Digital content is becoming increasingly media-rich with each passing day. Visual content gets a lot more interaction than any regular text content on the web and this is the reason why images and videos are driving the most of the internet traffic these days. Businesses and content creators are shifting their focus on media-rich content, especially streaming content that has the capability to start a conversation with your audience. But, things don’t end here; internet and web-based applications are integrating live video streaming to take engaging media experience to another level and one should be well-prepared for entirely new offerings.
So, what is a live video streaming and why is this the future of internet traffic? We’re all aware of how Facebook, Instagram, Google, Netflix, Apple, and Amazon have revolutionized the video content sharing and broadcasting platforms. FaceTime and video calls are the new ways of communication and people are finding it a more convenient way of connecting with your loved ones. With the growing popularity of video content all over the internet, popular web platforms and businesses are exploiting the future of live video streaming and how it can change the ways of communication, marketing, and service offerings.
Unlike a pre-recorded video, live video streaming is the method of broadcasting a video in real-time over the internet on web-based applications and platforms. It streams live and uncensored scenarios without any editing or cut and can be done in a one-way interaction, one-on-one video chat, or one-on-many video chat format.
Celebrities and influencers are taking the live streaming path on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to connect with their audience in a live session and companies are taking this path to deliver information regarding their services/products. During a live session, the audience can shoot questions directly in real-time to the person streaming the live session. This is the most important feature that makes live video streaming so popular among audiences and can attract millions of views, likes, and comments within an hour.
Importance of Live Video Streaming
- It drives a lot of web traffic, conversion, and interactions in one go by generating hype around your brand, value, and popularity.
- It gives you the chance to interact and engage with your genuine audience who is really interested in your brand or personality and want to know more about you or your services. This leads to more quality engagement and conversion depending on the purpose of live streaming.
- A lot of information can be shared in a small live session without investing hours in penning down a well-versed blog post for the same.
- With different platforms favoring the live feeds over the other content type, you can easily reach out to a wide range of audiences without putting in much effort.
- You can generate hype about your brand or any new launching through a live video streaming session with your consumers by giving them a peek-a-boo about the upcoming product/services/events.
- Live streaming can also be used as a cost-effective advertising tool to reach out to your potential audience and grow your consumer base.
How to get started with live video streaming?
If you are new to live streaming, you may get stuck on how and where to start. However, it is very easy to start with but you need to find the right platform for your live videos. Some of the most common ways to start live streaming include social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, YouTube live streaming, Periscope, and Twitch. You can choose a platform that you think suits your purpose to interact with your audience. You also can create your own powerful live streaming app by using the right live video streaming solution for your business.
While picking the right platform for your live streaming or creating a live streaming platform for your business, you should look for the following capabilities and features in your streaming platform:
- User authorization and registration
- Personalize user profiles for better interaction
- Easy option to go live and stream
- Direct & live chat with your audience through instant messaging
- Social media sharing
- Subscription option
- Filtered search for streams
- Push notifications
Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are widely used platforms to start live streaming to get instant engagement with your existing audience. These platforms come with an in-build live streaming feature and you can be ready to go live within minutes. These platforms have a large user base and you can go viral within minutes to bring huge engagement. Also, these are the most-watched live streaming platform on the internet for content creation and promotions.
Why social media platforms can be your best ways to start with live streaming?
- You already have an audience following you and when you go live, your followers get notified so that they can tune into your stream immediately if they want to.
- These are the best platforms to promote products, brands, or services to get direct engagement and conversion.
- You can live stream important messages or events directly to your audience without any pre-planning.
- All you need your mobile phone or a webcam on your computer and a stable broadband connection to start with your live streaming.
Streaming platforms like Twitch also give you options to monetize your content with subscription and membership. You can stream on a lot of topics like gaming, travel, product reviews, and many more to interact with millions of daily active users.
Create your live streaming website or app
If you are looking to build your live streaming website or app, you can choose from a wide range of streaming platforms available in the market. If you are taking this as a business opportunity, you can create your own SVOD (subscription video on demand) membership platform like Twitch to live stream and keep 100% of the profits. You can pick any ready-made video streaming platform and integrate it with your website or app to start your streaming services. Here we’ve shortlisted some of the best video streaming platforms and list down their features so that you can pick the best as per your requirements.
Flashphoner
- Supports multiple streaming and playback platforms like Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari, Android & iOS SDK, etc
- Option for two-way streaming
- Monthly and stand-alone subscription plan
Brightcove
- HTML5 support
- Data-driven analytics
- Plenty of monetization options
- Social media integration
- 30-day free trial available
Contus VPlay
- Built-in subscriptions and user registration
- Ads and monetization ready
- Exclusive paid streams
- Social media integration
- HTML5 player
IBM Cloud
- HD live Streaming
- Analytics and Insights
- Password protection
- Multiple Revenue Models
Wowza
- Live Event Streaming
- Mobile Streaming
- VR and 360° videos
- Access Control and Security
- Free trails available
DaCast
- Facebook Streaming
- Live Video Monetization
- Analytical Tools
- Affordable live streaming suite
JW Live
- Content management system
- JavaScript Video API
- Multiple customization options
- Open-source frameworks
- Support for Android and iOS SDKs
Livestream
- Cross-platform analytics
- In-app chat
- OTT subscriptions for monetization
- HTML5 player
Kaltura
- Real-time Analytical
- Q&A, Live Polls
- Video Marketing
UScreen
- Multiple monetization models
- CDN powered
- Geo-live Notifications
- Cloud Transcoding
These are just a few names, there are many more live video streaming platforms are available, picking the right one completely depends on your purpose, business needs, and choice of video format for compression and encoding.
Live video streaming is the beginning of the future and will generate a lot of opportunities on different kinds of platforms for different kinds of purposes. With options like Facebook Live and Instagram Live, you can easily connect with your followers by going live on different occasions to share your thoughts, views, and new announcements. Now, Facebook also gives the option for live gaming streaming to support gaming content creators with monetization options.
If you are looking for something away from the social media platforms, you can easily find platforms like Twitch and Periscope to live stream your content and monetize them with different options to earn some money. Not only this, but you can also create your own live video streaming platform for your business and scale it as per your needs. Live streaming is the future of video content, as a content creator, you can look out for multiple opportunities and start working to stay ahead in the game.
