Zoom’s widespread use happened almost overnight the second work from home became the new normal. With movement greatly restricted to slow the spread of the virus, we needed a new way to meet, communicate, and congregate.

And you know it’s big when people use Zoom as a verb.

Behind the scenes at The Maya Kitchen’s live streaming cooking workshops

Back when live events were still a thing, live streaming was just an add-on to get more people to watch. But now things have changed, and live streaming is the event itself; from weddings to conferences, from meetings to online workshops and classes.

We saw this massive migration online, particularly in the field of education. With schools closed, we needed a viable alternative to make sure the school year wasn’t disrupted.

There’s something about a live stream that creates a sense of urgency. That’s because it’s happening in the moment, and you don’t have the luxury of viewing it on demand.

In this short amount of time, live streaming is already revolutionizing the culture. Here’s how…

Flexibility

We used to be limited to how many people we could cram into a conference room, or a ballroom, or even a stadium. But with enough bandwidth, everyone’s invited regardless of time zone or geography.

We no longer have to hop on a plane to travel to a conference. The conference comes to us, resulting in huge savings in terms of time, transport, and accommodation. This is accessibility like never before, allowing you to include and reach more people who you otherwise couldn’t reach.

There’s no more need to travel or commute, and those hours stuck in traffic just to get to a meeting or the office become a thing of the past. You can even start on time; no need for buffers. Because if you’re working and/or watching from home, there’s no excuse for being late.

And there’s no reason to sacrifice interactivity. In fact, there’s potential to ratchet up. The platforms allow for side conversations in the chat box and simultaneous collaboration in breakout rooms. All of this can happen in the fringes of the live stream.

You’re not just restricted to live video and audio either. The medium allows for incredible flexibility so you can share your deck, open up Google Docs, or playback video recordings.

Plus it doesn’t have to be a gallery of talking heads. You can do a live walk through of your home, interview people on the street, or broadcast live on location.

Accessibility

At its most basic, live streaming is incredibly simple, cheap, and easy. Almost every social media platform has a live streaming feature—just log in, switch on your camera, and broadcast. Anyone can do it. Stream publicly through social media or privately from a platform like Zoom or Google Meet.

But what if you don’t want basic? What if you want extra? You can take it up a notch with some key video and audio equipment, a stable internet connection, an encoder, and a dedicated streaming platform.

Either way you choose, people can access your stream anytime, anywhere, on any device, whether they’re at home or on the go. This makes it extremely convenient for anyone wanting to hear what you have to say.

If you’ve ever attended a Zoom meeting, you know live streaming is pretty easy to do. But there’s an advantage to elevating your event by hiring a professional audio visual team so you don’t have to sweat the technical stuff.

You get higher resolution video, better sound quality, and multiple camera angles for a more dynamic presentation. All this gives your stream a more professional look and adds production value, which makes it easier to justify if you choose to monetize your event.

Which brings us to…

Monetization

Live stream platforms usually offer some kind of password protection or encryption, along with certain restrictions to protect our events from piracy or hackers.

Aside from this added privacy and security, this enables you to choose who gets to see your content, restricting access to only those who want it, which allows you to monetize it. It’s as easy as selling tickets online, and once payment clears, sending attendees a dedicated link exclusive to their device.

You can sell ads related to your event and/or have your content sponsored without being interruptive as you would on free social media sites that plug in ads in the middle of your video.

Metrics

Use metrics to measure engagement and enrollment. Track viewership and viewer behavior in order to evaluate your event’s performance. Monitor spikes and dips in views to see which segments resonate and which ones fall flat.

You also get to see who your audience is by seeing their interests, demographics, and psychographics. This gives you a wealth of information on how you can improve and refine your content and strategy.

Enrollment

If people are watching your live stream, it’s likely they’re there because they want to be. They’re enrolled in what you have to say. Unlike blog posts or pre-recorded videos where people tend to flit in and out depending on their level of interest, a live stream audience is targeted.

This allows you to get real specific as to who your audience is. At the very least, it requires a commitment of time since they can’t scrub back and forth like a video, or just skim through an article.

Real-Time Engagement

Another benefit that comes with live streaming that other content can’t give you is real time engagement. You put your audience in the same room and give them incredible access to what’s going on and let them join in the conversation.

Moderators offer live support while the stream is ongoing, able to address your audience’s questions immediately.

Gamification makes it even more engaging. Give out points for participation, tally scores, and receive badges to make it more interesting and interactive.

Breakout rooms make the experience even more intimate. Participants are able to discuss topics in smaller groups, and then share what they came up with later on with the bigger group. This changes the dynamic by creating a more focused and intimate back and forth while working inside the medium.

Take it a step further with web tools that offer real time translation or even subtitles during the meeting, which makes international cooperation and communication easier than ever.

Repurpose Content

One huge advantage of live streaming is the fact that you can record it. This allows you to maximize how you use your content. You can break it up into highlights and disseminate it on your social media. Or if you have a class for example, you can send people a link at a discounted rate since they won’t be able to interact with the instructors like the original attendees were able to.

You can also take snippets of the stream and turn it into a preview for more events to come. Publish transcripts, post your deck on Slideshare, or do a quick re-edit to post on YouTube. One live stream produces multiple bits of content.

When it’s recorded, you can look back and figure out what's working, where you can improve, and easily reference what transpired. Transcriptions grant you a written record of everything that was said, making it searchable and computer assisted.

The Revolution Will Be Live StreamED

As live streaming becomes more widely adopted, it will eventual scale to free. The medium gives people opportunities to speak up and be heard in a way that didn't use to be possible.

This is potential transformative for all kinds of industries, from real estate to transport, from fashion to healthcare, all because we are no longer bound by space and time. We can do it from wherever we are.

We need to figure out how we can turn it into a great platform maximizing its uses and leveraging that to change the culture. And with a little imagination, the applications for live streaming can really take off, possibly far beyond what it was originally intended.

Do you have any thoughts on the future of live streaming? Tell us in the comments below!

And if you’re looking for live streaming services, feel free to send us a message.

Check out these other helpful articles on the benefits of live streaming:

https://www.akimbo.link/blog/s-7-e-19-the-zoom-revolution-a-transformation-of-interaction

https://www.lifehack.org/534461/7-powerful-benefits-live-streaming

https://www.avpartners.com/benefits-live-streaming-event/

https://www.dacast.com/blog/benefits-of-video-live-streaming-services/