Take Advantage of Streaming Technology

Some trends in business come in hot and soon after flop like a 10-pound river trout on the end of a hook. Remember keyword-stuffing and auto-blogging? Everyone thought they’d cracked the Google code for good. How about the Tide pod and ice bucket challenges? They seemed like a good idea at the time.

One idea whose time has come isn’t going anywhere — live streaming. First employed in 1993 by a group of Xerox employees trying out a new use for the internet, the technology was grabbed by Microsoft in 1995, which then started RealNetwork and the advent of RealPlayer live videos. YouTube didn’t run its first live streaming show until 2008.

Not only is live streaming getting more play than ever, it’s picking up steam as the whole world relies on the streaming technology to maintain connections during the coronavirus pandemic. By the time you read this, everyone from your local Realtor to your grandmother has been introduced to live streaming and has begun using the technology for commercial and social interactions.

Take Advantage of the Surge

Now that live streaming has gone mainstream, small business owners and corporate conglomerates alike can take advantage of its benefits to:

• Connect with customers and employees in real time
• Promote new and existing products and services
• Disseminate company news and announcements
• Build trust, as business leaders can enter the conversation directly
• Develop loyalty among employees who appreciate your efforts to communicate directly
• Save valuable resources by using Wi-Fi infrastructure that you already have in operation
• Use the existing technology in smartphones and computers that most of your target audience already owns

Millions of people have learned to successfully access live streaming platforms to talk directly with friends, families and customers. They’ve realize the ease with which the technology works. Once the social distancing rules that dominate the lives of populations all over the world ease, it’s a given that live stream users will be open to continuing to use video streaming for more and more communications and commercial interactions.

Ways to Use Live Streaming for Your Business

Anyone can create a live streaming program with just a smartphone and an internet connection. There’s a multitude of easy-to-use platforms available online, many of which are free. At the same time, expect a surge of live streaming companies, freelancers and marketing companies featuring live stream options to ramp up and appear on your radar.

Depending on your intended audience and your professional reputation, you can benefit by hiring professionals to run your live streaming programs. They can set up the coding necessary to provide safe and secure connections on the back end while filming your event with a polished presentation on the front end. Common events ripe for live streaming in business include:

• Board meetings
• Stakeholder and shareholder events
• Grand openings
• New product or service rollouts
• Staff training
• Employee and company-wide announcements

Benefits of Live Streaming

The biggest benefit of live streamed meetings and training sessions is the savings in costs for travel, food and lodging for participants who have to come in from other locations. Additionally, everyone involved saves time by avoiding travel, which reduces the time off of work. Participants appreciate the extra time they have to be with their families, too.

Whether you announce your live stream publicly or send invitations to a select few, you control the message and its delivery. A live streaming production can be as minimal or creative as you want. And if you’re a photographer or videographer with top-of-the-line equipment, this might be your chance to expand your business by offering:

• Corporate meetings and training sessions
• Destination weddings
• Amateur sporting events
• Church services and events
• Concerts and live performances
• Marketing promotions

No matter how you employ live streaming technology, be assured that this is not a trend that’s going to fade any time soon. While Ray Access doesn’t offer these services, we can recommend businesses that do. Contact us for a referral. We do this for our clients not because we make anything, but because we want our clients to succeed.

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Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business to succeed. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or talk about your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters, and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.