3 Creative Ways to Use Live Video for Business

Want to add live video to your marketing plan?

Wondering how live streaming can increase customer loyalty and engagement?

Live video helps you stand out from the competition by making your marketing interactive.

In this article, you'll discover three creative ways to use live video in your social media marketing.

3 Creative Ways to Use Live Video for Business by Joel Comm on Social Media Examiner.

This video from the Ultimate Garage Sale Store in Hickory, NC, is a standard promotional tool. It tells potential customers what they can expect to find at the store, but the information provided is representative. Viewers know they won't find the same dining furniture and the signed football that appear in this video. By the time people see the video, those items have likely been sold.

If this store were to broadcast live video, the owner could show viewers his buying trips as he builds his stock. Viewers could see the items he buys, so they know what products will be available. They'd know that if they get down to the store fast enough, they could snap up the items they want. Viewers could even place bids in the comments as they watch the live broadcast.

With live video, any retail store can turn a commercial into a live opportunity. You can walk through your store, pull out bargains, and tell your customers what great offers are available right now. For example, Urban Kids Consignment, a used toy store in Huntington Beach, CA, uses Facebook Live to show what's in stock and takes questions about pricing.

Broadcast live video to show viewers what items are currently in stock at your store.

To prepare your live video, tell your audience about a sale. Mention what time they'll be able to buy the great things you'll be showing viewers. During your video, mix in a number of outstanding bargains, such as a cashmere sweater for $35 or a widescreen television for a couple of hundred dollars. Highlight your loss leaders to build excitement as customers check out your sale items.

Because the video is live, viewers will know that those offers might still be available when they come to your store. For retailers, live video turns sales and special offers into real-time events.

You can find instructional videos all over YouTube, covering items from smartphones to skateboards. Scrivener, a writing application, uses its Facebook page to repost videos it thinks users will be interested in.

Scrivener shares a YouTube video that users might like on its Facebook page.

But do these videos really answer potential users' questions? The publishers might hope so, but they can't know… at least until they look at the comments.

However, in a live product demo, you can interact with your audience in real time. Viewers can ask questions and help direct the content in the video. For example, using Facebook Live, Michael Kelly Guitars hosts regular live demos of its new guitars. Viewers ask questions about the guitars and techniques the musician is using.

In a live broadcast, a how-to video can become an interactive workshop or product demo where fans can ask questions.

To choose a topic for your how-to video or demonstration, look through your support tickets for the most frequently asked questions. Those queries will form the backbone of the information you provide in the video.

Promote your live video by telling people when you'll be broadcasting and what the broadcast will be about, but also clarify that you'll be answering questions. Encourage your followers to think about what they want to ask, and explain how followers can post their questions in the comments.

For technology firms in particular, traditional video how-tos can now become live workshops with customers around the world. And when a product is heavily anticipated, a live reveal can be the most powerful way to launch.

Ever wanted to open your own ramen restaurant? Probably not, but if you're like the more than 2 million people who watched the video below, you'll want to see what it takes to run one in Japan. People are curious to see behind the scenes of their favorite businesses, and this curiosity creates an opportunity for live video.

This technique doesn't rely on urgent offers like a live video broadcast to promote a retail sale. And it doesn't require the audience to think before they watch. The focus is on entertainment more than information. Highlight your staff members; they're the characters your customers will tune in to watch.

For example, if you run a restaurant, introduce your staff on your Facebook page and even consider giving them their own Twitter feeds. Let them become stars. Not all of them will want to shine but in any restaurant, your most personable chefs, waiters, and table bussers will have fun turning a camera on themselves.

Set aside a few minutes during an employee's shift when they can talk to the camera, discuss your products, show off their skills, and engage with customers who aren't at your location at the time. Each broadcast will remind those customers of the fun experience they'll have during their next visit.

Ontario Bakery, a cake store in Ontario, CA, broadcasts its bakers building and decorating the company's wedding cakes, allowing viewers to see the skill that goes into creating their products.

This live broadcast lets viewers see how the bakery decorates wedding cakes.

You don't have to do live video every day, but regular live broadcasts can give your local business the pull of a soap opera and demonstrate the talent that goes into making the products that customers love.

Conclusion

Live video can help in just about every industry, but some businesses shouldn't wait. The benefits are clear and the techniques are easy to do. If your business can use one of these live video techniques, don't wait another minute before hitting that Live Broadcast button.

What do you think? Which of these techniques would work best for your business? Have you tried a live sale or product demonstration? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

3 Creative Ways to Use Live Video for Business by Joel Comm on Social Media Examiner.

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Original source: 3 Creative Ways to Use Live Video for Business.
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