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Top 10 Ways to Leverage Live Streaming on the Social Web

Posted: 10 Jul 2009 07:51 AM PDT

When it comes to live streaming on the web, the trend has seen its ups and downs. But with big brands and small brands alike turning to social web to grow their audience for live streaming video, the trend is picking up steam once again. Mainly because social networking platforms have offered better ways in which to involve viewers, live streaming video on the social web is more beneficial for all parties involved. The end result will be an interesting marketplace that will arise from the new sharing and viewing capabilities. Here are some ways in which live streaming on the social web can currently be leveraged, broken down into two categories; Sharing and Engaging.

Sharing

1. Self-Promotion

self promotion.

This is something that can be acheived on the social web already, so adding live video streaming to the mix means that your ability to promote yourself is increased. Remaining consistent with your live streaming will give viewers a set time at which to expect your live streaming content, and this can turn to a successful way to build your brand. When it comes to the social web, the viewers now have the ability to leave comments, chat, easily share your live stream with friends and spread this participatory content even further within their social web.

2. Pay-Per-View

Once you’ve begun to build your brand you can even start charging for your content. While this has been an option for some time, there is a growing number of options for enabling viewers to pay directly from the social networks with which you may be able to integrate your live streaming content. As an application, for instance, there are payment platforms that enable you to receive monetary earnings from your live streaming content.

3. Events

If you saw the memorial service for Michael Jackson earlier this week, there were several options for viewing the event. From broadcast television to replays on cable to live streaming on the web. In fact we saw an unprecedented dedication to live streaming for this particular event. Facebook partnered with CNN for live streaming, and MySpace offered live streaming options in addition to the free streaming music and videos in order to commemorate Michael Jackson. The ability for users to readily share events such as this through social networks the sites are becoming destinations for live streaming events, and this is an affect that you can take advantage of to pursur your own end goals.

4. Marketplace

In addition to charge for your content, the ability to spread your live streaming video through the social web means that you can create a marketplace of sorts in regards to your work. As your work is your product, you can leverage multiple social sites across the web, and shift this into your own marketplace. Whether you’re using your video content to push your brand and redirect traffic to another webpage where you sell your product, or create additional video content that encourages other users to spread this subsequent content across the web, you’re both leveraging the social web to spread your brand while building your brand and validity at the same time. Finding ways in which to reward the users that help you spread your brand will also add to your ability to create a marketplace around this content.

5. Grow Your Audience

The social web is at the heart of viral content, meaning that it’s always been a way in which to grow your audience. But the ease with which content can be shared across the social web in this day and age means that you can more readily grow your audience when it comes to live streaming. The fact that large brands are turning to the social web for live streaming means that you can jump on the bandwagon and push your content through the social web in the same manner. Find ways in which to incentivize your viewers to share your video content and make it easier in which to do so. Use social sites that have sharing options that make it simple for viewers to share your content far and wide, even posting your content or links to your content on as many other social sites as possible.

Engaging

The social web isn’t just about sharing content to other users. It’s also about engaging users as viewers. With various application options and integrated options across multiple social sites, it’s easier than ever to engage viewers for a variety of purposes. A few are listed below.

6. Feedback & Research

One reason for the success of services like Meebo and partnerships like Facebook and CNN is the ability to obtain immediate feedback from viewers on live streaming content. If chat and commenting is enabled in association with the live streaming content, then you’ll be able to allow users to speak on the content in a public manner. Use this data for improvement purposes of your product or brand, or even for your next live streaming event.

7. Tapping Into the Social Graph

Facebook may be the best example of how a social network can be leveraged for tapping into the social graph when it comes to live streaming on the social web. Between Twitter integration, Facebook news feeds and other content sharing options within the social network, one’s social graph can add a level of validity to your content as it’s dispersed throughout one’s social graph. This leads to our next bullet point…

8. Recommendations

With something as tight knit as one’s social graph, the mere act of viewing live streaming content and showing this on one’s news feed is a recommendation in and of itself. It’s this passive way in which content is shared that you can rely on for effective leveraging of the social web. Recommendations, passive or otherwise, ultimately help you build your brand.

9. Engagement

Further engaging users with live streaming content is a very easy way to take advantage of the social web. The easier this is for users, the more likely they will be to view your content and spread it across the social web. As your ability to tap into various social networks and sites becomes easier through platforms and various applications, it’s increasingly easier to engage viewers in this manner.

10. Re-purposing Content

As there are more cross-network integration options, it’s easy for a comment to turn into a Twitter update, which can be redistributed across your personal blog, FriendFeed and your Facebook status. Your live streaming video has now been repurposed and spread quite far across the social web. This is good for you because you’re still able to build your brand in this way, even if you’re not directly attracting more viewers in the immediate sense. Encouraging ongoing discussions and conversations around your live streaming content can be a rather effective way of leveraging the social web for the purpose of building your brand.