How can you leverage live streaming to engage and monetize your audience?

Si vous voulez partager des contenus de qualité ou encore orienté professionnels, définitivement LinkedIn est le réseau le plus approprié, non seulement vous créez une communauté mais surtout vous créez un espace de partage entre professionnels ce qui augmentera certainement votre aura professionnel.

If you are trying to reach a professional audience, LinkedIn is a great platform for going Live. Many members have told me they see a lot of success with Live Events on LinkedIn to interact with their followers or create awareness / consideration for a product they are trying to sell.

Live is all about audience retention because live content needs to be enjoyed in real time. Otherwise, it would be video on demand, right? ;) So, besides the content needing to be compelling enough for viewers to stay on, you need to pick a platform whose audience is used to long watch sessions. While TikTok might be challenging YouTube in daily watch session length, the truth is YouTube is king when it comes to audience preference of long form content. So audiences on YouTube might stick around longer on a live stream compared to a TikTok audience.

Fish where the fish are. Where does your audience already spend time? Who do they trust? What content formats do they prefer? Once you understand who your audience is, you can tailor your content strategy to meet their needs.

LinkedIn live has been very good for me and many creators to bond with and increase our engagement with our community. TikTok live is a great place to do the same and really helps grow your community. 🚀

Before you go live you need to test the live. This actually is a great way to build an audience as well. I always do a test run on all platforms so I can see: - How my broadcast software works - Where my audience likes to view live shows (for me it’s YouTube) - and check to see how everything looks from a viewers perspective

“If I had 8 hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend 6 hours sharpening my axe.” Be intentional about your content strategy. Planning it out in advance will allow you to have the greatest impact.

I write my content on the weekends (where there are fewer meetings and notifications so I feel most creative and unbothered), and plan mo content for that week, with some content scheduled for certain days/times. I recommend Notion for content planning.

The key to getting live viewers is to make it easy for people to understand how, when, and where to watch it. One way that I do this is by including a link and instructions on how to watch in every post I do that has to do with the event. This serves as a reminder to your audience and head to expand the reach of your stream

In many cases, much of your audience won't actually view the stream live, so make sure it's optimized for video-on-demand viewing after the fact. You can then promote the video via social media, on your website, or an email newsletter to get further mileage out of the content.

Live allows you to interact with your subscribers in a unique way, answering their questions in real time, and sharing relevant information in the moment. It's a golden opportunity to exchange ideas, share knowledge and build trust. If you haven't already done so, I encourage you to give it a try. Share your knowledge, your experiences, or simply take a behind-the-scenes look at your business. Live streams create stronger links with your audience, showcase your expertise, and bring out your personality. Don't forget to promote your live streams in advance so your subscribers can prepare. Use announcements, stories, and share teasers to build excitement. 🌟 #LinkedInLive #ContenuEnDirect #Connexion

Remember, live streams are only half of the content. The other half is in post production AFTER The live event ends. What content can you spin off from that 1-hour livestream? Clips, takeaways, carousels, short form videos, etc.

Live streaming is all about engaging your audience in a way that keeps them intrigued so they stay. If you don't engage your audience, you'll lose them. Authenticity is key🔑 You being you, will attract the exact right people to you and repel the wrong ones. Ensure your audience understands how to interact with you on the platform. Walk through the basics of where the emojis are and how to share, and how to interact with you throughout the live stream. As additional people enter, engage them and thoughtfully welcome them.

One trick to engaging with your audience is asking viewers to comment a particular word/phrase as you go. So if you’re talking about how to monetize content you can say, “Say ‘Monetize’ if you want to learn how to monetize your content”. Doing this keeps people engaged and you can see your audience wants to hear/see the most

Livestream viewers are there to connect with you. To make the connection work you either need to answer their questions or acknowledge how they feel about the topic. They won’t listen to you until they feel you are listening to them. It’s meant to be a conversation, not a one way broadcast.

Now, this is easier said than done. Platforms don't make it very easy to properly engage with the live audience as live chat can just fly away. Literally. I highly recommend using 3rd party tools here to organise your live chat and analyse it so you can truly ask questions to your audience and see all of their answers automatically organised and analysed. The more you can properly react to your audience's chat, the more they will engage on that live stream.

Encourage viewers to actively participate in the chat during your live stream to maximize engagement. There are also a number of live streaming platforms like Maestro that can help create even more engaging live experiences for your audience.

While the traditional way to monetise a live stream is through asking for viewers to pay, there are other business models out there that will actually pay you and your audience for the live interaction. So don't feel like you always have to ask your audience to pay. Look out for other opportunities like live surveys that you can do where you can actually get paid instead.

If you host Livestreams then you should definitely try to get them sponsored. Because you can get 3x the amount you would on pre-produced content. Simply because it is both programmed and in demand content. Meaning that you are getting views both during the live stream and weeks or even months after it’s over. This happens with a strong SEO strategy and a plan for how the livestream can be repurposed into other types of content. Your livestream is both a live event and a long form video that can be repurposed into - Podcasts - Blogs - TikToks / Reels / Shorts - LinkedIn Carousels - Infographics - and even more Don’t just get a live-streamed sponsored, have a plan for how all pieces of content can be repurposed

There are more subtle, strategic, and indirect ways to get paid, that I first noticed on podcasts. It is to invite guests to be on your show who can hire you or refer you, as a way of both giving them a voice/platform and introducing yourself.

Analyzing your live streaming performance and improving your strategy is crucial. Use platform analytics tools and viewer feedback to track metrics and identify areas for improvement. This ongoing process will help you create a better experience for your audience.

One pro tip with improving your live streams - go back and read all of the comments from the live stream. Where and why did people engage at certain times? What could you have improved? Can you watch the recording again and see where you lose interest?

If you enjoy going live and truly adding value to your audience it can be time well spent. I know I’ve seen people go live and not even pay attention to their audience comments and as an audience member that can be very frustrating. Engage and appreciate your audience ✅

None of my LinkedIn Lives are sponsored. Instead of using my Live Streams as a source for revenue, I see them solely as a part of my content creation strategy. However, I do use all the expertise gleaned from going live for almost 3 years and have packaged that expertise in to professional live stream consultation and coaching.

I’m not a fan of shows that are overtly sponsored. A subtle “sponsored by” is fine, but if the host is constantly asking for donations, like I see on TikTok, I’ll turn it off.