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You press the live button and the viewership doesn't change.
You assume it's a technical issue and open another screen to see if it shows up. It works. The counter shows one viewer, but goes back to zero when you close the second screen.
What happens when crickets are the only ones attending your brand's live podcast, video show, or webinar?
I asked this question on LinkedIn and Qwoted to see what the marketers had to say. Your answers make me rethink the definition and value of “live” content in a marketing strategy.
Hear from viewers
“What are the advantages of a live stream? There’s only one thing: interaction with the audience,” says Chris Inman, president of IDEA Cleveland, an agency that works with small businesses on video marketing content.
This benefit was recently highlighted in a live video tutorial on a product feature hosted by RecurPost. Marketing manager Debbie Moran said someone commented on an issue that had arisen, prompting the company to immediately begin fixing the error.
“Sometimes even a single valuable answer on the livestream can be immensely helpful,” says Debbie.
Get more juice from reps
As the author of “Going Live: Live Podcasting for the Win,” Christoph Trappe seems to be the one who always champions live. But, he says, it depends on your brand's goals.
Who cares about the total number when a small audience includes the right viewers?
Christoph says that you can reach more audiences with your live videos through a multi-stream approach. Go live with your broadcast on X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Amazon Live, etc. – wherever your audience is.
And many people also watch live streams in replay. A LinkedIn live stream with 200 live viewers could reach another 300 when replayed because the platform's algorithm serves it to people at different times.
But if no one is watching on any of these channels, should you move on?
Christopher says yes. “Would you abandon a content strategy just because no one is watching when you start? Would you ever do anything? Would you ever do a blog? …So don't give up too quickly.
“Put some emotion behind it and actually do it for a while,” he suggests.
Reuse live content
RecurPost's Debbie Moran says her team turns livestreams into clips, blog posts and social media updates: “It's like baking a cake and then using the same ingredients for cupcakes and cookies – more treats for everyone.”
Christoph Trappe uses an AI tool called Opus Clips to create video clips from his live streams. He also suggests that marketers optimize their live streams around keyword research and turn the resulting videos into longer written content.
Question the virtues of life
When no one is looking, you and your team should ask two questions, says Amy Higgins, principal of Amy Higgins Consulting:
- What experience do you create through the live event?
- What resources are available for working on the videos?
The answers can help you shape your next steps.
With a live stream, you can't edit out glitches, and that spontaneity can lead to more fun for hosts and viewers. It also reduces rework from the team or agency.
But with pre-recorded videos, you can polish the content to provide a more professional experience, but it takes more time to execute. Presenters may also feel more relaxed without the pressure of live streaming.
Chris Inman of IDEA Cleveland says he's never seen a situation where a live webinar works better than a video-on-demand webinar. “We all want instant gratification in our free time, not in others,” he says.
Experience live and recorded
Last September, Rhea Landholm, communications manager at the Center for Rural Affairs, hosted a live event with a pre-recorded video to mark the center's 50th anniversary.
Three people were watching. “I felt like I was talking to myself in the chat,” she says.
It's not that she didn't promote the event. Rhea posted the event on the organization's website, created a Facebook event, and promoted it on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram. She set up YouTube Premiere so that anyone who visited the channel seven days before the live release would know about the debut. And she promoted it in the center's newsletter, which went out to 17,000 people.
“We had never done a premiere before and I was hoping this would be a way to bring some of our constituents together,” Rhea says.
Although only three people showed up that first night, their efforts paid off. The video has since been viewed 411 times, which is a good number for the center.
And Rhea did what the other experts in this article recommended: she maximized the content. A three-minute version autoplays when people visit the center's YouTube page (where it garnered 50 views in the following months).
It wasn't the first time the Center for Rural Affairs came online. In 2020, the organization launched a weekly livestream called “Rural Rapport” in which its employees discussed their work. But in 2022, Rural Rapport began airing monthly as a recorded program featuring partners and constituents impacted by the center's work.
According to Rhea, the staff and guests involved in the videos prefer the recorded option and the switch has not impacted viewership. “We don’t treat recordings and live videos differently. It’s just more comfortable,” she says.
Tweet for live video
So if the crickets are the only ones showing up for your live content, don't stop there. But make the most of what you do and how you do it.
Pre-record content and show up live to take comments, share links, and engage with the community. Experience the show live on multiple platforms where your audience is. Package the live content into assets for your blog, social media, and more.
A multi-use strategy will ultimately replace those crickets with people consuming and responding to your content.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
