Live online video has emerged as an engagement tool for businesses looking to cut through the clutter of communicating with internal and external audiences. It is now common place to see companies doing streams of launches and announcements on the internet, but we have moved into a new phase where live video isn’t just being used as a passive instrument. Businesses now recognise that streaming can be the linchpin of a fully integrated campaign and are using video to provide richer forms of customer engagement and transform best practices in corporate outreach.
A survey that we recently conducted identified that 55% of organisations plan to expand their use of online video in 2014.
The Business of Being Creative
One campaign that demonstrates how live streaming can sit at the heart of a marketing programme is that of Honest Tea. The company set up pop-up kiosks in cities across the US that vended its drink based on customers adhering to the ‘honour system’ of payment. Using a live video feed, they were able to weigh up which city was the most honest and has set up an ‘honesty index’ that assesses individuals’ honesty profiles based on location, appearance and gender. Viewers watched who was approaching the kiosk and could decide whether that person would be honest and pay for their drink or choose not to.
Businesses are getting really creative with how video can optimise reach and generate value and not just in the B2C sector. Companies are using video to communicate with business and internal audiences too, for example to run training events in a more cost effective and engaging way.
Streaming for enterprise also needs to recognise viewing platform as a further key to better customer engagement. Mobile is core to today’s market and businesses should be streaming videos that are optimised for mobile viewing and engagement.
Getting it Right
One question often asked is whether live streaming poses risks in terms of the potential for things to go wrong and damage company reputation. In my experience Twitter presents a far greater risk to enterprises concerned about reputation management. For businesses new to video streaming, or those working on sensitive projects, there is the option of time shift, so that whatever goes out ‘live’ is vetted - but there are some trade-offs on aspects such as interactivity.
Any good streaming service provider should be able to guide you through the process with advice on the pitfalls to watch out for and how to get the best customer experiences with help on how to direct a film to choosing the best video equipment.
Customer engagement is an area that marketers are keen to exploit through video content. While most basic video platforms are free to use, the paid for services tend to be of more interest to enterprise customers who wish to bypass the advertising support elements and provide a branded experience to their viewers.
Customer capture and follow-up tools are often available with ‘gates’ in the service that collect customer information for marketers to act upon. With the potential to reach large audiences, one of the biggest audiences for a streamed video was for Sony’s PS4 announcement in 2013 where 16m people watched the live or replayed broadcast, the opportunity for engagement and data capture should not be overlooked. This again plays to the opportunity to use video as a catalyst for more than just passive broadcast and places the tool at the heart of integrated campaigns.
Putting Pressure on the Network
With video traffic fuelling massive growth in global IP traffic, the impact on network infrastructure is high on the agenda of operators and service providers. Cisco estimates that video will account for 79% of global IP traffic by 2018 and that total traffic will triple from 2013 consumption levels to 1.6 zettabytes in this time frame.
Networks don’t want to get overloaded and businesses streaming video don’t want quality issues. There are tools that can help with traffic management when there are high numbers of customers streaming the same feed. This means that video streaming has a lesser impact on the network and makes sure that viewers get the best streaming experience.
Streaming into the Future
The opportunities presented by video streaming won’t be held back by a lack of network capacity. I am confident that our industry has the innovative skills to continue to develop services that help businesses interact with their audiences. The benefits of increased customer engagement, data capture and wider access to streaming video across multiple devices will continue to fuel the adoption of video streaming in the enterprise arena.
By Dr. Gyula Feher, founder and CTO of Ustream.
PrivSec Conferences will bring together leading speakers and experts from privacy and security to deliver compelling content via solo presentations, panel discussions, debates, roundtables and workshops.
For more information on upcoming events, visit the website.
comments powered by Disqus