Raise your hand if you’d rather watch a video to learn something new than read about it.

Go ahead — you’re not alone. 59% of executives say they’d very watch a video than predict verse, more. And genuinely, that number moves impression — we are a society of video streamers.( I entail, hello, Netflix .)

But if you’re not sure how to run a live torrent occasion on social media, suspicion not. We’re now to make sure you don’t merely affected the “Live” button on Facebook and stare at the camera like a deer in headlights. Instead, we’ve come up with a exhaustive checklist to help you plan your first — or next — live creek.

How Live Streaming Works

Live streaming is a way to broadcast your events to an online public. It’s a digital alternative to something like selling tickets to an in-person event and allows you to reach people near and far with live video.

Brands use live stream for a few different concludes, but are consistent with a Brandlive survey, 74% of businesses used it to engage with their consumer base. So instead of being the proverbial “man behind the curtain, ” you’re allowing sees to keep a face( or faces) to your organization’s name, all in real time.

Live streaming can be used for a number of different event forms, as well. Everyone from the White House to fashion houses to chefs have live-streamed videos of economy instructions, runway shows, and cooking demos, respectively. Here at HubSpot, we’ve utilized it for things like interviews with reckon chairmen. So feel free to be creative — really make sure you’ve got your theories covered.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Live Streaming

When you’re ready to start learning how to live stream successfully, follow these steps 😛 TAGEND 1. Plan your live series like you would any other event.

Think about some of the most popular talk pictures. Can you imagine if the patrons, launches, lighting, and planneds for something like “The Tonight Show” weren’t planned in advance? To say the least, it might be chaotic.

You’ll want to threw the same thought and due diligence into your live brook that you’d put into an in-person event of its species. And you’ll want to have your goals in memory as you begin to reach those intentions; those will dictate a lot of the logistics.

Who

Knowing your target audience will determine a few slice of the planning process. If it includes an international population, that should factor into the date and go of your brook — is secure to think about time zones or holidays that might not be top-of-mind in your home country.

What

Then, think of what list your live creek falls into, and create a title for your phenomenon. In case you don’t find any of the above instances fitting to your business, we’ve got some intuitions for ways businesses can use live videos.

HubSpot’s Social Media Marketing Manager, Chelsea Hunersen, stresses the importance of completely researching the topic of your live series in advance.

“Decide important points or stats to stumble, ” she says. And if you’re going to feature patrons, “designate a moderator/ host who can make sure these points are reached and can wrap up the conversation if necessary.”

Where

The platform you use( which we’ll get to in a little) can also be dependent on who you want to look the torrent. Different gatherings use different channels, so you’ll want to pick the one that’s most likely to draw the crowd you want.

Finally, picking an optimal location from which you’ll broadcast your torrent. Buyers have a low endurance for a bad creek, watching for at most 90 seconds if the link is spotty or poor-quality, so make sure your setting is conducive to a positive see suffer. Does it have good lighting? Is it prone to a lot of noise? Is there a chance that your hound walker will barge in wailing, “Who’s a good son? ” loud fairly for the entire audience to hear?( Not that that’s happened to me .)

Think of these contingencies, then pick a stream venue that isolates you from them.

2. Choose your stage.

Here’s where you’ll actually need to have your goals in sentiment since different pulpits can achieve different things.

YouTube Live

YouTube Live Events tend to have “two objectives, ” says Megan Conley, HubSpot’s Content Marketing Strategist. “Registrants and attendees.”

So, if you’re looking to boost revenue — which 75% of market professionals are using video to do — YouTube Live is one of very good programmes to use.

Here’s how that works. First, if you don’t have one previously, you’ll need to create an account on Google, which you’ll then use to create one on YouTube.

YouTube Live Events

Once that’s done, you can use YouTube’s Live Streaming Events dashboard to schedule a future series — only click on “Enable live streaming, ” if you haven’t previously adjusted it up.

