Get Started With Corporate Live Streaming – A Comprehensive Guide

Video has become one of the most effective types of online content available. One type of video that is gaining a lot more popularity nowadays is live streaming videos.

Live streaming is relatively new but is becoming one of the fastest growing types of video content right now. A lot of different individuals like influencers, celebrities, and even companies have been doing a lot of live streaming. These videos have brought them a lot of great engagement with their audience.

It is important to know everything about live streaming videos so that you will be able to maximise their capabilities. This article will be a comprehensive guide that will tell you all you need to know about corporate live streaming. This includes why it is becoming more popular today, what you need to live stream, where you should stream, how to live stream successfully, and whether you should do it in-house or outsource it.

What is Corporate Live Streaming?

The first thing you need to ask before everything else is pretty obvious: what exactly is corporate live streaming?

Well, before that it is also important to learn what the term streaming means:

Streaming is done when audio or video files are being transmitted from a server to a client. It allows playback on your chosen media to begin while it sends the rest of the data. Because of this, you are able to watch videos or listen to music and podcasts in real time. An example of a video streaming service is YouTube while an example of an audio streaming service is Spotify.

So, what is live streaming?

Live streaming is a type of streaming where video or audio is being broadcasted live over the internet. The media, whether it is video or audio, is being transmitted while also being recorded. This allows your viewers to watch or listen to your content in real time.

There are different types of live streams that are being broadcasted in the internet today. Some examples are TV broadcasts, social media videos, educational content, video game streams among others.

With more and more social media platforms enabling live streaming, individuals and even companies are using it to share unedited or raw footage of more uncomplicated concepts and themes like what happens in their daily lives.

Corporate Live Streaming

As a business you can also integrate live streaming to your corporate affairs, this is called corporate live streaming. Corporate live streaming allows you to broadcast news, content, or events to your audiences: both internal and external.

Check out fewStones’ live streaming services here

Why is There an Increase in Corporate Live Streaming Today?

More and more individuals and companies are trying their hand at live streaming. This is because it is proven to be an effective tool to engage with your audience. Here are 3 reasons why there is an increase in live streaming today:

1. Live Streaming is Growing Faster Than Ever

Video streaming is projected to be worth more than 70 billion dollars by 2021. Live streaming will be a huge proponent to that growth because of the advancements in technology that makes it more accessible to creators and the growing audiences for it as well.

Live streaming’s growth in popularity in recent years is no joke. Its huge user base grows larger by the day and it does not look like it is slowing down.

A great way of proving the legitimacy of live streaming’s growth is to observe how social media platforms are steering towards including live streaming features and even showcasing them.

Facebook has Facebook Live, Youtube has Youtube Live, Instagram has Instagram Live, Twitter has Periscope. All these platforms, who did not initially have live streaming, have now included it into their platform’s features. These live streaming activities are now surging in popularity.

Because of the wide variety of platforms to choose from to watch live streaming, people of all ages are watching and creating their own live streaming content.

2. Live Streaming Encourages Interactivity and Engagement

Live streaming is the internet’s improved alternative to traditional television. The difference now is that the internet has shifted the power of viewing from the broadcaster to the audience instead.

On social media platforms like Facebook, live streaming videos are watched three times longer and receive 10 times more comments than regular videos.

Video streaming has evolved into a two-way communication between broadcaster and audience. Live streaming makes the most out of this and takes full advantage of this development.

60% of marketers say that live streaming videos is a great way to get real-time feedback from their consumers.

Just as TV broadcasted informational, entertaining, and accessible content, live streaming does the same thin. However, it has added value of more options and more ways to interact with an audience.

This level of interaction and engagement is why live streaming is surging in popularity with more and more people and brands doing it. No other content or platform provides this high level of interactivity. That’s why live streaming has the highest rate of engagement of all content types.

Live streaming videos can hold the attention of viewers 10-20x longer than pre-recorded video content.

The real-time interaction you can get between yourself (or a presenter if you’re a brand) and your audience brings them closer to you which becomes a great channel of communication. You can both ask questions and give answers and this back and forth will create a sense of community which you will both be associated with.

