By iSi LIVE
Choosing Where To Send Your Webcast Audience
In recent times businesses of different sizes are leveraging live streaming and on-demand videos more than ever before to increase their impact and drive revenue.
However, many small business owners are still confused about webcasting, especially choosing the best platform to host their broadcast because of the numerous options we have – YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, your website, and more.
In this blog post, I will share the pros and cons of broadcasting from your website and single or multiple third-party platforms. Bear in mind that your choice of platform(s) will inform the destination you send your audience.
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               BROADCASTING FROM SINGLE THIRD-PARTY PLATFORMÂ
PROS
- Better Metrics
- Content can be streamlined to the medium
- Your audience will have a consistent experience.
CONS
- Viewership may not be as good
- Depending on the platform, there might be limitations
of what can be done (QA Polling, Quiz, Donating, Voting, etc.)
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                  BROADCASTING FROM YOUR WEBSITE
PROS
- Totally customizable and not limited by any 3rd party
platform’s rules, features, etc. - Drive traffic to your site
- Improved Metrics
Note that broadcasting
from your website shares the same demerits as broadcasting from a single
third-party platform.  Â
                    BROADCASTING FROM MULTIPLE THIRD-PARTY PLATFORMS
PROS
- Chances are you have more eyeballs on the content
- Provide people the choice to watch on their preferred
platform
CONS
- Inconsistent experience for all viewers
- Varied metrics on viewership
There are three core strategies for a successful webcast that increases revenue and makes a high impact.
PRE-EVENT
Market your webcast through social media and other marketing media relevant to your target audience. This is very important because people cannot attend a webcast they do not know about. However, you want to ensure you drive your traffic back to your site and collect information for follow-up and regular reminders.
LIVE
Evaluate the content that is being captured and the outcome you are hoping for. For the vast majority of our clients, I recommend broadcasting Live from YOUR webpage. You can drive traffic to a single destination, re-enforce your brand, and just by doing so, encourage your audience to explore what else your website has to offer. This might not always be the case for every business. If all or the vast majority of your engagement utilizes a social network, you may want to consider it.
POST -EVENT
Leverage your social platforms to expand your reach and host some of the archived content. Provide post-event snippets and teasers but drive traffic back to your site for full versions after the event. This is an effective way to increase your website’s visits and, more importantly, make your audience familiar with your brand and services.
In summary, when it comes to choosing the platform(s) for live stream or on-demand video, there is no one size fits all answer for all business. You have to test and track to see what works best for your business.