Could you and should you be live streaming your events?
There are many valid arguments both for and against live streaming, which a quick internet search will bring up in seconds, but if you have a logical strategy, then implementing live streams to your events can be very productive in your overall vision as a charity.
Whilst live streaming is a great way of getting your message across to a much wider audience, it is important that you have a strategy in place to ensure that your efforts are not wasted.
Periscope, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have all made live video streaming popular in our culture and it is something that we are seeing continuous growth in. Many charities worldwide are using the technology to widen their message but not many are seeing the results that they had hoped for in either viewers or in activity.
Those who implement live streaming as a ‘quick-fix’ tactic and hope to yield high results are going to be disappointed. Understanding why you want to live stream however, and having a good plan set in place, with realistic expectations, you can wield this growing technology into a tool that can magnify your message in a way that is relevant and captivating to those you may not have been able to have reached previously.
First determine why you are considering live video. Are you wanting to broadcast your event to those who cannot be there, or are you utilising it to reach a wider audience? If a live stream is to act simply as an easy alternative for people who may otherwise have attended the event then it can be a great solution. However if your aim is to also widen your reach and open the broadcast further to those who otherwise would not attend then you should be using this technology to either tailor or enhance the experience.
Where live video comes into its own, is its unique placement. Those watching a live streamed video will usually be doing so either from a computer or a mobile device and this provides a very different experience to actually being at an event. Rather than just re-broadcasting, why not instead use live streaming to create a tailored message just for the live stream audience, have a speaker speak directly to the camera for this audience. This creates a personal connection for viewers rather than the feeling of missing out on an event. Social media also has unique methods of interaction that can be utilised, for example, on Facebook and Periscope you can watch viewer reactions and receive comments in real time which can help direct the message and make it more relevant to the audience.
A video can never be a substitute to actually attending an event but with live video technology, it can provide a completely unique and customised experience which can help you gain new, worldwide followers. Live video is a great way to maximise the reach of your message and as an increasingly popular medium, making your message available on-the-go for people to watch from a mobile device or computer is definitely something that should be explored further.
For more information on creating live streams, take a look at our tips page on how to put a live stream onto your website using YouTube.
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