Modern audiences continue to change as the technology they use becomes more and more capable. As little as 20 years ago, streaming video content over the internet was considered time-consuming and difficult. But, as technology improved, video streaming started to become faster and easier to do with higher-quality content.
Nowadays, almost anyone with a phone can livestream video over the internet from almost anywhere on the planet where they have reasonable signal strength. Live streaming is the future of how influencers will build up their fan bases and drive fan engagement on social media.
Evidence of the transition to live streaming
1: The Growth of Video Streaming Services
The video streaming industry has been working for years to build up high-quality content to engage their customers. For example, in a guest post for Mad Marketer, FanHero CEO Christopher Cooper pointed out how “Netflix, which hiked its monthly subscription rates in late 2016 and put the additional revenue toward developing more high-quality original content for 2017.” The “traditional” streaming service has found great success with exclusive shows such as Daredevil and Jessica Jones.
This focus on unique content and the consumer response to it just goes to show how eager consumers are for a unique experience, which is something that live streaming excels at providing.
2: The Prevalence of People Watching Video On Mobile Over Television
Another bit of evidence for the rise of live streaming can be found in the Ericsson ConsumerLab TV and Media Study (2016). According to the study, in 2010, about 5% of TV users were labeled “Mobility-Centric,” or using primarily their mobile device screens for viewing TV/video content. By contrast, in 2016, 20% of viewers are now considered “Mobility-Centric” according to that same study. In that same time, the share of “TV Couch Traditionalist” viewers shrank from 20% in 2010 down to 14% in 2016.
More people are viewing video on their smartphones/tablets than on their big screens from the couch these days.
3: The Growth of Live Streaming Apps and Facebook Live
Ericsson released a post earlier titled “The Latest Social Media Trend: Live Streaming.” In the post, Ericsson highlighted a statistic about Facebook’s 1.6 billion+ users: “One-third of Facebook users on smartphones across 14 markets claim that they have watched a live video of a celebrity, politician or another influencer over the Facebook app before Facebook Live was launched to all users globally in April 2016.”
In the year following the launch of Facebook Live, “one in every five Facebook videos is a live broadcast – and over the past year, daily watch time for Facebook Live broadcasts has grown by more than 4x” according to Fidji Simo, Facebook’s head of video.
Facebook’s own adoption of live streaming could be in response to the popularity of other live streaming services such as Periscope or Twitch. These live streaming services could be set to grow even more since, according to Ericsson, “the proportion of smartphone users accessing live video apps is likely to triple in the US, driving growth in wireless data traffic that is both cellular and Wi-Fi.”
Why influencers need to live stream content
Live streaming content is something that every influencer should do because it can help you meet several goals, such as:
- Improving Fan Engagement. Live streaming videos can help drive fan engagement by providing that in-the-now feeling that recorded video segments may lack. It makes fans feel more like they’re a part of the proceedings and getting an inside view—driving engagement.
- Adding New Monetization Options. With pay-per-view and subscription strategies, influencers can turn their live streams into new opportunities to monetize their fans.
- Attracting New Fans. A public live stream event can help to capture the attention of new fans—especially if the influencer’s current fans share those live streams with their friends as they’re happening. This creates a great opportunity to earn new fans with fun, engaging, or informative live streams.
- Drawing Attention to a Specific Event. Giving fans a live announcement of a specific event is an effective way for influencers to raise awareness about the event. Or, influencers can stream the event itself for their fans to see!
Video live streaming is the future of fan engagement. However, influencers need the right tools to make the most of it—tools such as white-label apps that support pay-per-view, subscription, and live streaming services.
Want to know more about how you can use live streaming as an influencer? With over 30 years combined experience in the mobile solutions space, we’ve built hundreds of personal apps for celebrities and influencers to help build their reach into the millions. Contact the experts at FanHero to begin expanding your audience engagement.