3. Live Streaming Allows For More Authenticity

Authenticity is crucial to businesses because consumers are now becoming more conscious about honest communication from brands when they talk about their products and services. It is important for businesses to be authentic and to clearly display it through their content.

Live streaming allows and creates a strong relationship with its viewers because of the genuine interaction that is present. You just can’t get that same feeling from videos that are pre-recorded no matter how entertaining or well-produced they are.

There is a human element that live streams have that other types of content don’t just because of the fact that live streams actually happen live and in real time. 

Your viewers will see the authenticity with every spontaneous mistake or funny moment that they will catch in your live stream and identify with that. These genuine moments humanizes whoever is on screen and makes the content more relatable.

Having this relatability is important for any content creator whether you’re an individual or a brand. Being relatable will be a bit more challenging if you are a brand since you have to show your human side through your presenters in the live stream. It is important to make the presenter speak for your brand while also being in tune with your audience.

Why Your Company Should Use Corporate Live Streaming As Well

By incorporating corporate live streaming into your plans, you can also reap the benefits of growth, engagement, and authenticity to your own company as well.

Live streaming’s popularity can also help with corporate affairs of your business. Because of live streaming, companies are now able to hold meetings and broadcast conferences with anyone, regardless of their location.

Having live video calls is a great way to make your internal communication a lot easier and being able to stream your company’s events is great for communicating with your external audience. Using different ways to live stream whatever content you want to communicate gives you more visibility and credibility.

Q&A sessions and webinars can help with your engagement and raw, authentic presenters of your products can connect you to your audience. This leads to a good relationship and reputation for your company.

Coronavirus and its Impact on Live Streaming

With almost every national government enforcing lockdown in their respective countries because of the Coronavirus pandemic, a majority of the world were ordered to stay indoors.

These events have forced people to find new ways to work and consume content. This has led to more and more people heavily relying on live streaming.

In the entertainment sector of live streaming, more and more live streamers had longer broadcasts and even more people watched these different types of online live entertainment.

Live streaming has also become the norm for people that are working from home. Whether they need to have live communications throughout the work week, broadcast live events, or attend webinars, live streaming has become their main engine for their productivity.

Now is a great time to take advantage of this opportunity that live streaming presents during this pandemic. You can do this by watching different types of live videos and even using the different streaming platforms to broadcast your own live content.

The 101’s of Live Streaming

Now that you probably want to explore your options when it comes to live streaming, you should learn about all the basic requirements you need to set up your live streams. Here are some of the things that you need:

1. Video and Audio Source
2. Encoder
3. Internet Connection

1. Video And Audio Source

Your live stream begins with having a video and audio source. A video source is a stream of video data for your live stream an audio source is a stream of audio data. For beginners setting up a simple stream, one video and audio source may be enough. For companies or professional streamers, they set up more complex streams with more than one video and audio source.

There are a lot of different video sources that can be used depending on your budget or the content of your live streams. For beginners, you can use the camera on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop, a webcam, or even your computer screen as a video source. You can use a DSLR camera, a camcorder or a GoPro if you have access to those for more well-produced streams.

For your audio sources, you can use the microphones of the video sources that you will be using (DSLR, phone camera, webcam, GoPro) but you should note that this audio may not be the clearest. If you want to have the best audio quality possible, it is best to use actual microphones as your audio source.

2. Encoder

Once you have decided on what to use for your video and audio sources, the next thing you will need is an encoder. An encoder is what translates the video signal to the internet.

There are two types of encoders available: software encoders and hardware encoders.

Software encoders are applications that you must install. These encoders will use the power of your CPU to neatly pack up your videos and send them online.

Take note that your computer’s CPU should be able to handle the streaming software that you will use since the software will rely on the CPU. If it can’t handle the software, your stream will be laggy, will constantly drop frames, and will experience a lot of buffering.

Hardware encoders are devices that are specifically dedicated to handling all encoding. These are physical devices which you need to connect your video and audio sources to.

Since hardware encoders are completely separate devices, these will not affect your computer’s performance. These can be more reliable and convenient since they are made specifically for the use of live streaming. The downside to them is that they are not accessible and affordable to everyone.

