Social Media Trends In 2018: Live Streaming [Infographic]

Simply, online consumers have reached a threshold by continuously going through repeated content that is just eye-catchy but has no unique content in it.

If you still think that recorded videos and video-on-demand services are the most preferred content by online audience, you should consider these facts on live videos.

Mobile devices — 3.5 minutes for livestreams vs. 2.8 minutes for VOD

Tablets — 7.1 minutes for livestreaming versus 4.1 minutes for VOD

Desktop — 35 minutes for livestreams versus 2.6 minutes for VOD

According to Tubular insights, viewers spend 8X longer time in live-videos as compared to video-on-demand.

With such a powerful scope, how can businesses make the best use of their live streaming strategy?

Here are some best practices to consider for your live streams, and gain optimal returns on your time and capital investments. Most importantly, grabbing your audience's attention.

There is a wide number of popular platforms that offer free livestreaming space like Facebook Live, YouTube, Periscope and Twitch. Depending on what your business caters, you can choose from the best platforms. It is recommended to go with the most relevant medium first rather than trying to push your live videos on diverse platforms.

For instance, if you are a business catering to sports activities, you can consider Twitch, as the platform will have a maximum number of your relevant audience. If your business is into Lifestyle or Fashion offerings, you can go for Facebook live or Periscope.

However, due to the increasing competition and data leak scams, using a dedicated live streaming platform can give your audience a personalized, distraction-free and safe live streaming experience.

Not much of promotion is needed if you are planning to stream your videos on the free media. If you are a business who's just kick-starting, there are options within the platforms to help you boost your streams and gain a greater audience reach.

If you are planning for dedicated live streaming, promoting the commencement of your live streaming event through Social media is a wise choice. The social media platforms like Facebook help you target your relevant audience and update them with the live event.

For instance, starting your promotional campaign a week before the stream, and giving them continuous posts daily with sleek taglines can make your brand name and the event date stay in your audience's minds.

A good strategy decides the fate of your efforts. The critical reason behind the audience preferring live videos from a brand is that it gives an opportunity for them to interact with the brand. They will be eager to connect with you during your streams and are going to ask you lots of questions. Actively replying for their comments or having a live chat feature behind the stream will gain a name that most brands crave from their audience, trust.

Below is an infographic from StreamHash that shows the psychology behind the immense interest on live videos, the trends by industry, top platforms and brands which embrace live streaming to give you more idea on why live streaming is the ideal space for your business.