YouTube requires a 24 -hour buffer between the time that you enable live streaming and your first live. Once that 24 -hour date is up, all you have to do is log into your YouTube Studio.

Then, sound the “Create” button in the top right corner.

Screenshot of YouTube Create Button

This will spur a drop-down that asks you to choose between uploading a video or leading live. Choose “Go live.”

Screenshot of YouTube's Go Live Button

YouTube will then inspire you to complete some basic info such as its title and what age group the video is stimulated for. You’ll likewise need to decide if you’re vanishing live right away or scheduling it for a certain time.

Screenshot of YouTube Live Information

After that, you’ll need to indicate if you want your happening to be public or private — here’s where you’ll decide how you want to use your live stream to generate leads.

Screenshot of YouTube Live Privacy Settings

The Unlisted option reaches two things 😛 TAGEND

I’ll be able to generate a association that attendees will get only after they fill out a registration kind.

It won’t stream instantly onto my YouTube page.

Once you’re done, clink “Next” You will be asked to smile to take a thumbnail, so make sure you’re camera-ready. From there, you have the option to “Go Live” or “Share” your content.

Screenshot of YouTube's Share Option

Click “Share, ” and that will generate your event’s URL. As I noted above, you are eligible to remain that behind a landing page where attendees fill in a sort to register.

Conley says that, generally, this type of live stream is embedded on a thank-you page behind a arrive sheet way.

If you use the HubSpot COS, all you’ll need is the link, and the system will generate the embed system for you.

Insert Media

Create Embed Code

Just click “insert media, ” paste the link you duplicated from YouTube, and you’re done.

If embedding isn’t an option, you can still really gave a connect there — the embed code precisely originates a seamless design that you can place right on your thank-you page. Either way, be sure to use the thank-you page as a place to remind your attendees of the date and meter of the event.

There’s also the option to impel your YouTube Live Event completely open to the public. That’s a good alternative, Conley says, for a important event that you “want anyone and everyone to be able to find.” But if you originate your flow public, she points out, make sure you use the event to promote gated content you miss your audience to download.

“An image CTA would do, ” she notes, as would holding up clearly printed short associations throughout the stream( Make sure you have those printed out in advance !). In the idol above, you’ll too see that you can add a message to your video — you can mention your gated content there, very.

Facebook

Facebook Live has been making quite a few headlines lately, and organizations stand to ensure that there is it — Facebook Live videos render 6 days as many interactions as traditional videos.

Even without pre-registration, you can definitely promote brooks on this stage in advance, which we’ll touch on subsequently. In the meantime, if you haven’t exercised it before, check out my colleague Lindsay Kolowich’s overview of Facebook Live.

The interface for Facebook has recently reformed, so you’ll have an easier era live streaming from your mobile Facebook app.

Depending on your design, you are eligible to visualize the “Live” option claim under the Composer when you open the app. Alternatively, you may need to click “Create Post” at the top of your News Feed, then select the three horizontal scatters in the Composer.

Screenshot of Facebook Composer Live Button

You’ll have a chance to write a comment about your video. Once you’ve done that, you can select “Go Live” in the bottom left area.

Screenshot of Facebook Start Live Video

Instagram Live

You can also live stream on Instagram. With Instagram Live, a functionality in the Instagram Stories feature, you’re able to broadcast video series and save the replay to your Stories. Users are able to engage through likes and mentions during the stream.

This is a great platform for live stream since Instagram Stories are used by 500 million users per date, and one-third of most-viewed Stories are from transactions.

Keep in knowledge that you cannot post to Instagram from your browser, so open the mobile Instagram app to begin your live brook. Then, hand-picked the camera icon in the top left corner next to the Instagram logo.

Screenshot of Instagram Live Camera Icon

At the bottom of the camera viewer is a menu that scrolls horizontally. Select “Live.”

Screenshot of Instagram Live Camera Viewer Live Button

The shutter button will change to a broadcast icon. This will immediately take you live if you tap it, so make sure you’re camera ready.