Another thing to note is that if you are just using your phone or tablet for both your sources, you can stream directly to some live streaming platforms without the need for encoding. The downside to this is that this will only limit you to stream on that specific streaming platform.

3. Internet Connection

The data that you must deliver to the live streaming platform of your choosing must travel through an internet connection. It is important to have a fast and stable internet connection otherwise all your efforts in choosing your sources and encoders will be for nothing.

You must always test your upload speed first before trying to live stream and to maintain a buffer to ensure a reliable live stream. Also, to ensure your internet connection to be as reliable as possible, you must have a hardwired, dedicated Ethernet line to your device instead of just using a Wi-Fi connection.

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What Are the Different Live Streaming Platforms and Which is Best for Me?

Here are some of the most popular live streaming platforms along with some reasons why you should consider them:

Twitch

Twitch is a popular live streaming platform available for viewing on PC, mobile, and on gaming consoles. It is mainly known for its video game broadcasts. However, it also has other different content like cooking, music, Q&A sessions among others.

Twitch is known for its interactivity because of its live chat feature which allows constant communication between the content creators and the audience throughout the live stream. On average, there are more than 15 million daily active users on their platform.

It is pretty easy to create an account as you can even directly create one from your Facebook. The basic account is free and there are no advertisements on the platform itself. You can enjoy more features and perks from Twitch and its content creators when you provide an extra payment.

YouTube Live

YouTube Live is YouTube’s own live streaming service. Creators can stream live on YouTube from their webcams, mobiles, and encoder streaming applications. It also has a wide variety of content which YouTube encourages.

YouTube Live also has the live chat feature which promotes interactivity with the content creators. It also has an impressive analytics page to track your streaming statistics. You are also able to watch the full replay of a YouTube live stream even after the broadcast ends.

Since YouTube Live is relatively new, it can be a good opportunity for you to become one of its pioneers.

Facebook Live

Facebook Live is Facebook’s own foray on live streaming. Their platform allows their users to share live content on Facebook that suits the taste of their friends and followers.

Using Facebook Live is fairly easy since you just need to use your Facebook account. It is also very accessible since almost everyone is on Facebook.

Just like on the posts on the website itself, Facebook Live allows audiences to post reactions and live comments throughout someone’s live stream. Your friends and followers will also receive notifications whenever you are live streaming.

Here are also three of the more popular streaming platforms for corporate live streaming:

Vimeo

Vimeo, who acquired the Livestream platform, powers over 10 million events per year on their live streaming platform. It offers both video hosting and streaming services.

Vimeo has basic functions like video management, privacy controls, and analytics to start. They also provide tech support through email if you avail of their video hosting services.

Its offering of different types of proprietary software and hardware for live streaming is what sets Vimeo apart. These have a smooth integration with their platform which makes the implementation of your live streaming program a lot easier.

DaCast

DaCast is well known for being the on-demand type of live streaming platform that follows a complete SaaS approach. It is popular for being used by a lot of professionals in the corporate world.

DaCast is commonly used for large-scale business gatherings and conferences. It has a highly useful support system that operates on a 24×7 hour connectivity.

Even though it is widely used for business purposes, it still offers classic features for live streaming. Its interface is fairly easy to use and is also great, functionality-wise.

IBM Cloud Video

IBM Cloud Video, formerly known as Ustream, offers live streaming and video solutions that include different sets of advanced features. This platform allows users to live shows and events online.

There are a lot of different social media buttons and advanced functionalities that you can use. This makes the task of sharing live videos much easier. You are also able to search for any live video content without having to login.

It has a fairly simple interface that allows you to add graphics, presentations, and guests without any complications to your live streaming experience. IBM Cloud Video hosts more than 2 million videos per month.

Step-by-Step Guide to Live Stream Successfully

1. Determine the purpose of your live stream

The first thing you have to determine is the reason why you want to do a live stream. You need to make your purpose clear so that everything will be smooth going forward.

Some of the purposes you can have include raising awareness for a certain product, sharing an interesting story, increasing sales, sharing information, or just entertaining your viewers.

2. Decide on how long the stream will be

Another important decision for your stream is deciding how long it will be. You may want to first test out what would work best for your target audience.

