How To Convert Live Video Viewers Into Customers

Delivering the Streams

We simulcast most of our client streams on Facebook and YouTube. (Our B2B clients would be an ideal use case for livestreaming via LinkedIn. Now that LinkedIn is adding livestreaming capabilities, this may be something we can leverage for our clients soon.) Typically, we integrate it into a microsite and people get an invitation to come to that place.

There are three different places where viewers can watch. They can go to the microsite, they can get it on Facebook, or they can watch it on YouTube. By and large, the microsite is the place where we have the most engagement because it’s by invitation.

We’ve seen acquisition from the other channels, and it’s helped to create a more robust network of audience for them, which is helpful, because not everybody is finding them for the first time through that microsite. Maybe they’re finding them on YouTube and then getting on the list.

In terms of how we actually acquire the emails, it depends on the customer. Every customer is different. If a customer doesn’t want to spend money, we just have them do it in the comment section of Facebook or YouTube. But I always tell them, “Nobody wants to put their email address in comments." But some clients just don't want to spend money to have it done another way.

With clients who are willing to spend the extra money, we have etwo different ways that we do it. We work with a company called CommentChat, which is an API where you can plug in different private chat functionalities into lots of different tools. That’s a great one, because people can just submit their email to a chatbot, the application hides it, and we capture it on the backend.

We are also able to work with microsites and build in a quick little form. Another way that sometimes work--although I’m always cautious of it--is just a link to your email landing page. If you’re working with SendGrid, MailChimp, or any of the other email hosting or email campaign management providers, you can just put a link for that inside of your player program or inside of your description, and people can go there and sign up that way. There are lots of different ways to make that work.

Final Thoughts

When you’re using livestreaming to build a customer base, cadence matters. Doing one flash-in-the-pan stream is not an effective way to scale your program and make it work. If you build a programming schedule, you will see better results.

Midsized brands will see a huge lift starting with quarterly and then moving to monthly. Start by livestreaming on a quarterly basis and if you’re seeing traction, getting conversions, and finding the engagement that you’re looking for and it’s driving results, then move up to a monthly cadence. We have some brands that are on a weekly pace. You may find that you can get to the point where you’re promoting a weekly program if you start to build a cadence.

The next thing I recommend is that you should expect to spend at least six months doing this if you want to figure out what cadence is right for you and see measurable results. If you’re going to start with a quarterly basis, you should plan on trying this at least twice. If you’re planning to stream on a monthly basis, you should plan on trying it at least six times.

The reason for this is that audiences have to be taught what to expect. Unfortunately, most of us are not going to be Emmy Award winners the first time around, so we need to build some audience expectations. We need to learn from them and understand what’s working for them.

I find that it takes most brands about three months to onboard an audience, and about three programs to get a sense of what’s working, what’s tracking, and what’s getting people interested in the livestream. I find that it takes about six months to see tangible, trackable results.

I’m not suggesting that you won’t see success right out of the gate. You might stream one show and say, “We got 100 new email signups. Isn't that great?" That is great, but to truly understand what’s going to drive value for you over time, you have to continue trying it.

Above all, consistency wins. Invest in little things like a graphics package that spells out exactly what your promo code is. Spend the time and effort with your graphics department to make sure that the design is on brand and you have everything looking the way you want.

This investment will also pay off later on. YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, so if somebody happens to search your topic and you did a YouTube livestream, having it look good in the longterm in your library is worth it.

Finally, prepare your talent. The worst thing that you can do is just put the VP of Sales in front of the camera and say, “All right, Jimmy, go for it.” Most people can’t perform on cue without adequate preparation.

Write down a run-of-show. Tell your talent, “We’d like for you to talk about these three things. Here’s a general script. Here are some questions.” Those things do pay off.

If you're having a hard time getting a higher-up that’s good on camera (or wants to be there), look for a younger person within the organization. They will be ecstatic to the opportunity. If they’re already social media-literate and use it a lot, they’ll understand the medium, and they might even have the natural skill to be engaging and vivacious.