The Holiday Planning Guide: Leveraging Mobile Video & Livestreaming

Over the course of this series we’ve explored different ways to use:

  • Web and mobile properties,
  • In-store and in-office displays,
  • Owned social media along with user generated content,

as ways of increasing engagement among employees and consumers alike. This final article focuses on the area most likely to capture the largest amount of attention and engagement.

Views of mobile videos have increased 100% over last year, and with billions of hours of content being consumed each day on various platforms, it’s safe to say this is a strategy that is worth investing in. Online videos are most commonly consumed on mobile devices and range in topics from learning about a product/issue to entertainment.

Live streaming can seem daunting. We’ve given some tips before how to make this much less daunting. For the sake of this article, we’re going to assume you’ve got it on lock. Instead, we’ll explore some ideas to help you get the most out of live streams.

Every holiday season trends emerge that are captured by national news, hit TV shows, and on various social media platforms. One example, Jimmy Kimmel encourages parents to tell their kids they ate all their Halloween candy and send him the videos. It’s been a holiday highlight for some time now. But you don’t have to have a late night, syndicated budget to pull something like this off. Numerous streaming services now make it easy to pull social media into one dashboard and then push it straight to your broadcast.

Because services are becoming more accessible and cost effective, even small live streamers, YouTubers, vloggers, and more can start to incorporate trends like these without spending hours scouring social media.

Another way to increase interaction in your live stream is by leveraging new technology. A few years ago, Verizon partnered with The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to give viewers who couldn’t be at the parade a totally immersive experience.

By viewing the parade in virtual reality it felt like you were actually on the parade route. Then to make it a shared experience from your living room, Verizon brought in posts from around the internet about others in the same situation. It went from a single person looking into goggles to a shared event; just like it would be if you were at the parade with thousands of on-looekrs. They even hired their own hosts to pull in the best posts and continue this shared event.

Customers no longer go to your website, store or social media to just hear what your brand had to say. Increasingly, access to brands to turning into an opportunity for a conversation and to glean valuable feedback directly from your clients.

With increased eyes on your website, in your physical stores, or looking for informative videos the holidays are a great time to encourage engagement. Showcasing user generated content increases authenticity and trust in new consumers. Highlighting employees and creating healthy competition can build your team spirit. If you’ve always wanted to try live-streaming but have been hesitant, now is the time. Extra budget and extra eyes make the holiday season a great opportunity to try something different to reach new consumers.

 

 

Sources: https://biteable.com/blog/tips/video-marketing-statistics/