Video has been on the rise for a good few years now and I’m going to be doing a lot more of it in the coming months. Live video needs to be part of your content marketing strategy for 2020. If you need convincing, then I’m going to show you why video is such a powerful tool for your business and give you some tips on how to do it well.
4 reasons why I love live video
There is nothing like live video when it comes to connecting with the people you want to serve. It’s a great way to build your community. I love having the ability to talk to people in real time. When you let people hear you talk and respond and just be you, you are building those all-important P2P relationships.
Live video is authentic. I know people get worried about it. They think it must be Instagram perfect. That’s not the case at all. Just show up, hit the button, and let people get to know you. They get to see you in real life, not a polished version.
Live video is also a great way to hone your message. You can test ideas and even lines you’re planning to use in your sales pages out on people and see what they respond to. I like to go live several times in the lead up to a launch. I want to know what resonates with people. If a line I’m planning to use doesn’t get a strong positive response, I will take it off the page.
You can take people behind the scenes with live video. Just take your phone out of your pocket and quickly let people know what’s happening. Quick snippets of video on Instagram Stories is a handy way to keep you on your community’s radar.
Now you’ve got some good reasons to hit that button and go live, I’m going to walk you through how to do it well.
Live video is authentic. I know people get worried about it. They think it must be Instagram perfect. That’s not the case at all. Just show up, hit the button, and let people get to know you. #Youpreneur Click To TweetHow to structure your content
You should never go live without a plan. Just as you would not step up on stage without an idea of what you are going to say, do not do it with video. People enjoy video but they will switch off if you do not grab their attention. A quick bit of behind the scenes footage is fine unscripted, people expect that to be raw, but anything longer needs a little planning.
You want to structure your broadcast. Tell people what you are going to talk about and what they are going to get out of watching your video. What’s the benefit to them? Don’t forget you have two audiences: the people watching live and the people who will see the replay. Be sure to address both of them.
It helps to be able to glance at a list of bullet points setting out what you want to talk about. This keeps you on track and makes sure you don’t forget anything important. Don’t try to script the whole thing. You won’t sound authentic if you do. You will want to interact with people watching and you can’t script that.
Acknowledge comments but don’t let them throw you off course
When you go live, you will start to see the chat box fill up. People will say hello, they will ask you questions, and respond to what you’re saying. This is great. It shows people are interested and engaged in what you are saying. But it can also be really distracting.
Tell people you welcome comments and let them know when you will respond. This enables you to deliver the content you have gone online to give people while letting your viewers know you value what they have to say. It takes the pressure off you as well. You’re not trying to deliver content and monitor the chat. Just remind people periodically that you will come to questions later.
When you get to the end you can respond live to some of the questions coming in and then you can finish your broadcast but tell people you will respond in the comments.
Make the most of your videos by repurposing them
Once you have gone live, it doesn’t end there. You’ve got comments you will need to go back and respond to, but you also have a piece of evergreen content you can make use of.
If you’ve gone live on Facebook, you can download your video and repost it on YouTube and LinkedIn. You can also put it on your website and write an article about the subject underneath. This gives you more material you can share on social media.
Live video is a valuable part of your content marketing strategy. It provides you with the opportunity to talk to your community in real time, test out ideas, get feedback, and enables people to get to know you. It also provides you with engaging evergreen content which you can repurpose as part of your content plan. Make live video part of your business, you won’t regret it!
Chris founded Youpreneur® in 2015. He is a serial entrepreneur, keynote speaker and author of the bestselling books “Virtual Freedom” and “Rise of the Youpreneur”. He hosts our podcast, live events and coaches our clients inside the Youpreneur Incubator. Chris is based in Cambridge, UK.