Screenshot of Instagram Live Broadcast Button

Twitter Live

Twitter’s advantage is that you can easily share and promote content to a large audience, even though they are you don’t have a large following. In addition, sizzling topics spread more quickly than other media shops.

If you want to hit the ground running and produce sound, Twitter is a great choice. However, you cannot go live on Twitter from your browser, so open the mobile Twitter app when you’re ready to start your broadcast.

Once there, open the Tweet composer by clicking the button with the feathering and plus clue.

Screenshot of Instagram Tweet Composer Button

Select the camera icon.

Screenshot of Twitter Camera Icon

At the bottom of the camera viewer is the choice between “Capture” and “Live.” Choose “Live.”

Screenshot of Twitter Capture and Live Options

The shutter button will be replaced with a button that says “Go Live.” This will immediately make you live, so make sure that you have everything set up before pulping it.

Screenshot of Twitter Go Live Button

TikTok

Since 2018, TikTok has had major chatter as the newest big-hearted musician in the social media game as a scaffold for short-form videos. While TikTok’s audience veers younger with 41% of users between 16 -2 4 years old, more beings and symbols are taking to the platform, as evidenced by its lieu as the fourth most downloaded app in 2018.

One big-hearted detriment is that you can only go live on TikTok if you have 1,000 admirers. For accountings where this isn’t a problem, here’s how to broadcast live:

Open your TikTok mobile app and adopt the plus signed at the bottom of the screen.

Then, open the name of your brook and select “start.”

It’s that easy!

The live streaming alternatives certainly don’t end there. Major symbols have been previously use stages like Periscope, Livestream, and Twitch. They all have their own defines of features and advantages, so emphatically take the time to look into which one best dress your needs.

3. Choose your gear.

When it comes to the actual hardware required for your live river, some of it is fairly intuitive: A camera is pretty standard, for example, or a manoeuvre with one invested( like a laptop or phone ).

But if you do use your phone, Conley says, be sure to use a tripod. “There’s nothing worse than recording a Facebook Live and having your arm start to fall asleep five minutes into the recording, ” she advises. “Use a phone tripod to give your live stream a professional look.”

Consider how professional you miss your resound tone to be, too. Your camera might have its own microphone, but if your fix is more prone to noise, mas mics might not be a bad idea, either.

And when you’re employing an external camera, says Hunersen, you’ll too need some sort of encoding software( Facebook has a great step-by-step guide to that ). That’s what converts the camera footage into a format that your streaming programme understands and can broadcast to witness. The software you use might depend on your budget, but about to begin, check out this one from Adobe.

Also, think about setting up a professional backdrop, like one with your insignium. That can help to brand your videos and give them some visual compatibility, which is a particularly good rehearsal if you plan to do a lot of live streaming in the future.

Want to take that a stair further? “Set up a makeshift studio in your office to accelerating the prep age for all of future developments preserves, ” Conley says. “A beautiful, labelled backdrop “couldve been” just what your Facebook Live needs to help grab “members attention” of someone quickly moving through their News Feed.”

4. Promote your live series.

Congratulations! You’ve now completed a lot of the major planning and setup for your live brook. Now, how do you get parties to watch it?

As we’ve flooded, exercising a landing page is a good way to get enrollment on a scaffold like Hangouts On Air( or, as of September 12 th, YouTube Live ). Here’s an example to seeing how we recently used one at HubSpot 😛 TAGEND

HubSpot_CRO_Hangout.png

There’s a clear CTA here — “View The Video” — which, when clicked, takes the visitor to a registration constitute.( And check out this rundown of which canals drive the best conversion rates — it’s got some gratuities on getting parties to your disembark page in the first place .)

Form-2.png

Once someone packs out the form on your disembark page, it should lead them to a thank-you page, where you can share some promotional informed about the live stream.

