Intro
In this Friday Lives episode, host Anya Razina spoke with Brian Solis, Global Innovation Evangelist at Salesforce, eight-time Best-Selling Author, and Digital Anthropologist. They talked about tech evangelism, digital Darwinism, and the future of live streaming for business.
👀 Why should businesses care about digital Darwinism?
According to Brian, we live in the age of digital Darwinism. It means that nowadays, technology changes very fast, and these changes have a strong societal influence on us. To put it simply, companies need to understand their customers and the world they live in. Digital Darwinism will help them see new opportunities and become the first to respond to the digitized world's unique needs.
👉 Live streaming’s place in the age of digital Darwinism
One of the most drastic changes of the last year was obviously the fast development of the live streaming industry. People were forced to find new ways of communication during these isolated times.
The most exciting part of broadcasting for Brian was multitasking. Live streamers have to think about everything from microphones to background designs. However, he believes that, with some simple software, multitasking becomes way easier.
For example, Restream offers many cool features that will help you manage your broadcasts without any problems. Restream Studio allows you to stream (and multistream!) right from your browser. Restream supports the most popular platforms, like YouTube and Facebook, so you can reach a bigger audience with less effort. With Restream Events, efficiently schedule and manage broadcasts for multiple platforms on one page. Another great feature, Restream Chat, lets you moderate and manage all the comments from several platforms.
🤔 Why do businesses hesitate to use live streaming’s potential?
Brian believes new companies aren't necessarily aware of the benefits live streaming can bring them. Some of them can also be a bit critical about new technologies in general. These traditional mindsets take the platforms and say, "How much is it going to cost us? What's the ROI of making these investments?"
Entrepreneurs feel hesitant because they might not know how to measure the effect of live streaming.
🚀 The reason to live stream
Even though live streaming outcomes can't be measured in definitive numbers like the increased amount of sold products, it can be effective in the future. Building a loyal community can level up your general brand awareness and extend your influence in the industry. How do you achieve that?
The first piece of advice from Brian is to sort out the incremental outcomes that will have value to you and other people. That's where you can unleash the underestimated power of thought leadership — helping people. It creates a natural reciprocal response.
People feel like they owe you thanks. And people will express those thanks in multiple ways.
So, suppose your content is valuable and evokes a response in the audience. In that case, viewers will convert into a community interested in your product.
Another cool trick from Brian is to change the I in the ROI acronym from investment to ignorance. What's the return on ignorance? You can actually play out models that show that if you are not visible to communities looking for insight or thought leadership, you are not part of the decision equation.
💥 The best way to approach a business live stream
For Brian, if you want to use live streaming for business, you should start with the right questions. Instead of asking how to use broadcasting to grow your business, try to think about using it to connect with the audience: What value can you deliver them through live video? By answering this question, you will find your live stream's purpose, whether it is a new product presentation or an interview with the company's CEO. Creating valuable content will attract new people and help you build a strong community.
Wrapping up
Despite living in a digitized world, some companies still have a negative mindset about new technologies such as live streaming. One of the reasons for this skeptical perspective is that measuring digital activities' effectiveness cannot be as evident as other ways of business promotion.
The best way to approach live streaming is to think about the value you can create. If the audience finds it valuable and interesting, the viewers will respond with gratitude. Therefore, your business will get a bigger and more loyal audience interested in your brand and products.
Thanks to Brian Solis for sharing all his insights about live streaming for business!
