Photo credit: Qamarset

Live streaming video emerged recently as the new communications frontier. The new online communications technology represents the next great opportunity for public relations.

Agencies and client organizations that are early adopters will gain a competitive advantage and by positioning themselves as the go-to resource in streamed video for employees, the press, investors, customers and consumers.

If PR doesn’t seize the day, other types of communications services, such as social media, marketing and digital marketing agencies, may act more quickly and claim the territory.

The situation is similar to when social media came into vogue. Digital, advertising, SEO and PR professionals competed for clients’ attention. This time, PR may be best positioned to produce live streaming video. PR’s focus on timely news and event-related campaigns offers a natural fit for live video broadcasts.

Live streaming video can help PR bypass media gatekeepers and attract larger audiences for product launches, press conferences, and other corporate events. Having direct video access with a worldwide audience may be especially helpful in communicating during a corporate crisis. Having corporate control of the video stream also assures better control of content and better opportunities for positive engagement with audience members.

Meerkat drew attention to live streaming video with its app that allows Twitter users to send live streams through the platform. Twitter quickly followed with its own live streaming app, Periscope. Whichever service comes out on top, streaming video will proliferate. Companies, brands and government agencies as diverse as Sony, NASA, The White House, Salesforce, and Martha Stewart have already started live streaming events.

Benefits of Live Streaming

Technical producer George Craig at Sparksight cites four reasons to live stream corporate events.

Increase attendance. Live streaming can overcome limits imposed by budgets and venue sizes and greatly increase the (virtual) attendance of corporate events. Live streaming opens event registration to as many people as you can send the link to.

Interact with your audience. Viewers can comment and interact with other viewers, using Twitter hashtags or chat enabled streams. That lets them comment or ask questions during Q&A sessions as if they are in the room.

Offer more flexibility. Live streaming overcomes scheduling and logistical challenges because viewers don’t need to be glued to a desktop computer. They can watch an event on web-enabled TVs, tablets or smartphones.

Re-use the stream. You can use the recorded stream footage in future campaigns, highlight reels, marketing collateral, and even a value-add for attendees who would like to share content when they get back to their office.

Steps to Online Streaming

Victoria Levy of marketing and PR agency Upraise offers four steps to implementing live streaming video.

Choose your service. A few services offer free, easy-to use live video services, including Ustream, Justin.TV, YouTube Live, and Livestream. Create free profiles and test services to find which is best for you and your client.

Test … test. Live streaming can be easy or more complicated, depending on the quality being sought. Quality live video requires:

• ample lighting,
• a quality camera,
• a high-speed Internet connection, and
• clear audio.

Testing your equipment before going live can show how these features perform. At the same time, rehearsing can help speakers feel more comfortable in front of a camera. Practicing before a crisis hits is especially important. But don’t worry about seeking perfection. Minor flaws can humanize a speaker.

Measure its effectiveness. Many streaming services include real-time analytics tools. Tracking viewership, video shares, social media mentions can reveal where you’re succeeding and where you can improve.

Test it with a control group. The organization’s first streaming video broadcast should not be a worldwide feed. Test the selected technology within a control group. For instance, you can live stream a meeting to an employee who’s sick at home or do video streaming of executive’s company-wide announcement.  Only after gaining sufficient experience with video streaming should you broadcast a live worldwide press conference, investor meeting or product launch.

Bottom Line: Live streaming offers many benefits for public relations. PR agencies and corporate PR departments that act now to offer live streaming video services will gain a major competitive advantage.

Glean.info grants permission to republish this article provided that the republished version contains a link to the original article on the Glean.info Blog.

William Comcowich

William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.