Typically a live stream that would run at around 15-30 minutes would be best for most people. However, for some people that cover different topics or have different audiences, live streams can still be engaging for at least an hour or even more.

3. Prepare the content for the stream

Since everything will be live during your streams, you should be as prepared as possible so that it will run smoothly and be an entertaining and engaging experience for your viewers.

Make sure to prepare notes that have the important points that you will focus on so that you know when to talk about them during the live stream. You can also include information like links, discount codes, dates, and times that may viewers should remember.

4. Come up with the call-to-action prompt for your viewers

This is connected to the chosen purpose of your live stream. You should not forget to prompt your viewers to perform the action that you need to achieve the goals and purpose of the live stream.

You can do this by asking viewers to share the live stream, download an eBook, subscribe to a newsletter, or offer a special discount or offer that they can use in your store. These actions will depend on what your goals are.

5. Choose what platform to stream on

The next step is choosing the best platform that would help you achieve the goals of your live stream. Lucky for you, we have already mentioned some of the best platforms you can use in a previous section.

There are two important factors you have to consider when choosing a live streaming platform. First will be where your target audience is the most. Second will be finding one which make it easy for your viewers to perform the intended actions.

6. Interact with viewers during the live stream

Once you have begun the live stream, don’t forget to interact with your viewers. Start out by welcoming them to the stream by saying hello and even asking where they are watching from.

This is a great way to spark conversation and keep your viewers engaged all throughout the duration of the stream. After that, you can immediately talk about the main points of the stream and continue to entertain and ask questions.

7. End the stream by summarizing all your main points

Before you end your stream, it is important that you give viewers a brief overview of all of the topics. This is important since some of them may not have watched from the beginning.

This summary can help them decide if they want to go back and watch the whole stream or even complete the call-to-action prompt. You should also mention the call-to-action prompt again by telling them what they need to do and that you will provide the resources so they can perform their next steps.

Frequently Asked Questions About Live Streaming

Should I Outsource Live Streaming or Do It In-House?

When it comes to finally executing your plans of live streaming, you have to make an important decision. Will you outsource your live streaming production or do it in-house?

The Benefits of In-House Live Streaming Production

• You’ll have more knowledge of the company and its brand – If employees of the brand itself will do the live streaming production, they can make sure to incorporate the company’s branding since they’re more familiar with it.
• Creative control is in your hands – An in-house team will have full control over the creative process since they are the only ones handling the production.
• You can keep and reuse equipment that you own – If your company owns live streaming equipment, you can just use those and even reuse them for future live streaming productions.

The Benefits of Outsourcing Live Streaming Production

• An external team gives you a more neutral perspective – An external team can give you a more neutral perspective since they are not part of your company. Their decisions will have less bias since they will come from an outsiders point of view.
• The team has a more experienced background on video production – You are guaranteed to have a team that already has experience working on live streaming production. There will be no second-guessing or hesitation when it comes to working on the production since they already have a background of doing these jobs.
• The team already knows its specific roles – The production team you will have for your live streams have already established their roles and their tasks so there’s no need to worry about that.
• Your employees don’t need to do extra work – With having an outsourced production team, this lifts the weight off of your employees since they would not need to do this extra work.
• There’s no need to buy equipment – There will be no need to buy your own equipment since the production team will bring their own equipment to work with you.

Conclusion

In the long-term, outsourcing your live streaming production is the way to go to maximize the potential of your streams. It guarantees you a better output which will provide better results. The amount of engagement and revenue you can get from having the best output possible will make your payment to outsource your own video production team worth it.

If you’re looking for a well-established video production company in Singapore, fewStones is here to help you with your live streaming productions.

Rest assured that when you collaborate with us, we will have a deep understanding of you and your objectives so we can help you communicate your message properly in your live streams. Along with live streaming videos, we also provide other services like live action videos, 2D animation videos, 3D animation videos, personalised videos, and corporate photography services.

Our mission is to provide high quality videos that meet your budget requirements. Our team will make sure that your live streams will give you great engagement and conversion. You can easily get an instant quote on our website here if you want to know more about our services.

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• The Ultimate Guide to Corporate Video Production in Singapore
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• The Coronavirus Impact on Video Marketing and How to Adapt
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