5 Ways Entrepreneurs Are Using Live Video Streaming to Supercharge Their Startups
When the iPhone 6 recently launched, the problems Apple had with their live video stream made it clear that this type of video can be extremely difficult to execute properly. Then they live streamed the iPad press conference just one month later. But why? Because the pace of social media has accelerated consumer demand for instant information--people want content live, and increasingly video. So much that experts are predicting that live video will triple by 2017. And the technology to do it correctly is available, but you have to choose the right streaming service.
Ustream, the industry leader in live video for enterprise, was responsible for one-third of all live business video streaming last year. "Live video drives higher returns across the key digital video metrics that brands are focused on, such as average viewing time and engagement," said Brad Hunstable, CEO of Ustream. "And nothing beats the shared excitement that comes from people tuning in all at the same time. It's not long ago that streaming on-demand video to every device seemed out of reach--we believe the upgrade to a world of live online video will be as rapid and meaningful."
Live video has found its way into a number of different areas of our lives in the past few years: From companies like Facebook and Salesforce streaming original events, to LinkedIn and Intuit using Ustream for internal communications, to NASA running their 24/7 live stream to show people around the world the wonders of the universe--the need for video streaming is only going to grow.
And streaming video isn't only for big businesses. IBM recently announce it was to incorporate live streaming capabilities into the company's cloud platform for the start-up community.
Here are five ways that you can use live streaming services to power your live video and get a slice of the pie.
1. Reaching Everyone, Everywhere: As your start up grows, you can scale your video to audiences of any size, worldwide.
2. Gaining YOU exposure: If you don't give people a specific time, they may never come. Creating a visual call-to-action yields higher engagement.
3. Establishing yourself as an industry expert: Hosting live streamed seminars and conferences is a great way to show your industry that you know what you are about and you are not afraid to show it! Establishing yourself as a thought-leader is also one of the best ways to raise awareness for your company, since everybody wants to talk to the person who knows what they are doing.
4. Unveiling a product: Creating a live video feed for an announcement builds credibility and allows for the product to be experienced from 360 degrees--no gimmicks.
5. Employee training: Live video is a tool that you can use to make sure that your employees all get the same training at the same time. By employing live streaming for training, you can also ensure that your ideas are communicated clearly and effectively to all employees and it provides an opportunity for your employees to ask questions and give feedback in an open forum environment.
As we move further and further into the digital age, video streaming services will become more and more necessary for smooth business operations. Integrating them into your practice now will put you ahead of the curve, which is an advantage that all businesses want to have. These are only five ways that you can utilize live streaming services to supercharge your small business; there are a million more if you are creative enough to apply the service to your operations!
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Murray Newlands is a startup adviser, investor, and entrepreneur. He's written for many major publications, such as VentureBeat and Entrepreneur.
