To Stream or Not to Stream?

meerkat-vs-periscopeThere are a whole host of new technologies that are enabling brands to engage with consumers in new and exciting ways. Meerkat, Periscope, Instagram and Snapchat are just some of the apps that enable brands to engage more intimately with followers, creating unique experiences for consumers at the touch of a button. I’m intrigued by all of these new apps but it begs the question, are these technologies right for your brand?

Real-time publishing can certainly help you increase the reach of the videos you create and also enable real-time connection with consumers – something that’s sought out and highly valued in today’s world of instant gratification. But this medium also comes with some risks. Real-time video is live and leaves little room for error. Once your video is published, it is out there for the world to see, criticize, love, and hate. You potentially set yourself up for negative reactions that are amplified quickly across social media. That’s exactly what it is…a risk, so you have to think carefully about the pros and cons and be deliberate about curating the event and content before you decide to live stream it to the world. Some apps like Instagram and Snapchat enable you to record and review videos before they are published but they are limited in terms of video length so that’s something else to consider.

I think there are some brands that definitely lend itself better to live-streaming and video streaming and it’s not going to make sense for every brand. Before jumping on the live-streaming bandwagon, it’s important to assess your long-term goals and to weigh the pros and the cons to ensure the benefits outweigh the potential risks and that those risks are manageable. Careful planning with anything will be prudent and there’s nothing wrong with testing use out with a small pilot group to see how things go for a few weeks before broadcasting content to the world!

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