This year, the NFL announced it will live stream Thursday Night Football games on Twitter, Facebook launched its new video streaming capabilities through Facebook Live, and in 2014 Snapchat experienced a growth of 57 percent. The idea of video streaming via social media is clearly an idea that is sticking with consumers and driving high adoption rates. Marketers and advertising professionals are beginning to leverage these live streaming platforms through things like sponsored geo-tags on Snapchat, but what will this mean for PR pros? Will live video streaming become a new tool used for announcements and brand campaigns?
The Rise of Images and the Fall of Text
In Mary Meeker’s 2016 Internet Trend Report, she notes that the leading social networks are those that focus on visuals, with Snapchat holding the no. 1 spot for monthly minutes-per-visitor, and Instagram not far behind it. The two apps with the lowest average monthly minutes-per-visitor are Twitter and LinkedIn, both apps that are text-heavy.
While I don’t think the press release is in danger of going extinct, it does beg the question: Will companies need to incorporate more videos and images to help spread awareness of their announcements?
For example, SpaceX and Blue Origin are both making impressive strides in the space industry, and while footage of a launch almost always appears shortly after the fact, would the companies be able to garner more attention for the strides they are making if they were live-streaming it via one of these platforms? Companies that have visually compelling news are likely considering how to be more creative by announcing the news through semi-live and live video streaming. (Semi-live is video that viewers can see limited period of time after it is filmed e.g. Snapchat videos must be viewed within 24 hours of being posted).
Users-Generated Content
As we all know, not all editorial coverage results from large company announcements or press releases. Sometimes coverage is the result of a proactive pitch that leads to a features story or commenting on a relevant trend. However, with live video streaming, consumers are joining the conversation like never before and sharing real-time, authentic reactions. One of the most recent examples of this was from Candace Payne, better known as “Chewbacca Mom.”
Payne recently posted a live video of herself laughing hysterically after purchasing a Chewbacca mask that made the famous Wookie noise. The video had over 150 million views on Facebook Live and resulted in her appearing on Good Morning America, The Late Late Show, and throwing the first pitch at a Tampa Bay Rays game for Star Wars night. But the real PR story here is how Kohl’s leveraged the entire event. In the video, Payne noted that she made the purchase of the mask at Kohl’s and within 24 hours of the video going viral, Kohl’s sent Payne a set of masks for the whole family, $2,500 in gift cards, and 10,000 reward points for her birthday. This move resulted in more coverage for Kohl’s and massive sharing of the event across social media platforms.
Video streaming is experiencing significant growth and adoption and brands are seeing the benefits it presents for marketing. Creating innovative and original content is the best way to capture attention and PR professionals can now begin to develop creative ways to leverage authentic user content and video streaming to continue enticing the interest of their desired audience.
For more insight into using video, please check out these links: