Live streaming has been around for quite some time, but for much of its existence, it’s remained somewhat of a niche technology, predominantly seeing much of its growth in entertainment. In recent years, the market has boomed, with the market expected to grow, Yahoo! finance says, by over $25 billion from this year until 2026, showing a compound annual growth rate of 13 percent.
A big part of this is down to the rapidly increased adoption of live video platforms, like the Zoom platform, which has become crucial for business and as a facilitator of usual communications. Even before this drastic uptick in utilising live video, social media platforms were seeing its utility. SEJ reports that live videos generate an average of six times more interactions than standard videos on social media platforms, like Facebook. Live streaming is here to stay, and more and more businesses and even just enthusiasts are looking to get in on the tech.
Utilised beyond the streaming platforms
Anyone who has heard of live streaming often thinks either of the odd social media live show that they’ve seen on the scroll or the headline platforms like Twitch. Naturally, the entertainment scene is where you’ll see most of the live streaming action take place as covered here on Zainview. It offers a deeper, in-the-moment form of immersion that standard video doesn’t offer, which is why live casino games have become so popular. Betway roulette now has several of these live table games. They all put the players opposite a human croupier to play the physical game in real-time.
For the live casino games, it’s about the authenticity of engaging with a product opposite a trusted professional, and this is also true in the emerging world of live commerce. Well, in China, it’s very much a staple, according to the Wowza blog, with live commerce itself expected to grow to a market size of over $770 billion by next year. Taobao is the headline act in the Far East, which is owned by Alibaba, but is facing stiff competition from JD.com. It’s very much a niche in western markets, though, but platforms like Popshop live are certainly laying the foundations. Still being somewhat of a novelty, online shops that embrace live streaming can stand out and make the most of the increased immersion of viewers.
Where and how to make use of live streaming
There are many ways that you can go about using a live stream to complement your business or to monetise your blog, as covered on ZainView. Most starting out on their own tend to go down the on-video advertisements, but Adblock tools for platforms like Twitch do exist and are effective. Still, it’s something that can’t be avoided, with there being several popular platforms established for you to live stream to. So, it can be worth trying out a few to see where you can establish yourself. The FilmoraGo editing app lists Twitch, YouTube Live, and Facebook Live as the big three, but Periscope for Twitter and social TV platform Younow are also strong picks if you want to perhaps learn the ropes on slightly less socially-integrated sites.
Just as you can use Twitch save functions to save streams, you can also embed live streams from platforms like Twitch onto your website. So, to get a live stream onto your site, be it from your channel or a collaborator, you can just place the embed code from another platform. Alternatively, you can bring it all in-house. The Dacast guide lays out exactly what equipment you need to invest in to get going, from live streaming cameras to high-quality microphones. Then again, if you’re a shopping site and want to go a bit further than live commerce showing, you could utilise software like Confer With. It allows your team to give real-time advice on what to buy as though they’re in-store, making the experience more personalised for customers and effectively at their discretion.
Live streaming can offer a lot to those in entertainment, shopping, and even other sectors like online learning. Watching people online playing games and blogging continues to be popular, as covered by Zainview. Scheduling a live stream – particularly one with an incentive – automatically makes people want to tune in so that they don’t miss out. Once in, the live stream keeps viewers in the moment, making the online experience more authentic and personal. It looks to be a powerful component of businesses online in the years to come.
