Streaming app development is more relevant than ever. The world’s major brands have long paid attention to streaming possibilities. The main advantage is reaching a very diverse audience, unavailable for conventional media advertising.
How do you know that it is time for your company to join the path of streaming promotion? What should you pay attention to when choosing a site and a streamer? Or is it better to use streaming app development? How to properly integrate your brand into streaming, and what results can be achieved? We talked to experts and shared insider information.
What is Streaming?
Streaming is the streaming of audio or video in real-time. Originally, streaming was associated with video games and cybersports, but the attractiveness of the format has made it a real trend among content providers. Streaming app development can take all this into account. Now you can record a stream on any topic: reviews of goods and services, broadcasts from the scene, travel, cooking, etc.
Men most often watch video games, political and training streams, while women watch cooking, educational streams, beauty bloggers, and broadcasts of stars’ daily lives. A streamer’s audience, like any community, is loyal to the brands their idol endorses and supports. So if a popular streamer promotes a product during a broadcast, it will get noticed. With live streaming app development, you can adjust to any audience.
How to Promote Brands via Streaming
Businesses have gained access to promising platforms for promoting their products. In the United States, many brands have long used streaming in marketing, including Old Spice (Procter & Gamble), Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Maybelline, and others. Some use popular platforms, and others choose streaming app development.
Here are some clear examples of how brands skillfully use streaming platforms for their promotion.
Streaming platforms have also opened opportunities for cosmetic and fashion brands. For example, in the Western market, the fashion house GUESS, the cosmetics brand MAC Cosmetics, and Gillette promote themselves using Twitch.
In September 2020, the fashion house Burberry held a show of its new clothing collection on Twitch. The stream was broadcast from four channels, showing the display from different angles. As hosts, Erykah Badu, Bella Hadid, Rosalia, and Steve Lacy, influencers with a broad audience of their own, were invited. According to reports, 42,000 users watched Burberry’s online show.
The Hero Cosmetics brand teamed up with streamer Sam “Seum,” who wears acne patches and talks about skincare on her streamers. The streams are on Twitch and YouTube. The company’s CEO, Ju Rue, says the return on investment is 150%.
One of the streaming platforms’ promotion methods is the use of bots. The bot posts link to the brand’s products in the stream’s chat room. For example, EM Cosmetics founder Michelle Phan hosted a League of Legends stream in October 2020 at the launch of her new foundation, Daydream Cushion, in which the bot posted links to the new product. As a result, the broadcast helped increase sales compared to past launches by 278%.
IKEA initially used streaming capabilities. In 2019, the brand’s Australian office launched a Slow TV Channel on YouTube to support those who have insomnia. It was live-streamed to follow the furniture being delivered to Australia by ship. IKEA staffers Kent and Sarah Eriksson commented on the journey as they read out pages from the IKEA 2020 catalog.
Streaming Capabilities
Opportunities for streaming app development are successfully used by manufacturers of accessories for gamers, game developers, online stores, and Internet providers.
The audience comes to streaming platforms for entertainment, spends a lot of time on them, and is generally loyal to the content. Therefore, it is an excellent opportunity for companies to talk about themselves natively and gain the trust of the lucrative part of the paying audience, form a positive impression with them, and promote their products. Another plus is the relatively low competition. Streaming is not the easiest way to promote a product, but it has its prospects. There are also prospects for streaming app development.
How Can Streaming be Useful for Business?
Streaming is a specific way to advertise and will not suit all companies. But this format has several benefits to which brands should pay attention.
Live streaming helps solve a vast pool of problems, from image to performance. The hero of the stream has a direct impact on audience loyalty to the brand, as he speaks for it. Streaming gives the audience an emotional connection with a blogger who talks about a product or service.
Plus, streaming app development helps businesses by allowing people to ask questions immediately and get answers to them here and now. Streaming also allows you to track lead generation and the sales effectiveness of a particular product with promo codes and active leads.
The emotional format and live communication with the streamer on-air help the viewer feel part of the community. In addition, it increases audience loyalty to the author and the brands they promote. Also, users, in general, are more tolerant of advertising because they are interested in sponsoring their favorite players and the gaming industry in general.
Does Your Brand Need Streaming?
First, define your goals; why do you need to go to streaming sites? Will streaming app development help with your marketing goals? Businesses can use streaming in their advertising strategy for the following purposes:
- Increase brand awareness through advertising with famous authors or on your channel.
- Increase sales through on-air sponsored videos.
- Gain access to your target audience by running your live shows.
It’s elementary: every brand has to understand its target audience. If you can see within the team that there is room for experimentation or even global work with a male audience of 18 to 34 years old, there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. The audience of streamers is the most loyal and, compared to other media projects, treats advertising from their streamers with enthusiasm.
Make sure that you are ready to promote yourself with the help of streaming and that streaming app development is relevant for you. This promotion format is particular and not the easiest and cheapest, but it can bring good results with the right approach. Of course, it all depends on what audience you need, your budget, and what goals you want to achieve.