in developing live streaming commerce which may differ from that in Douyin yet greatly beneficial to brands.
Although TikTok’s e-commerce features are not released yet, its live stream is still one of the best ways forward in regard to your outbound marketing purpose. From TikTok’s report in 2021, nearly 60% of TikTok users use the platform to learn current events or trends, and same amount of users learn new recipes or DIY projects there. On the other hand, 25% of users purchase or look for more information of a product they see on TikTok. The research results give us a clear insight that marketers should focus more on brand building than sales driving on TikTok at the moment, and product demonstration and even tutorials will be some good ideas for your TikTok live streaming video strategy.
YouTube Live Streaming
Launched in 2013, YouTube Live indeed started its live streaming feature way earlier than many platforms and offers “simple” and “customized” live streams with monetization features. The video platform itself has more than 500 hours of video uploaded every minute and 2 billion monthly users, proving its rigid audience base. Every day, there are live chats with professionals, sports events, music shows and even video games running on YouTube Live. If your brand is looking for a real-time channel for virtual events and conferences, YouTube is absolutely the quality-guaranteed live streaming video marketing platform which helps you reach your global audience.
Facebook and Instagram Live Streaming
Last but not the least, let’s talk about Facebook and its sibling, Instagram! Both owned by Facebook, the two popular platforms provide their users with slightly different streaming features—Facebook Live can be held on computers and hence often used for live events of long duration. On the other hand, Instagram Live is more of a grounded image that all groups of users, ranging from politicians, celebrities, business owners to influencers and general users, love going live on this mobile-first platform. Regardless of the supporting device, live hosts of both platforms can use the live feature from Instagram Stories and Facebook News Feed respectively, and invite other users to the live session with no time and place limitations.
As easy as they seem, brands can make use of the Instagram and Facebook live streaming strategies with KOL collaboration to host Instagram Takeover. A live chat with the followers or other parties can also help build a friendly image. Example is the live session by The Editor’s Market, the growing minimal fashion apparel and accessory retailer. They regularly hold live try-ons with their cofounder, Vivian, who is also a micro-influencer herself, and the strategy has notably driven sales and brought the small Singaporean brand to the global stage.
3. Determine Your Live Streaming Format
Different from usual video marketing, there are more uncertainty in live streaming video marketing strategy as the video is uploaded and broadcasted to the masses at the same time. It is therefore crucial to think and plan your live streaming video marketing content ahead in order to not only attract your audience, but also minimize the risks of going wrong during the live. It is suggested that you take reference from the three popular live streaming formats below to get the optimal value out of the digital marketing strategy.
3.1 Live Streaming with KOLs
Celebrities used to be considered the best sales driver, but the KOLs seem to be taking over the place in this decade and therefore should definitely be included in your live streaming video marketing strategy. Taking The Editor’s Market’s case mentioned above as a reference, small to medium-sized brands are recommended to take advantages of the aesthetic micro-KOLs who have already built a community of loyal and “sticky” followers. If you have more digital marketing budget, mega-KOLs could be your options for live stream hosts. For instance, Li Jiaqi, China’s “Lipstick King” who livestreams to win hearts of Chinese women and is even named on the TIME100 Next 2021 List, play an important role in live streaming commerce. He once sold off 15 thousand lipsticks in five minutes and generated over US$145 million of sales on Singles’ Day. Without doubt, combining KOL marketing with live streaming video marketing strategy will favour your business development.
3.2 Live Streaming Video Tutorials from The Industry Experts
Some businesses have worries that sharing their knowledge publicly with the world would mean losing the power. Conversely, it is the era of sharing culture! We are not talking about leaking confidential data and information that will really hamper your business, but the idea of collective intelligence.
Live streaming held by experts of your field initiates exchange of knowledge and insights between the participants. While you are revealing your industrial practice and the thinking behind, the audience will understand more of your work and raise out questions and opinion in the meantime. The widely used multinational computer software company, Adobe, livestream interaction sessions by experts from small businesses to global creators. Fully showcase their creative process, it is resulted in high engagement rate amid the pandemic time and get an even bigger slice of pie in the social media game.
3.3 Live Streaming Q&A Sessions with Management Levels or Employees
Consumers nowadays are very active and information-seeking that they love to know everything hidden and develop trust to brands based on it. If your brand is willing to take a transparent attitude and have the “insiders” to answer questions on live, the audience will have a glimpse of your brand culture, values, operation and even clarify their doubts towards your brand. This engaging live streaming video marketing format will surely enhance your brand credibility with words from the trustworthy brand representatives.
Summary of How to Use Live Streaming Video Marketing Strategy to Grow Your Business
Now, are you more confident with using live streaming video marketing strategy for your business? Our digital marketing experts have some last reminders for you! Remember to ensure a stable internet connection, get the right equipment and have a back-up plan for the unexpected technical glitches. It just happens sometimes… And, don’t forget about the part of social media marketing. Attract your target audience’s curiosity for the coming live stream and remind them about your brand afterwards, success of your live streaming video marketing strategy is not far away!
About AsiaPac Net Media
With an extensive digital marketing experience of serving more than 2,500 clients across Asia in sectors such as ecommerce, finance, gaming, travel, retail, beauty, FMCG, education, health products etc., AsiaPac’s expert team is highly recognized for the excellence in providing performance-driven services to businesses across Asia, and global corporates targeting Asia markets. If you’d like to learn more about AsiaPac and the work we’ve done, visit our Cases page. For more information on AsiaPac/ AdTech and our services, please contact us at info@asiapac.com.hk/ info@adtechinno.com.
