With the current state of the world more and more people and businesses are flocking to live streaming, and while some are doing it with great success many aren’t quite prepared for everything that it entails. Our team at Adams Media Group are experts in the live video world and our following tips will help ensure you are reaching and engaging with your audience effectively.
1. Hype!
Promote your live stream to your followers.
Make sure you utilize all that instagram and facebook has to offer, schedule your live stream in advance, post a story using the countdown timer, and encourage your followers to set reminders so they don’t miss a minute of your stream.Also it’s important to go into live streaming with a positive attitude, this is an opportunity to connect with your followers, as well as potential customers and making a good virtual impression is just as important as making a good personal impression.
2. Plan
Plan to go live when your audience is most active.
Utilizing Instagram’s built in insights to see when your audience is most active and build your hype around those timeframes.
Prepare an outline or notecards to reference in case you get off topic. You don’t necessarily need to “stick to the cards” but having something you can anchor your thoughts to can help keep your stream on course and your audience engaged.
If you are planning a Q&A have some prepared questions ready, not everyone is fully comfortable participating in a live stream so having things prepared will help put them at ease and encourage them to participate.
3. Audio
Get the most out of your hardware by setting yourself up properly.
Use a quiet, echo-free room and if you can turn off any device that makes noise (e.g. fan, televisions, ice makers). By reducing the amount of background noise, however inconsequential it may seem, really ups the quality of your audio, it ensures your message comes across crystal clear and your audience will thank you for the lack of distractions.
4. Lighting
Being seen is just as important as being heard. Setting yourself up in an area that has even, soft, natural light is always ideal, harsh, direct light can create unpleasant shadows and sometimes make your image difficult to discern. Avoid streaming from rooms with multiple light source types (i.e. fluorescent light mixed with incandescent light) as that will create odd color shifts.
5. Set
After bringing the audio and the lighting together consider what your viewers are going to be seeing. Take the time to tidy up and/or decorate your area. Think of your area like a television set and make it inviting and appealing.
Viewers will be more likely to stick around if you have keen visual elements, good lighting, and clear audio.
Do not forget that you are representing your personal or professional brand.
If you are a retail store, mention or showcase some products that viewers can purchase from your store and have delivered. If you offer specific services, remind viewers of your provided services.
6. Save
This is definitely the most important tip.
Do not forget to save your live stream, a saved livestream can be repurposed into smaller, more digestible content for later use. But it also provides an archive for a follower who wasn’t able to view the stream and still wanted the information you provided.
