Moreover, live streaming has now garnered a place as a relevant and effective tool of marketing and communication for a wide range of businesses and industries, which will be emphasized as the essay progresses on. Live streaming has also done much to increase the growth of visual culture in societies around the world, as it encourages active viewing and participation compared to passive consumption that is often associated with pre-recorded media.
In recent times, live streaming has gained immense popularity as a consumer activity, due to the ease of access to various streaming platforms and the rise of the internet and social media as a means of global communication. Websites such as Twitch, UStream, and YouTube Live have been instrumental in facilitating access to anyone who wishes to broadcast their content at no cost. At the same time, social media apps on smartphones have become a common method of informal streaming due to the convenience of mobile devices.
Live streaming is a term that describes the process of transmitting live video footage either over the internet or among a select group of people, through the means of a reliable internet connection. This process differs from commercial television as it often involves a more interactive and intimate experience between the broadcaster and the viewer, as live streaming can take place in the form of a personal online diary, a question and answer session, a tutorial, or a discussion on a particular topic between individuals.
What is live streaming?
In a nutshell, live streaming is taking a video and broadcasting it live through an internet connection. This allows consumers to view an event from their computer as it happens. In recent years, live streaming has gained significant popularity with social media platforms such as Facebook creating their own live streaming service. With video content being in high demand and easier to produce than ever, live streaming has become a go-to for businesses and content creators. Speaking of easier to produce, not only is video content easy to produce, it is also less costly than ever to produce high-quality video content. With social media, marketing or sharing your video content is much easier in comparison to the past. Imagine hosting an event and having the option to stream it for those who can’t physically attend. There are countless possibilities for those who wish to use live streaming to further their brand or identity. This makes the prospect of live streaming very attractive to a wide variety of consumers.
Importance of live streaming services
Live streaming service has become the current trend to get information and to be entertained. With the emergence of online live streaming services networks like Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and Facebook Gaming, many would agree that this trend brings its own advantages. In this article, we will specifically talk about one live streaming service provider, Twitch. Twitch itself has been established since 2011 and now it has more than 2.2 million streamers which attracts 15 million daily active users. With the massive number of streamers and viewers, there must be certain reasons why these people are committed to this new entertainment medium. As a streamer, Twitch offers an easier way to communicate while gaming. Streamers can set their own channels with custom contents to attract more viewers. The chat feature is also available for viewers to interact and discuss with the streamer about the game or other stuff. It is also possible to enable video stream in the chat. This will make the communication between streamers and viewers become more dynamic. And sometimes, viewers are likely to watch a single player game from a good friend by using Twitch’s live stream to get that communication and the feeling of a shared experience. It is like sitting together in the same room but different place.
Benefits of Live Streaming Services in Singapore
For business owners, customer segment is the most important target to boost the sales of products and services offered. The results of activities and some product offerings to a market a product it is usually known as a branding activity. This activity requires good results and feedback to be able to measure the success of the products offered. Live streaming services Singapore have the opportunity to offer features such as online conferencing with prospective clients, question and answer session, to the delivery of product trial directly on the tips of the customer. With this interaction, it will be easier to get feedback from customers and be more successful than when making videos and advertising the product through the website.
By using live-streaming Singapore services, it will provide many benefits for business owners or organizations that are currently engaged in the marketing or branding a product. Live streaming in Singapore is based on the activities run live which will be directly connected to the audience. In contrast to making a video which often spend less budget and take longer to enter the editing stages to excess the offered. This time and cost can be saved by using a live stream. Truth when we make video and streaming live has the possibility to offer it, but the live streaming will be easier to get rid of silence filled in making the video and also the live stream has the same impression as the events and activities in the real world which will be more easily connected to the audience targeted.
In Singapore, the business owner there is mostly targeting the specific people such as teenagers, adults or if it is usually called the segmentation of university students. Usually, this group would be more connected and easily influenced by the products or services offered but through a marketing strategy must be targeted and done correctly. One of the most effective solutions to attract the attention and interest of the audience is doing a live streaming event. Of course, the use of the portal as a medium live stream should be adapted to the lifestyle of the audience target. Given the broader segment of the university students in Singapore is more convenient to access the information through your mobile phone. And this will be a new opportunity for the owners of products and services to promote their business.
In today’s digitized era, the business environment in Singapore has been affected by various options that will reach targeted consumers. This event was due to a shift in consumers’ lifestyles, where they have become too dependent on the virtual world. One of the most effective and popular online marketing strategies in Singapore is creating a brand event or activities. In general, this activity is marketing-related by promoting products or services that will be offered through an approach that is the main goal to attract as much attention and interest of the audience.
