Live video streaming is becoming more and more common on social media. Facebook Live is growing in popularity, and for good reason – research by NewsWhip shows engagement with live videos can reach into the hundreds of thousands.
For most school marketers, the decision to invest and pursue live streaming can be difficult to justify. But take a look at the following eight benefits of using live social streaming for your school and we might just be able to convince you to reconsider how this tool can support your marketing efforts.
1. Increased school exposure
Live video has the potential to increase your social reach and boost awareness of your school. Live streaming events, such as a webinar, allow you to break the geographical and physical limitations inherent in hosting your event, and promote it to a worldwide audience, in real time.
2. Creates rich content
Curated content is great for branding, but live video allows your audience to see ‘behind the scenes’ and catch a glimpse of your school without the highly polished finish. This type of content is something a lot of prospective parents haven’t seen before, and is often highly desirable.
3. Creates a sense of urgency
Live content is basically a ‘limited-time offer’, which creates a sense of urgency and FOMO (fear of missing out) amongst your customer base.
4. Gives your school an authentic, personal feel
The unscripted nature of live streaming presents the ‘real’ you. You are allowing prospective parents to look behind the veil and see your school as a living organism, made up of real people.
5. Offers a platform for interaction
Through Facebook Live, your audience can react to your video through likes and comments, which display in real time. This allows you the chance to engage with parents by answering their questions as they come up.
6. Adds an innovative edge to your school personality
Even though live streaming is becoming more popular, it’s by no means mainstream – even less so in schools. By jumping on board with live streaming you can position your school as innovative, especially if you were to apply this technology to a traditional marketing activity such as a conference, you can help differentiate yourself from the crowd.
7. It is cost effective
Traditional video production can be expensive. Live streaming, especially through Facebook, can be done with a mobile phone, most of which have pretty great cameras so the quality of the image will be high.
8. Allows you to capture real-time events
Got an important assembly you want to film but didn’t plan for it? That’s fine, live streaming can be done with a mobile, and gives you the chance to promote real-time events such as an awards ceremony.
