Blog

As the inimitable Ron Swanson once warned, “Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.” Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done when it comes to tech and tactics for your business.

Today we’re rolling out Switcher Studio 4.1, the first round of major platform enhancements since 4.0 released in January. Download the updated Switcher Studio app from the App Store to get these exciting upgrades, plus standard bug fixes and stability improvements. (If you don't already have one, you'll need a Switcher Studio account to use the app.)

You’ve probably heard the stats on live video being the content type that results in the most engagement, which should make livestreaming an obvious way for brands to connect with their audiences. Yet a lot of companies aren’t leveraging this medium — they’re either using highly produced prerecorded videos, or they haven’t gotten on the video train at all. Here’s a look at five brands that are successfully using live video to promote themselves, add authenticity to their brands, build brand loyalty, and increase engagement.

Switcher Studio co-founder and CEO Nick Mattingly was selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur at Endeavor’s 87th International Selection Panel in Madrid, Spain, last month.

Endeavor is a nonprofit whose mission is to identify, mentor, and accelerate the best high-impact entrepreneurs around the world, specifically those with the greatest potential to create jobs and transform economies in their regions. It functions by connecting promising new entrepreneurs with the resources and mentors they need to succeed.

Widely considered one of the top journalism schools in the country, Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism takes a “teaching hospital” approach within its newsroom. This means experimenting with the latest tools — going beyond what even many commercial newsrooms have tried — to find transformational technologies that help reporters find, cover, and disseminate the latest news.

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.