Dive Brief:
- New research from Brandlive, a live video streaming company, found that 44% of companies have created live video in the last year and 20% are planning on doing so within the next year.
- Popular use cases for live video include sales rep training, streaming physical events, consumer marketing and product launches.
- The main perceived benefit of live video is adding an authentic human element to digital communication, with 79% of respondents citing a more authentic interaction with the audience, and 63% citing the fact that it brings a human element to digital marketing.
Dive Insight:
Live streaming video was on par with pre-recorded video in terms of marketing priorities and budgeting for 2016, according to the research. The results indicated a number of innovative consumer product brands and retailers see live streaming as the next potentially important digital communication channel.
Around half of the respondents reported using external resources to help with the audio and video production aspects of live video, something the report pointed out was similar to early adoption of other digital marketing channels such as email and social media.
“Based on the results of this survey, the unique advantages that live streaming video provides for businesses—adding authentic human interaction to digital communication, creating new video content for re-purposing later, enabling real-time audience interaction—will lead to increased use by consumer product brands and retailers in 2016,” the report concludes.
In particular, mobile live-stream video is an increasingly popular format for users and attractive channel for marketers. Live streaming app Periscope announced in August that it reached 10 million users in just four and half months.