114 - Tip Tuesday - Transform Your Business Using Live Streaming with Brian Fanzo
Live streaming is the newest rave in business, and I can speak from personal experience that it's a game changer! There are many ways you can utilize the likes of Periscope and Meerkat to build your business, and I thought I would bring the Digital Strategist, Brian Fanzo to help break it all down. We cover which one you should spend your time on, how often you should stream, and how to use this new incredible tool to transform your business.
What exactly is live streaming and how can you utilize it for business? Live streaming isn't new, but what is new is the mobile aspect of live streaming. There are two apps that have come onto the market in the last few months; Meerkat and Periscope. What they allow you to do is by one press of one button, and simply putting out a tweet or title, you're actually able to push out a link to the global world where they can now access the camera on your phone. What's ground breaking is that it has pulled into the mobile side. Now the cameras are great, and the data plans can handle it. So now people can watch you live.
It also brings comments up on the screen. So instead of just broadcasting, you're actually having a conversation with people. The nice part about it is that it lets people look into your digital eyeball and start building immediate relationships with your audience.
How have you seen from the small to large business people utilize these new apps? Brian's philosophy is pretty simple, think like a fan. If brands are willing to give access to fans that they've never seen before and truly be authentic. When they provide access to behind the scenes, etc. When a brand can embrace that, they can relate to their audience.
Hootsuite used it show the culture at their offices. They have access to their employees and every 30 minutes they gave direct access via live stream. So not just talking about how awesome they are to work with, they actually showed it. The number of resumes coming in increased dramatically.
The problem with [live streaming] is that if you suck offline, you're going to suck online.
If you have nothing to show and no value, and you're scared to answer people's questions, it's a hard medium. However, for those who can offer true value, they're embracing it pretty easily.
[ctt tweet="The perfect live stream is not the goal. The goal is to relate. @isocialfanz #podcast http://ctt.ec/43L7K+" coverup="43L7K"]
No one wakes up in the morning and wonders what their favorite brand put on Twitter. However, now we're waking up wondering what our favorite brands are putting on live streaming, which is a completely new way we're embracing social media.
It's okay to not be perfect!
What generation does this target? Brian doesn't believe it's the year you were born. It's the year you're able to embrace digital change. Anyone who is willing to consume content, on demand, is someone who is embracing this. People who are consuming things when and where they want it. It's not just a specific generation; it's more people who are wanting to consume things in a mobile type environment.
Meerkat or Periscope, Pros and Cons of each? Brian has done 200 live streams on each one. He doesn't believe that everyone needs to use both of them. He does because that's his job to present the pros and cons of both. Periscope is owned by Twitter. Meerkat is the startup that really launched themselves just a few weeks before SXSW. You have a startup that's willing to go and fail fast. Where the one is owned by Twitter, which is more about doing right. Periscope does keep your video in the feed for 24 hours. However, Meerkat is an open API so that other tools can use it, and you can embed it other places. Both have comments. Meerkat does allow those comments to go to be pushed to Twitter.
Brian's advice is to listen to both, and then find out where your audience is. Then jump on that one.
They're pretty close in user base. Brian uses active users for measurement. For Brian, it depends on the time of day when which audience is larger. There's a big audience on both. However, Twitter has done an amazing job using word of mouth marketing. Meerkat has been better at the grass-roots.
Why not do both? The key to live streaming is the comments, and interacting with people while you're streaming. Remember on Periscope those questions disappear, so to stream on both of them, you not only have to talk fast, but you have to engage with both of them. If you're going to stream an event, where you're not going to answer every comment, doing both isn't an issue. However, if you're going to engage, then do one, so you can truly be present.
One of the other powers of the tool is that when you're going live, you get a push notification to your phone. It's basically a text message to all of those people who love your content. Since people have the fear of missing out, they are more than likely to jump on immediately. Utilize that you only have 24 hours to consume your content, and promote it that way.
It will not affect SEO on that side because it's using your Twitter feed. Embedding it on your website, does allow you to have some SEO. Since the link isn't broken.
Do you recommend katch.me? We are in a time where we're creating too much content for content's sake. They need to create great content and up cycle. If you have great content, take that and turn it into other things. These apps allow you to save the raw video to your camera roll. Katch actually captures the content for you, and put it up on a website. It's not for everyone. If you're capturing and recording everything, it takes away that need to watch it immediately. You can also upload it to YouTube. This does not replace YouTube. It is two different platforms, and you have to know how to use both.
Another tip for your live stream. Introduce yourself, provide value, engage, and then recap. (Rinse and repeat)
How do you bring your audience over to the live stream? Meerkat allows you to schedule your broadcast 24 hours ahead. For Periscope, Brian uses a tool called Canva, where you can create a graphic and post it on Instagram and let everyone know. If Facebook is your primary platform, then go on Facebook, and do the same thing. It's about bridging your community. The problem is that too many people are using social as a one-way communication tool. However, live streaming is truly an engaging platform. Don't be afraid to be consistent, so people know it's an appointment, like tv.
How far ahead do you send out a notice? It really depends on the time of day. If you expect someone to interrupt their work day, you want to give them more time. If you're using Facebook, use at least 24 hours. However, for Twitter, do something for 3 hours, and then do a 15-minute tweet right before. Part of it is, is that spontaneous part, so also don't be afraid to hit record and start talking.
[ctt tweet="Be yourself, and don't focus on a perfect live stream. Just focus on providing value, and it becomes very easy. http://ctt.ec/K4707+" coverup="K4707"]
What's your advice on getting started? Be yourself, and we live in a world where your first impression is your digital footprint. Figure out what your niche and story is, and start telling. This isn't about planning. Get on there and start talking about something that inspires you. Don't worry about perfect, and just tell your story. Why not leverage a platform that lets people see into your digital eye-ball?
What do you say to the person who can talk about 'five different' things? Make sure each scope has a strategy. Just because it's live doesn't mean you shouldn't have a strategy. You can talk about a range of topics, but just do individual scopes on those. The people who do well understand their audience. Speak to your audience.
Wondering when the best time is? As long as you're providing value, and engaging, you can scope as many times as you want.
More about Brian: Brian teaches personal branding, and consistency is key. You can find him everywhere is @isocialfanz. His number one way to reach him is @isocialfanz on Twitter. You can also find Brian at: http://www.isocialfanz.com/