Almost anyone creating live videos on a regular basis wants to see an increase in viewership. You want to see that number of viewers creeping higher and higher with each consecutive broadcast.
While an increased audience can happen organically, self-promotion increases your total number of viewers exponentially. There are many ways to promote your live videos both while you're streaming live and after your broadcast ends. Take a look at the strategies below to put a positive trend on your viewership graph.
Promoting your live videos during your stream
Social media promotion
Anytime you go live to any platform, it's smart to share the news on all of your social media accounts. You have a separate audience on each platform (even if some of the same individuals follow you on multiple platforms), so your job is to get them all to the same place to watch your live broadcasts.
The easiest way to do this is with a Hootsuite account. Their free accounts allow you to connect up to three social media accounts, and their paid accounts allow for unlimited connections. Prior to going live, type a message in Hootsuite along the following lines:
"Hey! I'm currently LIVE on [platform you are streaming to] to discuss [main 2-3 topics]. Check it out here:"
Select the social media accounts that you wish to send this message to and wait. Once you go live, grab your stream's link and post it into the Hootsuite message like so:
"Hey! I'm currently LIVE on [platform you are streaming to] to discuss [main 2-3 topics]. Check it out here: [link]."
Now post the message via Hootsuite. The message will appear on all connected social media accounts, which can create an influx of additional viewers.
Verbal calls-to-action
Live video gives you a unique opportunity to connect and communicate with your audience. Make the most of this by telling them exactly what you want them to do.
Livestreamers commonly say, "Share this video onto your own Timeline or with a friend." This is another way to increase your audience base. Every additional place where your video appears is another chance for someone else to see it. This also works after the broadcast is over — the video link will still direct viewers to an on-demand version of your broadcast.
At least two to three times per broadcast, ask viewers to share your video:
- After the introduction of yourself or the participants
- In the middle of the broadcast during a transition
- At the end of the broadcast before you sign off
The repetition drills the request into viewers' minds and increases the odds that they'll share your production with their own followers and friends.
Visual calls-to-action
Verbal call-to-actions are nice, but visual call-to-actions are even better. You can only ask your viewers to do a task so many times before you start to sound overly repetitive. Graphics, however, can be used much more frequently.
Create some transparent .png files to add to your live video. Common phrases for these .png files include:
- Subscribe/Follow Now!
- Catch us every Wednesday at 2 p.m.!
- Share this video with a friend!
- Follow us @SwitcherStudio!
These graphics can be left on the screen for great lengths of time — even the entire stream. Some streamers stack the graphics so that two or three are on-screen at once as a border of sorts. These calls-to-action are highly effective at prompting viewers to share your videos before you even go off-air.
Promoting your live videos after your stream
Share links and clips on social media
You already advertised that you were live when your broadcast began. Now it's time to advertise that your followers can still view your stream on-demand. Load up your trusted Hootsuite account once more and type something like the following:
"Want to learn more about [2-3 main topics]? Tune in to the latest episode of [show's name] to learn the latest developments: [link]."
Post this to all of your social media channels once more. This drives traffic to your video post-broadcast and leads to audience growth prior to your next live video.
Take some time to segment a few 15- to 30-second clips from your broadcast as well, ideally some of the highlights or most entertaining moments. Post these to social media throughout the week with a tagline such as:
"There's more content like this available online. Check out the full stream at: [link]."
These teaser clips will entice your followers to check out more of the action on the full-length broadcast, also netting you another audience member.
Fill your page or group with followers
The more followers you have, the more people who have an opportunity to see your social media promotions. Some social media platforms are easier to grow than others.
For Facebook pages, there is an option for admins to invite all of their personal friends to like the page. This often leads to an explosion of hundreds of new followers within 24-48 hours. Have all admins of the page invite their friends to like the page. You can also ask viewers during the broadcast to invite their friends to like your page as well.
For Twitter and Instagram accounts, post the link to your most recent video as the link in your bio. Take some time each day to search through hashtags relevant to your video. Like and comment on some of those other tweets and posts. This encourages their authors to look at your account. Since they are interested in similar content, their views lead to an increased audience on your account, and, by proxy, an increased audience for your videos.
Arrange cross-promotion
An easy way to grow your audience is to help another streamer's audience grow as well. Reach out to a fellow streamer prior to your next broadcast and ask to feature them on your stream. The feature can be done in a number of ways:
- Conduct an interview with them on your next stream in one of the following methods:
- Live in the room with you
- Remotely via video-conferencing software
- Prerecorded interview (either in-person or remote)
- Take a clip from one of their best videos and feature it on your stream. Describe what makes the clip so great.
Make sure to tag your guest's handle in your video's description. This will push it out to their own feed. Most guests will also share/retweet your content in return with a "Check me out" notification, giving you even more of an audience reach.
Building an audience requires not only that you promote your videos but also that you create compelling content on a regular basis. Be sure to subscribe to our blog to get all the latest live video strategy and tech tips to help you plan and create your live video content.
