Stream like a Pro: Ways you can Boost Live Streaming Viewership

Let’s say you are a live streaming pro and regularly live stream videos on your webpage or streaming platform. But when it comes to gaining ample viewership, you start facing choppy waters. Sounds like you? If you are struggling to gain viewers for your live broadcasts, you have come to the right place! In the next five minutes you will get a detailed analysis of our tried and tested hacks to amplify live streaming viewership.

According to Troy Evans at Moz: “We’ve known for some time now that a live broadcast will often produce a significant increase in viewership.” 

But the question is, how?

So, without further ado, let’s jump in to know the fool-proof ways of increasing viewership on live event broadcasts:

1. First things first: Choose the Event for Boosting Live Streaming Viewership-

For live streaming an event, first you have to choose an event. Be wise. You can’t start live streaming day-to-day activities as viewers will not find daily activities interesting. Choose unique, popular events worthy of increasing your live streaming viewership

Choose an event that readily captures the attention of viewers. Weddings, live sport events, for example, create quite a buzz and people are generally interested to watch them. 

Some potential live streaming events that viewers prefer to watch include:

• Wedding
• Sports
• Concerts or musicals
• Presentations
• Webinars  
• Video Gaming

2. Simulcasting: Stream to multiple channels for increased Live Streaming Viewership–

For those who are stumbling upon this new word, simulcasting is a portmanteau word that is basically the combination of ‘simultaneous’ and ‘broadcasting’. So, it basically means to broadcast several channels at once, so that you can meet your audience where they are, and increase your viewership numbers.

If you just stream to one platform, you may limit the number of people that you reach. But if you simulcast to multiple destinations—your website, social platforms, mobile apps, etc you could reach out to millions of viewers. In fact, it’s one of the best ways to reach a wider audience.

In context, if you live stream video to your website and YouTube at the same time, we would say you are, simulcasting your broadcast to two destinations.

[Muvi enables you to reach your viewers wherever they are, be it on Twitter, Facebook Live or YouTube Live.]

3. Promoting on Social Media –

More than 1 in 5 Facebook videos are Live and are watched 3X longer than pre-recorded videos.

Live streaming is now social. Platforms like Facebook Live, YouTube, Periscope augments easier promotion and engagement. Here are some techniques for promoting your live event across your social channels to increase engagement:

• Start promoting before the event– This is a must-do if you want to amplify your live streaming viewership. If you start promoting your live event on social media in advance, you’re bound to get more viewers. For example, if you’re on Facebook, share details of your event on your page about at least a month before the event. Also, continue to post reminders until the event is live.

• Create trendy hashtags– Hashtags are trending right now almost every live streaming event today will have a hashtag attached to it. Hashtags not only create some buzz around the event but also makes it easier for your audience to interact with your event.

• Keep the conversation going after the event– Even after the broadcast is telecasted, you can share the links on social media for the people who missed the live streaming. 

• Embed live streams- Embed your live stream to social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook. Facebook, in particular, is ideal in that users can comment and engage with your content easily.

4. Connect on a personal level –

It is very important for you to interact with your viewers on a personal level if you are serious about increasing live streaming viewership. The more you engage with your audience, the more memorable experience your viewers will have, making them want to watch your future broadcasts as well. 

But the question is, how do you start interacting? The answer is simple, try live chatting! You can ask your viewers simple questions where they can comment. Make it easy and free-flowing. Relatedly, you could implement a Q&A after broadcasting your live event. This is a great tool for your audience to participate by asking questions and generating conversation between viewers.

5. Schedule your live event – 

It’s very important to stick to a particular routine when it comes to live streaming.

• Stick to the routine – We would recommend you to go routine live streaming as it is a tried and tested way of boosting your live streaming viewership. If you start live streaming twice or thrice at a particular time of the week, your audience will be aware of your time slot and will be online to watch your stream. 

• Be on time – It is advised to be online at least 15 minutes before your scheduled broadcast time. This is a no-brainer as anyone who arrives early to watch the stream will not have to leave because of a blank screen. You can also take this time to make final adjustments and check that everything is working before the event starts.

• Do not go for a long break between two broadcasts – If you go too long between two live broadcasts, viewers can easily forget you amidst all the other content out there. Getting into a routine will keep your audience engaged.

6. Write compelling titles –

A catchy title attracts more viewers. So, before determining which title you should go for, try jotting them down on paper.  Do a little testing to determine which phrasing generates more viewer clicks. Only 50-60 characters of your title will show up in search results so you need to get to the point quickly.

Your description is where you can take liberty. Write a 200-500 word summary of your video including keywords and phrases related to your stream. This lets search engines index what your video is actually about — and drive more viewers to your content. Including CTA and links to your website in the description is a good option. 

7. Tease content –

Teasers are like small snippets which give you a brief idea about what the live stream is all about. Trusted as one of the best ways to get more viewers, teasers could be in the form of snapshots, memes, GIFs, videos, or blog posts. Do not forget to include the date and time of your live event and registration link in these teasers. 

 8. Create a live series –

Live series generally fetches a lot of viewers as compared to standalone events. Start off with one video and end it with a “to-be-continued” message for higher engagement. In this way, each subsequent video continues the conversation and grows your fan base as more people start tuning in.

9. Use the right equipment –

Your live streaming dream goes out of the window if you lack proper equipment as the last thing your viewers want to see is a poor quality video. Problems like buffering issues, poor quality video, audio etc will compel your audience to turn away from your live streams.

So, to avoid such a scenario, go for a live streaming provider that uses an effective content delivery network (CDN) to ensure your stream can reach viewers on every corner of the world without interruption.

Built on AWS CloudFront CDN, Muvi helps you deliver your videos across the world to your viewers at lightning-fast speeds, without the trouble of buffering. For more information about our CDN architecture, read our blog Role of CDN in Video and Audio Streaming.

Wrapping up,

Practicing these 9 tips will go a long way to boost live streaming viewership on your live event broadcasts. You need to create good content, promote them and use SEO to your advantage. Also, there are many professional tools available on a good online video platform that can accelerate your effort in augmenting viewership. 

In this regard, Muvi, the world’s most customizable audio/video/live streaming platform can help you achieve magical numbers in no time! 

If you’re not streaming with Muvi yet, we’d love to get you set up with our 14-day free trial!

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