Using streaming services in marketing is a tricky thing. As we talk about streaming, understand that there are two ways to use streaming in your marketing strategy.
- Live-stream your own content
- Advertise on a streaming service platform (Hulu, Sling TV, etc.)
Live-streaming Your Content
Live-streaming your own content on social media is fairly simple, and a huge win across the board. You’re humanizing your business as well as playing ball with what every social media platform wants you to do: create video.
Your social media strategy is based around making human connections with an audience. Video got you a step closer, but live video is as vulnerable as it gets when it comes to humanizing a brand.
If you’ve ever done a live stream, you know that without fail, something goes unexpectedly every single time. Users love to see us struggle through these situations (and are hopefully rooting for us!). Social media platforms love that their users love it, so they’re pushing it on us constantly.
Sure, when you start a live stream on Instagram, there’s no going back. You can stop your live stream or “power through” the difficult parts (like we all have).
The extra benefit, though, is that you now have a huge piece of content in the form of a full-length video to put on your website, your other social media pages, YouTube… anywhere you want!
This also brings into question the other elephant in the room. When you live stream on Instagram, who are you talking to? Are you talking to the audience who’s live with you, or are you talking to the audience watching the live-stream-but-now-just-video days later?
The answer to that question is murky with big businesses, but for small business owners, it’s a simple answer: you’re talking to your live audience.
There’s two reasons why:
- Your live audience will rarely be large enough to cannibalize attention away from your planned content
- Apart from your personalizated messaging to these people in this moment, your live audience has no added benefit to watching while you’re live. You’ll want to encourage watching your live content while you’re live.
Live streaming is gaining popularity, and doesn’t require a ton of planning in advance- it’s live! Go live now instead of later, because you can bet your competitors are already doing it.
Over-The-Top (OTT) Video Streaming Services
Video streaming is not the same as TV commercials: let’s get that out of the way first.
OTT, or Over-the-top, is online video advertising with targeted commercials through streaming services like Hulu, Sling TV, and any other streaming service that uses commercials (notice Netflix and Disney+ weren’t mentioned).
TV commercials, on the other hand, are broadcast to an audience you don’t choose yourself, nor can you report on the results you’ve achieved. Fine for national companies like P&G where everyone buys their product and they don’t care which state sees their ad, but horrible for small businesses.
The truth is, I rarely use this form of advertising in my marketing mix. It’s not bad by any means, and if you know your customers are watching a ton of Game of Thrones or Titan Games, advertising on Hulu is a clear victory.
However, I tend to use video assets with YouTube video campaigns first. Only if I feel like I’m missing out on an important audience for my client’s business do I add an OTT element.
The other reason I avoid it is the access. I’ve run OTT through a marketing platform that costs hundreds of dollars per month, and I’ve run it directly through a salesperson. Either way, the setup is intense, the advertising is extremely high in the buying funnel, and I can report minimally on the results.
If you’ve tried other tactics, however, and this is still interesting, definitely give it a shot! When it comes to the actual advertising, you’re really not more expensive or more targeted than other marketing techniques. You never know how it works with your business until you try.
If you’re looking at advertising with OTT and want to talk it over with a professional, let’s get in touch to see what platforms would work best for you!
If you’re in a decent place with your streaming decisions, check out these articles where I reference the good, the bad and the ugly of buying OTT for your business.