HubSpot’s Co-Marketing Demand Generation Manager, Christine White, recommends creating a “Next Steps” section here with actionable pieces like “add this event to your calendar” and “check back here on[ the date of your affair] ” to prompt witness that’s where they’ll go to view the live stream.

And once you have contact information for your registrants, Conley reminds us, “you can email the people on that list on the day of, and remind them when it’s going to go live.”

FB_Live_Promo.png

But to promote your Facebook Live creek, says Conley, “It’s really about doing a social portrait and spreading the word that you are going live at a specific time.”

Don’t rule out expend social media to promote live brooks on other platforms, too. Some of them, like YouTube, allow you to link your social accountings and push content in variou situates. And if your guests are active on social media, leverage that by including links to their holds in any related content, and ask them to promote the happen with their own networks.

5. Do a dry run.

There’s a reason why we do dress rehearsals. When I was in a high school show choir — a humiliating but factual segment of biography — it was to make sure I didn’t trip over my dance spouse in high-heeled sound shoes.

In the world of live streaming, though, we do dry runs to avoid more technical, but equally flustering, indiscretions. Improv can be funny, but not when it means you’re verbally unprepared or your gear stops labor and you don’t have a backup plan.

6. Prep any client speakers.

Is there anything worse than a moment of embarrassing, dumbfounded silence?

As part of your dry run, make sure your guests are prepared for any questions they might be asked. Don’t over-rehearse, but do what you can to prevent catching them off-guard.

“It may help to give some questions in advance to a possible client, ” says Hunersen, “but save some follow-up or in-depth questions for on-air, so that you’re able to let them be both are developed and react in the moment.”

7. Test your audio and internet communication.

You might want people to talk about your live flow, but not if all they’re going to say is, “We can’t hear you.” Make sure all of your audio equipment is working both during your dry run and on the day of the series. Having an extra microphone and artilleries on hand probably won’t hurt, either.

Make sure your network can direct a live brook, too. If you’re streaming high quality video, for example, you’ll need both a wire joining and a 3G/ 4G wireless relationship, according to Cleeng.

In other texts, make sure your WiFi is working, but too, “grab an ethernet rope, ” says Conley. “One thing you can’t help is if your internet connection unexpectedly extends out.”

We know — even the audio of “ethernet” seems awfully old school. But if your WiFi unexpectedly falls, you’ll be glad you busted that line out of storage.

8. Set up social media monitoring.

One enormous thing about live stream is your audience’s ability to join the conversation and observation in real era.

Juliana Nicholson, Sr. Marketing Manager at HubSpot, admonishes to “Have a plan for audience engagement. Know when and how you plan to incorporate audience feedback and Q& As and then clearly communicate that information to your attendees.” This will make it so much easier to encourage participation.

But that’s not all you should do with regard to engagement. If you’ve watched any Facebook Live feed, you’ve seen that the comments roll in fast. So while it’s awesome to invite and answer spectator questions, it can be overwhelming, especially if you personalize your responses.

That’s why it’s a great idea to dedicate someone to monitoring social media, observations, and questions during the course of its live feed.

That exercise can be made a bit easier with something like a branded hashtag created specifically for this live river. For programmes with built-in comment feeds, for example, you can ask your viewers to prologue issues and questions with it — that can help prepare what needs to be answered.

You could even make that a gradation further and use the hashtag throughout the planning process, originating sure to include it on your platform sheet, thank-you page, and promotional sends leading up to the event. That helps to create buzz around the live brook. And if you use HubSpot’s Social Inbox, here’s a great place to take advantage of its monitoring feature, which lets you prioritize and reply to social words based on things like keywords or hashtags.

After Your Live Stream

It’s always nice to follow up with your attendees after your live series has ended. Thank them for their experience, give them a head’s up about your next occurrence, and invite them to download a piece of relevant material. If you’ve followed these steps, you’ve probably done a great job of using your live stream to generate conducts, so keep up the momentum and nurture them.

Read more: blog.hubspot.com