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The Era of Live-Streaming Isn’t Slowing Down and Here’s How You Can Take Advantage of It
Live Streaming has become increasingly popular in recent years due to several factors, including technological advancements, changes in consumer behavior, and social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Some key drivers of this trend include:
1. Increased accessibility: Live Streaming technology has become more accessible through smartphones, laptops, and other devices. This has made it easier and more affordable for individuals and businesses to create and broadcast their own content.
2. Authenticity: Live Streaming provides a more authentic and real-time connection between content creators and their audiences. This authenticity is often preferred by viewers over edited, pre-recorded content.
3. Engagement: Live Streaming allows for more interactive engagement with viewers, such as Q&A sessions, polls, and chats. This engagement can help build a stronger community and follower base.
4. Monetization: Many live-streaming platforms offer opportunities for content creators to monetize their content through ads, sponsorships, donations, and online selling. This has led to the rise of professional live streamers and influencers.
Between 2019 and 2020, the number of TikTok creators who went live doubled, and the number of livestream hours watched tripled. In 2021, Instagram introduced new features to its Live platform, such as muting audio, removing accounts, and setting up a fundraising campaign.
Live Streaming as a tool for social commerce
The live-streaming trend that the online gaming community popularized in the 2010s has now become a tool in e-commerce. The e-commerce boom was propelled by the fact that people couldn’t physically purchase products due to lockdown restrictions during the pandemic. Besides its safety, consumers also flocked to e-commerce sites for convenience, discounts, and many options.
This paved the way for influencer marketing, where marketers started utilizing influencers to promote products and services instead of digital ads or celebrities. The novelty of the influencer is its perceived authenticity. Aside from tapping influencers to promote their products, small business owners have also explored “live selling” on social media sites, which has become a trend. High-intent shoppers would watch live sellers display their products and buy them on the spot by commenting during the live stream.
E-commerce has become the natural progression of digital marketing from a marketer’s point of view. E-commerce with paid media is shortening the consumers’ journey from discovery to purchase with a click of a button.
“When you combine e-commerce with paid media, you basically use an influencer or a live seller to advertise a product within close proximity of the point of purchase, such as an e-commerce platform. The role of the influencer is to serve as the human element, the word of mouth and an authentic advocate of the product who aims to convince consumers to purchase. The role of the e-commerce portal is a venue which facilitates the purchase in a convenient way, ideally within the same domain as the live seller,” explains Andre Agawin, Head of Media Operations of Innity Philippines.
“When people see an influencer showcasing a specific product or service, they see an ‘actual person’ using a product or service like how they would use it themselves. It uses people to converse with other people, thereby making it a more trustworthy source of information. It basically commercializes the power of word of mouth,” Agawin adds.
Leverage live streaming for your brand’s campaigns
The booming of live-streaming reflects changing consumer preferences and the increasing importance of authentic, engaging content in the digital age. If you want to explore utilizing live streaming in campaigns, Innity Philippines offers livestream solutions in the form of livestream-capable rich media placements.
Live streaming an event extended to top-tier publishers will amplify and widen your brand’s reach, making it perfect for product launches and events. As the solution stands today, it’s best used as an extension of live-streaming events for awareness.
Here’s an example of a livestream-capable Responsive Billboard ad placement on a local news website featuring Bingo Plus’ live streaming of Bingo Plus Night last March 2023, courtesy of Innity Philippines.
The video maximizes when clicked on the Responsive Billboard ad.
Explore Responsive Billboard with Live-Streaming here.
In the future, the live stream solution may be customized to be an execution that showcases live selling within the same domain as the e-commerce portal. This is in tandem with other Innity solutions, such as Passionation and The Hub.
Interested in utilizing live stream solutions in your strategy? Send an email to ph.marketing@innity.com for more information.
