Live Streaming: An Essential Component of Content Marketing [Abbson Live Interview]

Neal Schaffer: 0:04

Welcome to maximize your social actionable advice on how your business can maximize your social media presence. Now, the host of maximize your social, social media author, speaker, consultant, founder of maximize social business, to Social Media Center of Excellence, and this social tool Summit, Neal Schaffer. Hey, everybody, Neal Schaffer, again here at maximize your social, the social tools summit was in late October of this year. But there's still a number of conversation I've had, which I've been publishing on a weekly basis in this podcast. And today, I want to share with you a conversation that I had with chat Abbott, the CEO of absent live apps, and live if you're not familiar, was the provider of our live streaming service. And we talked about an essential component of content marketing, that is often forgotten. So I hope you'll tune in his podcast, and listen to the interview and start to leverage what you hear I know that I will, will talk to you again soon. And here we go. Here's another edition of maximize your social Enjoy. Hey, everybody, this is Neal Schaffer. And welcome to another episode of maximize your social part of what I like to do here maximize your social is also, how do you take part in conversations and I have with many of the corporate social media professionals, or social media tools vendors that I meet at my own social tools, summit events. Recently, we had one in San Francisco. And I was really happy that for two times in a row, our live streaming provider was absent live, just you know, the best video streaming video marketing company that I have met. They're located in New York, right here on the line. I have Chad Abbott from apps and live. He's one of the partners in the firm. And he's here today to talk all about video, and live stream and marketing. I'm really excited for the conversation. Chad, welcome aboard. Thank you. It's great to have you here. And let's just start live streaming. So live streaming is not new, as you know, I had a client and we, you know, he he would do these live streams. And then you had Google Plus Hangouts and Google plus hangouts on air come out nuts, sort of what's the cool thing? Obviously, these days? The cool thing is, you know Meerkat, Periscope, Blab, in fact, right? At this concert I went to last night actually Periscope the first song.

Chad Abott: 2:38

I guess we're only we're the only one. Yeah, exactly.

Neal Schaffer: 2:42

And, you know, we the technology has gotten to the point now where with Ustream, it would have been a lot more complex. With Periscope, it just makes it so much easy. But But then again, when I looked at the playback, it's like, wow, the quality is not really, you know, the frames per se. Is this, like, five frames per second? Are you? Right? It didn't look that so. So tell me in the chat, tell us about, you know, defining sort of what live streaming is, and the boom that you see? And sort of what you know, where are we today with with the role of live streaming in, in marketing for brands?

Chad Abott: 3:11

Yeah, well, there's a lot there. Let's, you know, sort of start with where it's come from, and where it is, I think you're right, there's kind of this increased commonality in live streaming, and you're seeing it in more and more places, and with more and more brands. And I think that's, I think that's a really good thing, because I think video and especially live video has a power to captivate an audience online, like other forms of media do not. But as you're also mentioning, there's 1000 different ways to do it right now, some of them are easier than others. And some of them are much more high quality forms of content than others. And so it's a little confusing to a lot of people, there's a lot of different ways to get started. There's a lot of different ways you can head after you've gotten started. And I think the brands that are being successful with live video right now, are the ones who sort of have a strategy in place. It's sort of easy to just kind of throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. And in fact, I think that's a good way to start. But then you need to sort of narrow it down and see what's working with your audience. What not, and as you're mentioning, the network's like, Periscope and Meerkat, these brands are really low cost option. And, you know, there's really no barriers to entry, you just sort of turn the phone and do it. And, and anybody can can give it a try. And that's not a bad place to start. It's just that that doesn't work every time. It works. In some cases, it works for sort of really personal behind the scenes type content. It doesn't work on a broad scale with like a conference or an event or a product launch or something like that, because people as you mentioned, will be very frustrated with the quality and with the ability to do different angles and you know, even the ability to engage is very limited unless you're Keeping Twitter open right next to it or something like that. And so and so there's just a lot of options out there. And so part of what we do is help people figure out where to start, where to go, and how to how to leverage different platforms for different purposes. And to the second part of your question, which was, how it relates to broader marketing strategy, I think this is what's key. And that is understanding video and live video, especially, as a part an important part of a broader content marketing strategy. So as you're looking at brand content marketing strategies, which include blog posts, YouTube videos, ebooks, white papers, short form content on social, this can play a part in a lot of those different areas. And, you know, give you an example of the social tools conference, you know, we'll, we'll engage people on a live basis during the conference, which is the primary function of live video. But we'll also create lots of different other types of content that go hand in hand with other parts of your content marketing strategy, videos, and blog posts, videos on social segments of them usable as small quotes on Twitter, things like this. And so you're sort of buying into a larger investment that helps your content marketing strategy on the whole. Does that make sense?

Neal Schaffer: 6:29

It totally does. And it's the same thing with when I talked about content marketing and the necessity in order to scale to repurpose content, I show this whole, this whole sort of, you know, sequence of events that produces different content that for me, begins with my podcast. And I can see how a video can do the same. So you can either just record a static video, or if you're having an event, or you're having a speech or there's something you can do that there's value in live streaming it, you can then leverage that same notion of repurposing and really create a lot of bite sized content. And, you know, and when I say bite size, obviously, I'm talking like Vine and Instagram, right? But we become so visual in social media marketing, and the visual shouldn't stop at the static. And it's really the dynamic, as you were saying, video store this magical medium, that people will, you know, it's the most engaging medium out there. So it's probably untapped. I think, you know, the first generation, maybe a video marketing was sort of like, let's create YouTube videos. And now we're in this second generation. And, you know, I can see how live streaming can be the, you know, can can provide the engine of that, with just an hour event, I can just imagine the number of 12 second snippets you can create out of that. Right.

