A Guide to the Best Live Stream Broadcasting Software for Business

Why Companies Increasingly Embrace Live Streams

Companies are increasingly turning to live streaming as their next marketing channel. But why? Here are a few of the many reasons:

• It’s engaging. 37% of social media users surveyed find live video content to be the most engaging form of in-feed content. (Restream) Especially when you add in interactivity elements at strategic intervals to keep the audience’s attention and engagement.
• It’s growing. Online video consumption increases each year. Globally, consumers watched ~17 hours per week in 2023. (Statista)
• It’s expected. As of 2022, nearly half of marketing leaders expected around 40% of the marketing events they attended that year to be completely virtual. (Statista)
• It works. Live commerce has a 5X – 10X rate of return over standard online shopping. (McKinsey) Contributing to that success is the fact that 31% of shoppers report that live shopping offers the most informed customer experience, allowing them to “shop smarter” and feel more confident in their purchases. (Statista)

If you haven’t considered adding a livestream channel to your external marketing or internal communication efforts, you’re missing out on a highly engaging, effective, and desired form of content for your customers. But we imagine that if you’ve landed here, you probably already knew that. So let’s talk about how to pick the best live stream broadcasting software that supports your goals.

What to Look for to Find the Best Live Stream Broadcasting Software

Let’s first define what we mean by live stream broadcasting software. Live stream broadcasting software is a platform that hosts a livestream, essentially connecting you to your viewers. Ideally, it’s an end-to-end solution, meaning that it handles everything that happens between your camera and your end viewer (with some of the more technical details, like encoding, adaptive bitrate configuration, CDN distribution, and more feeling seamless without effort from you).

All things considered, live broadcasting software for businesses should offer features like:

• Customizable branding so your stream feels like it’s “yours” to your audience.
• High-quality audio and visuals to give your audience the high-quality experience they know and expect from your brand.
• Audience interaction features and tools to bring your audience into the stream by offering opportunities to engage and connect with you in real time (things like polls, trivia, gamification, shopping, Q&A, chat, reactions, and more).
• Compatibility with the variety of devices your customers use to explore the web, making sure no one gets left out.
• Scalability to audiences of any size anywhere in the world.
• Low latency to minimize the playback delay between your camera and the audience at home.
• User friendliness to make it easier to broadcast on demand.
• Access control so you can limit your audience to those invited or charge entry when needed.
• Uninhibited monetization to make sure this strategy works the way you want it to with provable and replicable results.

Psst.. Click here to test our solution with a free Livery trial.

The Advantage of Professional Productions

As you plan your first interactive livestream for your business, you’ll naturally have a lot of questions that you’ll need to answer first. Questions like:

• What are your high- and low-level goals for this new channel?
• What’s the event format that best suits your goals? (Trivia, game show, QVC-style shopping, educational course-style, webinar, product demos, hybrid sporting or music event with at-home audience participation, etc.)
• How will you spread the word and get your audience to show up to the stream?
• How will you monetize it if you choose to? (Ticketed entry, flash sale, merchandise sales, in-stream shopping, sponsored broadcast/product spotlights, etc.)
• Who will run the camera and teleprompter, and who will be on screen?
• Will you give awards or incentives for participation? If so, which ones make the most sense?
• After the show ends, how will you move forward with this momentum? (An email series, another stream, exclusive content, etc.)
• Who will review the metrics to make sure your next stream is even better? Do they know what to look for?

Running a professional livestream that ticks all the business goal boxes isn’t rocket science, but it’s also not something you were born or trained to know. That’s why having a knowledgeable production team behind you can make all the difference, ensuring you host with purpose from day one.

If hiring a full-time internal production team sounds like too big of a commitment for this channel as you learn to build it out, we have you covered at Livery Productions.

About Livery Productions: Pair the Best Software with the Most Experienced Team

Livery Productions is the customer success branch of Livery Video. At Livery, we’ve helped hundreds of companies like yours, from small businesses to large multinationals ideate, strategize, plan, produce, and scale their interactive live video content to hit their goals. We’re ready to help you next.

We offer a wide range of strategic, sourcing, creative, and production services that can help you with all or just a few steps along the way, ensuring you successfully:

• Evaluate your business opportunity to make the most of your time spent streaming.
• Make an informed investment decision, including equipment, studio, talent, prizes, and more.
• Launch your stream with a goal-oriented strategy that works, including pre-and-post-event marketing and PR.
• Execute your campaign from start to finish to ensure it’s a strategy that works for you long term, including analytics and future live event prep.

At Livery Productions, our only goal is to lighten (or eliminate) the workload. So hand us any (or all) steps in the interactive live streaming journey and our team of experts with over 10 years of experience together can take it from there.

Learn more about working with our Livery Productions team

Closing Thoughts

Starting a new marketing channel always feels a bit daunting. But broadcast livestreaming software no longer has to come with a steep learning curve. Work with the best live stream broadcasting service on the market while using our highly-experienced team at your disposal to customize it to fit your business goals. Let us help you make the most of your efforts from your very first stream.

Try it yourself with a free Livery trial  OR  Learn more about working with our Livery Productions team

FAQs

What is the market for live streaming?

As of 2022, the global market for livestreaming was valued at 1219.19 million USD, with a projected value of 6555.32 million USD by 2030. (Vantage)

You still have time to be an early adopter of live streaming, but that window is quickly closing. Estimates predict that live content will be the primary form of content consumed by internet users in the next decade or so. If you’re looking for the best time to get started with a livestreaming strategy for your business, it’s now.

How do you measure the success of a live stream?

The success of a livestream depends on your unique strategy, purpose, and goals. Here are a few examples:

• Monetization. If you want a monetized stream, “sales generated” is a clear and measurable way to determine the success of your event.
• Brand loyalty. On the other hand, if you’re looking to build brand loyalty, “growth in engaged viewers” (as a pattern over multiple streams) or “duration of viewership” may better measure your success.
• Learning outcomes. For gamified learning or game shows, “number of active participants” and “correctly answered question scores” may be the best way to determine your success in both learning and enthusiasm.