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LinkedIn is launching live video, and they’re partnering with live-video software startup Switcher Studio as part of the launch. The Microsoft-owned professional networking platform, which boasts more than 610 million users worldwide, has dubbed the new feature LinkedIn Live.

This is the sixth post in our Live Video Content Strategy series, helping you craft a strategy for your live videos.

Free livestreaming channels are ubiquitous. But with so many platforms to choose from, which one is right for you and your organization? That depends largely on your intended audience and your live video goals. If you've been crafting your live video content strategy alongside this blog series, you have these articulated, along with your niche and your first several topics. Now you're ready to choose your livestreaming channel. 

To help you choose, we're going to dive into the pros and cons of two popular livestreaming channels, YouTube and Facebook. Although there are myriad other channels — Instagram, Periscope, and Twitch, among them — YouTube and Facebook are still most popular when it comes to helping you share great content, build an audience, engage with viewers, and turn live videos into longterm evergreen content that, over time, helps you get more subscribers and customers. 

Though it’s possible to go live anywhere, having a live video set available for your streams makes going live a breeze. With nothing to set up or tear down after each broadcast, streaming is almost effortless.

Your set also provides a glimpse into your brand’s personality. What colors are you using? What objects are visible? Your audience sees these as a glimpse into who you are and what you’re promoting — before you even say a word on camera. Your set becomes the best first impression that you can provide!

Creating a set for your live videos may seem daunting or even expensive, but neither is true. Most video sets are actually quite small, making them easy to leave up at all times. Follow the guidelines below, and you’ll be able to construct a set of your own simply and cheaply in as little as one hour.  

This is the fifth post in our Live Video Content Strategy series, helping you craft a strategy for your live videos.

From marketers and entrepreneurs to influencers and nonprofits, there are lots of people out there who like the idea of live video but aren’t sure what to stream about. They may be sold on the benefits of livestreaming but short on topic ideas. If that’s you, don’t be dismayed. Coming up with topics and ideas for your livestreams is a fun and crucial step — but it’s not the first step. And if you’re running into trouble generating ideas, it may be because you haven’t yet done the earlier steps in developing a live video content strategy.

There is no such thing as an Instagram filter for your video’s sound. Great audio is an elusive goal, and you can’t fake it with automatic software. You need to have some tricks up your sleeve to ensure you capture great audio on the recording so that there’s no need for special fixing after. This becomes even more important when you’re livestreaming because there is no post-production. The live broadcast is the whole production.

The Switcher team is pretty picky about the conferences we go to. And as a marketer, you may also find it hard to decide which ones are worth your time and budget to attend. Luckily, we’ve found some that we really like and find a lot of value in attending. Here are the top four for the Switcher team:

Let’s face it: If a video doesn’t look great, you tune out. Good lighting is one of the key components to creating better-looking video. If you shoot without thinking about lighting, the end result can be full of contrasting colors, shadows, and a range of other lighting problems.

To give you an idea of what I mean, here is what Switcher's studio looks like before and after we add lights:

Last week we talked about why native LinkedIn video is so important for B2B companies. It combines the targeting power of a B2B platform with the performance power of native video posts. But even if you’re sold on its potential, you may not be sure where to start when it comes to adding LinkedIn video to your marketing plan. The specific videos you choose to create will depend on the business goals you’ve established for your marketing efforts, but here are a few all-purpose video ideas perfect for building your brand:

Prior to late 2017, the only way to post videos to LinkedIn was by sharing YouTube and Vimeo links. These days, however, videos can be created and posted natively on LinkedIn and from within LinkedIn's mobile app itself. Native LinkedIn videos perform better in user feeds than shared YouTube links, allowing more people to see and view your content. Posting videos can help you build trust, reinforce your brand, and give others a look into who you are and how you operate. They also convey emotion better than text content. Here's a look at how to add videos to LinkedIn — whether on your profile, pages, and groups.

For companies using content marketing to drive traffic and generate leads, it’s important not to overlook the unique value that LinkedIn offers. As a social media platform, LinkedIn is particularly useful for B2B marketers, allowing you to leverage your industry contacts to increase reach. Couple this with the power of native video posts and you have yourself a winning combo: engaging, high-performing content reaching targeted audiences. Here are a few reasons it’s time to add LinkedIn video to your marketing strategy if you haven't already done so: