04/03/2022
As a virtual event producer and brand storyteller, and an early video stream adopter, I understand the imperatives of high production values driven by technology to achieve virtual meetings and convergence.
What we learnt hosting virtual events for brands
1. Have a plan: Having a plan helps the live stream feel organized and structured. Your plan becomes your road map, and your road map dictates everything during the live stream. This can include key messages or calls to action for your audience, it also dictates how you shoot the event, what type of cameras (multi cameras, or single), and even some of the encoding and technical choices.
2. Begin with the end in mind: Decide what you want to accomplish, what are the specific objectives and goals of the live stream? And what platforms are you utilizing? what are the key performance indicators that drive the stream? Will the content be available on demand? And how do you hope to drive audience interactivity. All these should be visualized.
3. Pick a competent team: atech team with experience delivering live streams is key. Work with the best internal and external brand ambassadors and story tellers. Most brands have succeeded in live streaming precisely because they worked with the best hands both in-house and hired.
4. Test everything. “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong,” so test everything. Test equipment workflows, backup equipment, audio quality, video quality, internet connection, and all other redundancies. Confirm your upload speed by testing your internet connection before the event. Test all video production equipment and have back up equipment for contingency.
5. Deliver Value. Most attendees’ primary objective is to learn or be entertained. Use live stream sessions to create conversations, engage customers and share useful insights about new technologies, new products, an innovative service, sharing behind the scenes footages or talk about your processes. Discover what your audience wants, and don’t fall below expectations.
Live streaming is another way to keep your customer / consumer base informed and to help share your brand story. When done well, these approaches have generated returns for brands in the areas of publicity, engagement, downloads, lead generation and influencer marketing.
Virtual Dimensions – Keeping Audiences engaged throughout the Live Stream
So how are companies using streaming video today to maintain audiences and retain brand visibility? Here are some of the ways;
Live Poll session with your audience: During Pfizer’s GP academy livestream, online poll was deployed as a tool for measuring audience engagement and participation, a means to test attendees’ knowledge of their products, and gaining valuable consumer insights.
Customer Support Q n A: Brands have invested time to address consumer pain points during Q and A sessions.
Interviews and Influencer outreach; Company executives, marketing and brand managers have hosted influencers on different social media platforms to further conversations about their brands or to engage audiences and on a myriad of topics. These sessions have become very popular recently.
