POV: You’re well on your way to hosting your first livestream event, you’ve spent hours, if not days, trawling the internet for tips and advice. You’ve prepped, planned and learned your speaking points by heart, and… no one shows up.

It can be so disheartening! Ever heard of the saying that goes: ‘If a tree falls in the forest but nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?'. Well, that’s Marketing 101! What’s the use of a top-notch script and fancy tech equipment for your livestream if no one knows it’s happening?

We want to avoid this terrible feeling at all costs! Luckily for you, we’ve got a few key pointers that will pave the way for that all-important customer engagement.  

1 - FINALISE YOUR EVENT DETAILS

It sounds simple enough, but this is really the first step to promoting your livestream with your desired audience. It’s important to let people know when and where this event will take place. Be clear from the get-go about the event details – chopping and changing dates and times is a surefire way to create confusion which is a huge turnoff for consumers. Your customers are busy people, each going about their daily lives. Make your livestream event details as simple and clear as possible so that they’ll want to carve out time in their day to tune in.

2 - LET PEOPLE KNOW

To reiterate the saying we pointed out in the beginning about the forest and the falling tree, this point really is vital when it comes to making sure you’ll have eyeballs on your content on the day of your livestream.

Create a few eye-catching visuals for social media that invite your audience to view your livestream at a specific time. Let them know what you’ll be talking about and invite them to come prepared with any questions they may have. Be sure to keep this communication super clear and simple too. Don’t bombard people with digital noise, but rather create content that is aesthetically pleasing and highly shareable (more shares could equal more people tuning in).

3 - USE ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

Social media is a fantastic way to promote your livestream event. The more platforms you promote your event on, the higher the chance of bringing in more views. It’s imperative you use all the platforms available to you to create as much buzz as possible ahead of your livestream.

• Social media channels – Post eye-catching visuals or teaser videos on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and even YouTube. Make sure your accompanying copy is also on point, helping to get your invitation to tune in further afield.  
• Podcasts – If you have a podcast or happen to be a guest on one in the lead-up to your livestream, don’t forget to mention your event! Give a short and sweet outline of what you’ll be covering in your session, and supply listeners with the date and time and the platforms you’ll be streaming on.
• Email newsletters – Email marketing, newsletters, mailshots - whatever you call them - still provide one of the highest ROIs (return on investment) of all digital marketing tools. Sending out a well-designed newsletter could do wonders to spark interest and get people excited to tune in to your livestream. Send a mail out announcing your broadcast, and schedule a follow-up email when your livestream is about to start.

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Top tip: Share your streaming link at least 48 hours before you go live.

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4 - MAKE THE CIRCLE BIGGER

Have you ever thought of collaborating on one of your livestreams? Livestreaming alongside industry experts or influencers can really bolster your brand. Not to mention that to double-up like this is a great way to share audiences with your collaborator (in other words, to network!)

5 - REWARD YOUR VIEWERS

We all love a freebie, and who doesn’t love being spoilt with gifts? A great way to not only generate interest for your livestream but to thank the viewers who did tune in is to offer them a small reward.

Think about hosting a giveaway of the product/s you may be talking about in your livestream.

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Exclusive offers in a live stream is a great way to attract an audience. 

6 - AFTER YOUR LIVESTREAM

A great way to craft your livestreaming strategy moving forward is to collect data from your viewers. Think about setting up a dedicated branded hashtag before the event and get your audience to use this for any questions they have during the livestream. Doing so will mean that you can easily see and then respond to those requests afterwards. What it can also do for you is provide necessary feedback that you’ll need in order to keep improving. If a lot of the questions people are asking feature similar themes, you’ll know that this is clearly an important aspect that you may be neglecting in your livestream arsenal.

When you begin planning and promoting your next event, use this essential info to help guide you on your journey.

Final Thoughts

Livestreaming needn’t be difficult, nor completely nerve-racking – in fact, it should be a fun way to authentically reach your desired audience. If you want to learn some excellent tactics to promote your livestream, follow these simple approaches so that you can get more eyeballs on your content that you’ll know what to do with!

Do you have a product you’re passionate about and would love to tell people more about? Why not give Flick Live a try today?

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