Reach a wider audience
When it comes to a company’s event, the biggest worry is often whether the event will be able to reach a wide audience with a limited number of attendees. Live streaming services provide a solution to this common worry with the ability to broadcast an event to anywhere around the world, as long as there is an internet connection. With Onlive’s live streaming services, you can broadcast your event to many different people in different locations. The live stream will give remote viewers a chance to partake in the event interactively without physically being there. They can ask questions or make comments about the event in real-time and get a response from the speaker. This not only gives off increased event participation but also keeps remote viewers engaged and helps them feel included in the event. This is a huge benefit compared to just recording a video and uploading it to the internet since viewers will not feel as involved while watching a pre-recorded video. This increased participation and event inclusiveness can increase the number of future event attendees. A very useful feature for live streaming Singapore to wider audiences is the ability to restrict who can view the live stream. There may be times when you want to live stream an event but only want certain people to be able to view it. This is easily achievable with live streaming. With the use of a paywall, password, or specific URLs, the live stream can be made accessible to only specific people. This feature can be applicable for different events. For example, an organization may want to restrict a professional development seminar to its employees, or a school may want to live stream a parent-teacher conference to the parents.
Increase engagement and interaction
Live streaming services in Singapore have been recently growing rapidly due to its high demand in the market and here at OGLive, we are certainly the preferred live streaming production house that is capable of providing top-notch live streaming services. Multi-National Corporations and Small Medium Enterprises are using live streaming to reach out to their global audience. This would be beneficial to increase the engagement and interaction between their audience and the event that is being streamed. An example of this would be an internal town hall meeting or product launch that involves employees or viewers from various countries. Live streaming Singapore will enable them to attend the event without bearing the hassle of traveling, and the event can be viewed at any time around the world. Another example would be a live webinar. This would be very effective for teachers or trainers as they can engage their audience with live Q&A sessions and get their feedback instantly. With the conventional video, it is impossible to achieve this level of interactivity. Live streaming Singapore also has the benefit of being able to monitor the number of viewers at any time.
Singapore’s highly sophisticated infrastructure and widespread usage of the internet has made it a viable marketplace for live streaming services. Your audience can now be exposed to live events or content with a higher interactivity from the comfort of their computer screens. Live streaming services can be implemented to accomplish various tasks, which range from social networking and engaging an audience to marketing strategies and product demonstrations.
Cost-effective marketing strategy
Live streaming has the potential to increase revenue though subscription and viewership sales. With viewers having free access to watch the live stream, they are exposed to advertisements and offers which are great incentives to purchase a product or service. “40% of online video ads deliver measurable impact, raising purchase intent” (Marketing Charts Staff, 2014). Ads are also built into the video stream, often in the beginning, middle and end which viewers would have to watch. This increases the chance of the ad being viewed and not skipped compared to a pre-roll ad on YouTube. Due to the global scale of live streaming, viewers will be from various time zones. This increases the value of the ads as they will be seen by a larger, more diverse audience.
The cost-effective marketing strategy is one of the advantages of live streaming from both an events and business perspective. With the latest technology, setting up and hosting a live stream has never been easier or more affordable. Businesses are able to connect with a wide variety of consumers, while cutting costs on media and increasing revenue on ads. For individuals on a tight budget and only looking to increase on-site viewers, investing in an affordable live streaming service could be much more effective than expected. Cost effective marketing and advertising is a widely sought after result for any business. Generally, more traditional methods have been proven to be costly and ineffective.
Enhance brand visibility and awareness
Brand visibility is essential, especially for new companies. It helps the company go from being non-existent to having a certain existence. Eventually, it will lead to more leads, customers, and sales. Live streaming enables you to be a part of the consumer’s life. Therefore, it can be a platform to show who you are and what your product is, and evaluate the public’s perception of your brand. With in-depth product explanations from the host and live interaction, consumers will have a better understanding of the product being sold. Usually, it is hard to give a long explanation of a product through a simple advertisement. This is due to the fact that advertising cost is very high and not very cost-effective to create a 1-minute advertisement. Imagine a shopping channel where all the products are explained in great detail. Usually, after watching it, consumers would have a better understanding of the product, which often leads to great sales. This is the same as live streaming. The in-depth explanation will lead to better product perception and a higher chance of sales.
Tips for Successful Live Streaming in Singapore
Furthermore, effort will need to be put in for setting the stage of your live stream. The area in which you will be streaming should be clutter-free and aesthetically pleasing. This requires you to tidy up any messy wires or furniture, virtual background, etc. that you may have in your streaming area. The better your setup, the more likely viewers will perceive your stream to be of higher quality. Coming up with a plan can also allow you to better promote your live stream by giving you the time to create promotional material and/or typing up an announcement that you can post on various social platforms. This brings us to another important point successful live stream in Singapore requires…promotion. High effort events can have little attendance if the word does not get out, and the advantage of live streaming is that you can regularly post updates/reminders to your audience up until the day of the event.
