Good morning, Marketers, and should you be paying attention to live streaming?
As everyone knows, live streaming in all its various forms has taken off over the last six months, and for obvious reasons. Not that it’s new: it all started, some say, about 20 years ago.
Now it’s being suggested by some commentators that the growth in popularity of live streaming isn’t something that will pass; it’s not dependent, they say, on the health crisis; rather it’s a valid form of entertainment that will retain and grow its audience. The technology was already there, the pandemic has accelerated both the creation of content and the demand for it. A perfect combination.
Why is live streaming popular? Apparently because it’s… well… live. Which means it’s unedited and puts the audience “in the moment.” A bit like live TV, I want to say, and does anyone else remember radio? But the big difference, of course, is that it’s interactive—just the kind of engagement we all demand in an era where we all not only have opinions, but can publish them to the world in a few clicks.
Kim Davis
Editorial Director, MarTech Today