Wait, LinkedIn Live is going to be a thing?

About time, right? Just on the heels of finally incorporating video into their platform, LinkedIn announced that they will be offering the ability to stream live. Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram are doing it, why not LinkedIn?

Currently in beta in the United States, LinkedIn Live is going to be another tidal wave of innovative media hitting it’s platform. Now is the time to position yourself on your video marketing boogie board right on top of that wave!

Is this going to be a game changer?

My vote? Absolutely! Right now video is at an all time high and being a video marketing agency, we can see the writing on the wall. What is it saying? Video is going to evolve and it’s going to be used more and more. LinkedIn live is just the beginning of helping businesses connect on a much more personal level.

The question every company should be asking is not if they should be using video, but how they should be using it. Being able to live stream opens many doors from conferencing, Q and A’s, live events, and drop-ins. Further down this article, we’ll give you some ideas on how you can do just that.

The Professional Stream

I’ve had direct experience with live streaming for different projects both professional and personal and they’ve been hit or miss, or even sometimes downright toxic. The major problem is the platform. The major streaming platforms we’ve used were YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/Periscope. I would not always call these platforms “professional” as there is a certain anonymity your audience has when connecting and a lot of times this is a loud bugle horn for trolls.

However, LinkedIn Live is attached directly to your professional account. The likelihood of having a more professional streaming experience is far higher than any other platform and this is big news for B2B.

Okay great! I’m in! Wait, what am I supposed to do with it?

Everyone wants to be ahead of the curve on the latest and greatest, but when they sit down and look at that blank piece of paper, reality sets in real quick. What are you supposed to do with this awesome tool? Well, here are a few ideas but I challenge you to do something different, experiment, try something new. Your sales team will thank you for it!

Conference

Have you ever been invited to an event but, man, it’s way across town! Well, do a live stream and invite your key stakeholders and clients. Webinars or Online Conferences are nothing new by any stretch of the imagination, but it will be for a time on LinkedIn Live. Be the first handful of adopters to connect your business with an audience.

Big Announcements

They say television is dead because unless you have a DVR, you’ll miss the shows that are on at specific times of day. But live events are still very much a thing today.

Why?

Because it creates urgency. It’s different if you’re telling a story about dragons, kings, queens and an iron throne. An exciting product announcement that is streamed live creates urgency and ultimately amplifies the excitement.

Or how about an announcement for a new hire? We’re all curious beings and adding live announcements to your Marketing and PR creates comradery and transparency with your audience.

Q&As and Drop-ins

Are you an influencer? A mentor? An expert? If you’re on LinkedIn, chances are you have something to say and the knowledge to back it up.

Offering a live streaming time to answer questions or give advice is a good approach to starting your first live stream. If you can get over the in-front-of-camera nerves, you can be the go-to thought leader in your industry or niche.

You invested the years learning it, so spend it!

Get your Live studio ready!

The Technicals

The scope of this article won’t dive heavily into the type of camera, sound equipment, lights and more. That might be an entirely separate article later. But you should know a few pitfalls. Here are two things you should know about a few things going forward.

Camera

Unless you’re fine with using a webcam (and there’s nothing wrong with that!) the camera will be your biggest hurdle. There are many to choose from; good, bad, and depends. The real pitfall you should know about is that some cameras, outside of a webcam, are sometimes not suitable by themselves for live streaming.

For example, DSLRs are the go-to camera for small in-house studios, but depending on the software, connecting the camera to a computer may or may not work for streaming. There are several ways you can accomplish this, but generally speaking it would require separate software or a capture card / capture box. Reach out to us to learn more!

Software

Having a straight to LinkedIn Live stream would be great, but what if you want to kick it up a notch? Try a broadcasting software like OBS or SteamLabs OBS. They offer an entire array of features like live green screen keying, overlays, real time chat, donations, and much more.

Want your business to feel like it owns it’s very own network? Try Open Broadcaster Software.

Off to the races!

There are no rules, only tips, tricks and experimentation. So start trying it out with what you feel your audience would want to see.Check out our article on creating Engagement and Shareability. It’ll help!

Don’t be shy, we’re all in this together!

Feel free to reach out any time as advice is always free from me!