What are the risks of using live streaming for brand awareness?

While live streaming enhances brand visibility, risks lurk in the spontaneity. Technical glitches, unscripted moments, or negative comments can harm your image. Mitigate risks by rehearsing, having a backup plan, and moderating comments. Maintain authenticity, as scripted content may backfire. Adidas faced backlash when a glitch revealed unfiltered comments during a live event. Strike a balance between spontaneity and preparation to harness the power of live streaming without stumbling into potential pitfalls.

It's required for business focused live streamers to have at least one backup channel because live streaming is prone to glitches. I use LinkedIn for audience building and YouTube for backup and on-demand access. It's a pretty good one-two combination. B2B audiences, especially on LinkedIn, are very tolerant of platform glitches. As well, trolling is exceedingly rare. There's a low risk, high reward opportunity here.

When engaging in live streaming for brand awareness, legal pitfalls can be lurking. Privacy breaches, copyright infringement, or inadvertently sharing sensitive information could lead to legal troubles. Mitigate risks by clearly outlining terms of use, securing permissions for content, and respecting intellectual property rights. Implement thorough moderation to filter out inappropriate or illegal content. Stay informed about regulations in your industry and geographic locations. A well-prepared legal framework ensures that your brand's live-streaming efforts remain entertaining and engaging without stumbling into legal jeopardy.

Depends on the organization you're representing. For most people and use cases, Fair Use is a perfectly fine cover unless you are reproducing copyrighted work verbatim (e.g. producing your own audiobook by reading is probably copyright infringement). Also, acquire licenses to use images and music from reputable sources. It's not hard and definitely worth it if you want some kind of background music or art.

There are going to be a lot of hurdles in using live streaming to actively promote your brand. unless you have built your brand presence around it (I.E. TikTok E-Commerce brands) it'll be tricky to integrate. Moreover, the risk of content quality extends beyond the live broadcast, as the video may be repurposed or shared later. Inconsistent or subpar content can leave a lasting negative impression on your brand. To mitigate this risk, invest time in honing your live-streaming skills, seeking feedback from your audience, and continuously refining your approach to ensure that each session aligns with your brand's image and provides meaningful value to your viewers.

And yet, being overly polished and produced is a great way to alienate an audience craving accessibility and authenticity. Take care to walk that sharp edge. You should know what you're going to talk about, but give room for interruption, tangents, and humor - don't be afraid to forget your train of thought from time to time. Your audience will be fine with it.

I've seen cases of people being flagged on YouTube for a community violation because they displayed a comment left by an audience member who had an inappropriate profile picture. So be very mindful of whose comments you decide to display and make sure they align with the platform you're streaming to. This is doubly important when you're streaming to MULTIPLE platforms with a tool like StreamYard.

For LinkedIn, this risk is very low. However, I have received trollish comments from time to time, and have learned to accept them as part of the landscape. The experience of live streaming on LinkedIn is well worth this risk. Other platforms are not as transparent and kind, and this may not hold true there.

Stress, burnout, fatigue, loss of privacy are very real considerations for frequent live streamers. I advocate setting realistic seasons for live stream shows to address this. Start with 6 episodes, take a break, see how you feel, extend if you still want to do it. It's ok to not want to continue. It's very ok to take breaks.

Beyond the listed risks of technical issues, legal concerns, content quality, audience interaction, and personal, and competitive risks, other considerations for live streaming include potential backlash from a lack of diversity and inclusion, as overlooking these aspects can harm your brand's reputation. Additionally, staying relevant in rapidly evolving online spaces poses a challenge, emphasizing the need for continuous innovation and adapting to emerging trends. Balancing spontaneity with a structured approach is crucial to maintaining authenticity while steering clear of unpredictable pitfalls during live streams, ultimately safeguarding and enhancing your brand's awareness and reputation.

A risk that isn't considered is the ability for individuals watching the stream to clip information out-of-context. The barrier to entry to do this is practically 0 with the ease of using AI tools, many creators stream for hours on end, and it is very simple to take moments/clips out of context. I would say keeping this in mind, you may want to be careful with how open you are in discussing certain topics, but also this may be an advantage because you can monetize/incentivize viewers to clip the stream to draw more attention to your channel.