Looking at Livestreaming for your business?
Livestreaming is become one of the fast- growing digital marketing methods that help business build brand awareness and trust with its audience.
Thailand is one of the markets that is dominating with livestreaming. Funny fact, a lot of the livestreaming features that Facebook have built into their platform have come from the influence of Thai brands livestreaming to their customers.
Going live is an arduous task when you think about it. With a standard video, it can be edited to be ‘perfect’ where as a livestream allows for mistakes to be made.
Think about the last time you watched something ‘live’ where you saw a mistake happen. A theatre show? Live Music Performance? News Broadcast?
Think about how you saw that mistake. Most people will laugh it off because we are only ‘human’ and that is the captivating aspect of livestreaming. It shows that humans are not perfect as much as we desire to be.
Why does livestreaming get people to buy?
Being human (not getting it perfect all the time) allows raw organic trust to be built with your audience and it’s this trust that’s built that sees your audience become repeat customers!!
To have the Ultimate Livestream, you need to be excellent. Excellence only comes through trial and error aka mistakes…and we’re here to help you not make the same initial mistakes we made.
Our founder, Aaron Winning was one of the first people in Australia to livestream large scale (2000+ in person conferences) events to the internet in 2010 before there was ever a simple ‘go live’ button available on Facebook!
It is with over a decade of livestreaming conferences, live music, and Web TV Productions that we have devised these 10 things to be conscious of when preparing the ultimate livestream that engages your audience.
Therefore, we have designed this ultimate guide to livestreaming for businesses. Because we understand how tough setting up a livestream can be if it is something you have not encountered before. You can learn from the multitude of mistakes we’ve made over the years and start building more raw organic trust with your audience.
1. Internet Connection
Your internet connection is the number one component you need to think about when livestreaming.
A connection that drops out or does not have enough bandwidth will hinder the quality of your stream which gives your audience a bad experience especially if they are watching to understand your product / service.
speedtest.net is a great tool that can give you an accurate estimate of your your internet speed is.
Having a dedicated internet connection for your stream is preferred, as other devices (laptops / mobile phones) on the network may cause interference with your stream.
Our suggested minimums for your internet connection are: 10mbps upload speed // 10mbps download (Using Fibre / ADSL / 4G / 5G)
2. Hardware Setup
Cameras – You’ll need a camera that can offer 1080p resolution. Contrary to common belief, you do not need to spend a lot of money on a camera. Sony produce a range of entry level cameras that offer ‘Full Frame’ 1080p video.
Switcher – if you have multiple cameras as well as a computer input, you need a switcher. There are virtual switcher (OBS or vMix) and hardware based (ATEM or Sony) solutions that each have their own pros and cons.
Virtual Switchers lack a physical control surface which can make or break your stream, but hardware switchers can be cost restrictive and lack in features for when you scale.
Computer – If you need a computer input with a physical switcher, you will need to ensure you have a HDMI connection (or a USB C to HDMI cable if you have USB C Ports) or the right adapter to connect.
For a virtual switcher, you may need to have an external screen setup to have in your Virtual Switcher configuration.
If you are playing back video files, you will need to ensure that the computer is powerful enough to playback via HDMI. Keep in mind that if you are using a Virtual Switcher and capturing a screen input on the same device, you may find your system starts to slow down / lag.
3. Audio Setup
Capturing high quality video is easy with a DSLR & Auto Focus enabled.
Audio is a different scenario. We’re going to make a bold statement here: the audio for a live stream is more important than the video!
Using a great microphone is key but understanding the basics of how soundwaves move in a space will help you to understand how you can get crystal clear audio.
If you happen to catch a lot of the additional room sound, you will cause your audience to become distracted & they leave your stream.
Remember – the audio you hear on the stream will sound different to the audio in the room.
It’s critical to test out your audio before the stream and if you’re capturing more than one microphone. a mixing desk should be used!
4. Lighting Setup
Having lighting where your subjects can not be seen clearly can cause your audience to not be engaged.
An audience that isn’t engaged is an audience that leaves the stream.
This can be having too much or too little lighting and it is a fine line to walk – as it entirely depends on the content you’re streaming.
You always want to ensure that the presenters & any items of focus are lit correctly as to keep the viewer engaged – especially if you’re showcasing a product / service.
If you’re livestreaming a performance, then stage lighting sometimes isn’t enough for viewers on a device.
Sometimes the power to control lighting comes from the room, but if you have invested in a DSLR type camera, you have a few handy features at your disposal.
Experiment with your cameras F Stop, Aperture & White Balance settings during setup. Ensure that all cameras have the same settings.
5. Set Design
The area around the presenter is a terrific way to keep your audience engaged.
Sometimes it is best to keep it simple, but this depends on what your audience is looking for.
If you are selling items online, your audience may expect to see the product in use, so filming in a household area where the product is used is a great start!
However, if it is a conversational interaction, a sitting room / white room set may be more appropriate.
Always cater to your audience’s expectations whilst staying true to your brand.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money on set design. Use items that you have around your office / home.
Bookshelves (containing books relevant to your content), coffee tables, desks and lighting are all items that can be quite cheap to purchase.
6. Graphics/Subtitles
On Screen Graphics (which there a many different names for) are a fantastic way to convey information to your audience without having to constantly vocalise it.
Livestream audiences come in and leave at varying points and do not start and finish in line with the livestream itself.
Using Lower Thirds / Bugs & Transitions help your audience understand what is happening when they join the stream.
Just remember, too much information can be a hindrance/distraction, so make sure the graphics shown always deliver a purpose.
Always look at what your competition is doing around graphics / subtitles! It’s great for inspiration!
7. Streaming Destination Setup
Choosing where your streams are important, but getting your stream to the provider is one aspect a lot of live streamers do not take into consideration.
For 1 destination, you are required to send 1 stream from your setup.
If you have 3 destinations (FB, YouTube, Twitch) you are required to send the same stream 3 times! This is causes serious issues if you do not have a stable internet connection.
There are great services like restream.io that allow you to send one stream to the cloud and the cloud will send that stream to your destinations, but there is some pre- configuration required.
Some destinations also restrict the quality of the stream you send (for e.g., Facebook only allows 720p unless your accepted into the Facebook for Gamers program) so it is important to send your stream to the places where your audience is.
8. Pre-Production
Planning is key! Livestreaming is a terrific way to build trust with your audience, but
it’s something that takes planning and forethought.
Being live means zero chance of retaking the shot. Your audience sees your mis- takes (and this is an important thing that allows an audience to trust you or not) so run sheets are advised!
Advertising! Livestreams are meant to have live audiences! Unless you have a dedicated cult like following, you will need to give your audience a heads up that a livestream is coming.
Checklists make sure if you have graphics to display that you have a pre-production graphics checklist to ensure everything is in place!
9. Interacting with your Audience
The easiest way to increase trust with your audience is interacting with them in your livestream.
You can do this via shout outs on air OR repling to comments on the stream directly!
Interacting with your audience will help you design future content that sees your raving fanbase grow and grow.
Audience members feel special when their comments are mentioned / shown on screen. This tiny action is a quick way to help an audience member feel validated & will see them share the content with their friends / family.
If you’re up for the challenge, there are ways to automatically have your stream comments show in your video!
Message us on LINE for more info!
10. Post Production Review
Always record what you livestream and review it within 24 hours after going to air. If we’re honest, this is the most critical part of any project not just livestreaming.
Reviewing how you went about achieving the objectives from the start helps you to see where you missed the mark and how you can do better.
Review how the stream looks, feels & most importantly, sounds. Is it hitting your objectives that you set in Pre-Production? If so, woot!
If not, what needs to be tweaked / optimised to make the expereince better?
Use this information, combined with the comments sections of your stream to understand where you can improve and go from there!
Before you go...
As you’ve read, the Lemon Squeezy team has some serious expertise when it comes to livestreaming.
From streaming conference events with 5,000 in person and 20,000 online attendees we’ve made mistakes like you wouldn’t believe.
One of those wasn’t having a run sheet for our livestreams – if you want to have the ultimate livestream then you need your team on the same page. A run sheet helps this.
As a special bonus – we’re giving you access to our own Run Sheet template for FREE.
Why? I hear you ask. Well for one, you entered your email address to get access to this PDF. So you’ve paid for it in a way (and yes, we know you can unsubscribe right away!).
The real reason is that Lemon Squeezy exists to help brands work smarter, not harder. We’re a small business and know that sometimes budgets don’t exist initially for activites like these. How- ever If we can help you run an ultimate livestream that generates you revenue – you’ll be sure to tell ALL your friends about us.
And that’s how we win – using Inbound Content Marketing where we share our lived expriences in order to help our fellow small business owners grow!
If you are curious about Inbound Content Marketing, Livestreaming or have other business related questions, feel free to book in for an AMA or Ask Me Anything Session with our Founder, Aaron.
45 mins to ask all the digital / business questions you’ve always wanted to ask, but felt silly in asking, Aaron will let you pick his brain with no risk of being judged!
Get $50 USD off your first AMA by booking in below and enter the following code in to the notes area to claim your discount: SJi32G9
The offer is only valid for your first AMA and with a coupon code entered into the notes area of our booking form, so be sure to remember to paste it in 🙂
Conclusion
Whilst this might seem a lot to cover, having the ultimate livestream for your audience to consume will give you a great return on investment.
Users have reported that they will be more likely to purchase a product / service if they can inter- act with a brand that livestreams.
LS-D have the expertise is designing a great livestream experience. Our equipment / team is on stand by to help your business get kickstarted in livestreaming without a significant startup cost.
We’re passionate about livestreaming and are happy to offer support for small and medium businesses who already livestream but may need technical assistance!
You can call our team on Hong Kong +852 3001 5999
Thailand +66 2 026 8785
UK / EU +44 74 8136 0208
Add us on LINE using our Official LINE ID:
@ls-d
For traditional email support, send your email to [email protected]
We wish you all the livestreaming success you deserve!
Leman
Lemon Squeezy Digital