You can increase the potential for a more successful live stream by taking the time to plan and prepare in advance. Spontaneity may be great for webcasts, but if you want to really engage your audience and have a higher chance of them tuning in, it’s best to take the time to plan what you want to do which employs more professionalism and goes a long way in Singapore. A well thought out plan will require you to decide on the platform you will be using to stream your event, and to also allocate resources such as manpower to moderate comments and questions.
Plan and prepare in advance
With the who, what, when, and where planned, you’ll need to start preparing to ensure that things go smoothly on the day of the live video. To avoid any last minute scrambling or technical errors, we highly recommend creating a checklist of all the required equipment and tasks. Assign responsibilities to specific crew members and set deadlines for when tasks should be completed. About a week before the live video (or more if the event is big) conduct a pre-production meeting with all involved parties to discuss the plan of action and delegate any necessary tasks or changes.
Before you even turn on the camera to shoot your live video, you’ll need to put a great deal of thought and preparation into the content that will be presented. Start by defining the target audience. What are their expectations for the event and how will you capture their interest? What are the underlying themes and points that you want to convey? How will the audience benefit from watching your video? Keep the end goal (i.e. what you want the audience to think, feel, and do after watching the video) at the top of your mind throughout the entire planning process. Once you’re clear on what you want to express, create an outline of the event and sequence it into a visual storyboard or written script Event/Filming Logistics. With the content in mind, consider what the most suitable format and setting will be. Step into the shoes of your audience and think about what would be most interesting given the subject matter. Where is a location that you could capture the best visuals to convey your message? Are there any specific experts, hosts, or audience members that you could capture on camera during the event? If you’re shooting an event, can something significant be staged or created for a better visual impact? A well planned live video is usually shot on location rather than in a studio. This can be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand you’re capturing effective visuals in a real life setting, but on the other hand you won’t have as much control over lighting, sound, and distractions at the location. To offset this, consider doing a site survey and creating a list of pre-production tasks that can help the day of filming go as smoothly as possible.
Use high-quality equipment and reliable internet connection
From the various live streaming setups we have helped to configure, internet connection problems are the most common issue for live streamers. It is possible to have a near perfect live stream setup; however, this can still be let down by a poor quality internet connection. The best live stream setup can be let down by a poor internet connection. A good quality internet connection is crucial to ensure that the live stream is not let down by dropped frames, long buffering times, and a generally poor picture and sound quality. As a general rule of thumb, we advise that the upload speed to your live streaming server should be at least double the bit rate that you wish to stream at. An upload speed of 2-3Mbps should be sufficient to stream a live show with a bit rate of 1000Kbps. However, the faster the upload speed the better, and this becomes more important for HD live streaming, with a minimum of 5Mbps required for 720p at 60fps and around 10Mbps for 1080p at 60fps.
Using high quality and suitable equipment is crucial to your live stream video. You should use a video camera or a webcam (an external webcam is preferable as it provides better results than a built-in webcam) and this should be connected to a computer which is suitable for the purpose. Whilst it is possible to use a wireless internet connection, we strongly advise against this. Wireless connections are prone to interference from other wireless devices and general signal degradation. If you must use a wireless connection, then ensure that it is a 5GHz connection as this is less prone to interference than the standard 2.4GHz connection. The best way to ensure a solid internet connection to your live streaming server is to use an RJ45 cable connected directly from the computer to your modem or router. This method is preferred by professional broadcasters as it provides the most consistent and reliable connection to the internet. In terms of PC specs, we recommend at least an Intel i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and that you do not run anything other than your streaming software whilst streaming, to ensure the best results.
Engage with your audience during the live stream
When your live stream is taking place, try to actively involve your audience in the event. A good way to do this is to conduct a Q&A session where they can ask you questions relevant to what you are discussing on the live stream. After you have finished talking about a certain topic, ask your audience how they feel about it. The more you can make your audience feel directly involved with what’s going on, the more they’ll feel like the live stream was an experience that was worth their time. And of course, you should always try to respond to any comments, questions, and concerns that your audience has in the chat function. This is particularly important because even if someone has found your live stream through social media or other means, there’s a good chance that the chat is the only direct interaction they will have with you during the event. If you can manage it, small contests or promotional events (with free giveaways or other such incentives) can be a great tool to drum up interest for your live stream, and if they are relevant to what your live stream is about they will help to involve your audience even further.
Before the live stream, take some time to communicate with your audience and let them know when your live stream will take place. You can really stir up some excitement for your live stream by letting your audience know the reasons why it’s an event that they don’t want to miss. Companies can use their blogs and social media to get the word out, and if you have a mailing list you may also want to send out an email blast.