Chad Abott: 7:46

Right, I mean, you, you will just one more thought and you also look at just the way that you can kind of keep people interested in them in the amount of time that people engage with live video is incredible compared to any other form of content on the internet, you're looking at a few seconds on Facebook, typically, for reading a post or looking at a photo, it's that you're looking at maybe five to seven seconds for them watching a video on Facebook, unless it really captures their attention. But live video, you'll frequently get people to engage for half an hour or more, which is just when you added an incredible, long amount of time to make a sales pitch compared to any other foreign content that's sitting out there.

Neal Schaffer: 8:27

So in this age of, you know, everyone's doing content marketing, and everyone's producing lots of content, and you're probably one of those companies, how do you differentiate what you do with the others? And, you know, videos has to be one of the answers, right? Because you do create a longer term relationship that you can do then than with any other medium. Yeah, I mean, I write like 2000 word blog posts. But still, you know, it's a six or seven, eight minute read exercise. It's not a one hour visual exercise.

Chad Abott: 8:55

Right, right. Yeah, it's just, it's just a way to stand out.

Neal Schaffer: 8:59

So Chad told me, you know, you obviously do a lot of different projects work with a lot of different types of clients. What do you see in the market in terms of what clients are trying to do with live stream video?

Chad Abott: 9:10

Yeah, well, I think I think what's what's unique about what we do, and what excites me about what we do is helping brands take a kind of a further step and, and differentiate themselves, even from people who are trying to do live video. So we're really good at helping brands figure out how to put together cohesive strategy for utilizing live video. And usually that means something of much higher production value than they're going to do otherwise. So when we are working with a client on a project, one of the things we always emphasize is having really high quality content because often with video I think the assumption is it's enough to just do it because it's so new. And unfortunately, worth we find that's not true. Just like with bad writing, bad photography. Riffey bad film, bad television, people don't like bad content. And that's about what you're putting into the live broadcast. But it's also about what it looks like, is it? Is it beautiful? Does it engage people. And that is, is so often overlooked. And I think it's just a product of, you know, the medium being so new. And I think people think just sitting at the table is enough. But what you really have to do is create content, that's exceptional. And so what's really fun for us is to help people to do that, and to see the results of people engaging at really high levels and people converting, and people being willing to hear you out for an extended period of time, because you're willing to give them something that is worthwhile, which is good content.

Neal Schaffer: 10:49

So in terms of those businesses that are listening to this podcast, trying to figure out where video and live streaming is gonna fit in. What you're suggesting, in essence, is look at your content marketing strategy. And think about the most valuable type of the information that if you could have an hour conversation with someone, what would that content look like? And sort of start from there? Would that be good advice? Or how would you?

Chad Abott: 11:13

Yeah, that's it. That's exactly right. I mean, I don't want I don't want the assumption for your listeners to be that. You know, live video is only useful if we have a yearly conference, if we're doing big events. You know, that's not that's not what I'm saying. That's a good example of a way to use live video. But what you said is much closer to home. And that's that, whatever your content marketing strategy is, even if it's normally podcasting, or even if it's normally 1500 blog posts, you can video as a part of that strategy and probably increase your reach quite a bit. And, you know, perfect example, is just taking the person that you're interviewing for your blog post and doing it live. And you can still do the blog post, you can still send it out as a podcast, if you want to whatever your normal strategy is, but put it on Periscope for the first time and see how your audience engages. And take care when you put it on periscope to make it beautiful, make it engaging, sit somewhere nice and introduce it and and then take people's questions and engage them don't make it a static broadcast, where it's only going one direction, let them contribute and maybe ask questions, and you'll get better content for your blog posts that way. And you'll also get more engagement at the moment that you're broadcasting. And hopefully that creates a lot of value both times and you know, if you could create it, you can probably repurpose it even a lot further than that.

Neal Schaffer: 12:40

So this sounds really, I'm assuming that for b2b brands that are already doing content marketing that are blogging, it sounds like an easy way for them to you know, get get video into that mix. What about for consumer facing brands? What would your suggestion be for them?

Chad Abott: 12:58

Well, consumer facing brands are in a really unique position actually to leverage video because it's a way to connect with their consumers in a way that has really been impossible previously, it was sort of like how, how Twitter chain brands interacted with their consumers, you could do customer service in real time on Twitter, you could thank people for using your product, you could answer people's concerns. Live video lets you do those same things, but in a much more personal way. So, for example, we see successful consumer brands, engaging their customers by answering their questions during live chats where they can submit questions on Twitter and get live answers on video, we see them taking suggestions from their consumers doing even even like Google Hangout type chats, wherever even consumers can get on video and give a testimonial or endorse the product or share their concerns about the product even and be heard. And it's just a way to get buy in from consumers. And while you're at it, probably get more attention than you would otherwise from people who are potential consumers.

Neal Schaffer: 14:06

Yeah, you know, one thing that comes to mind as I, as you were talking about that was Cadbury and their use of Google Plus Hangout, like chocolate virtual chocolate tasting around the world, right?

Chad Abott: 14:16

Yeah, exactly. Yeah,

Neal Schaffer: 14:18

cool. Chat. We've covered a lot about you know, live streaming. Any you know, I know that your company offers a lot of different types of services, anything that we've missed visa, Vee video, and how can we leverage for social media marketing?

Chad Abott: 14:31

No, I think the takeaway point is just that it's okay to just jump in and try it and sort of get a sense of what works with your audience. Every audience is different and just like every other form of content and has to be tailored to the people that you're targeting. So give it a try. Try these different platforms. There's nothing wrong with starting with some of the free ones and just seeing what works. Some of the free ones are actually some of the social ones. And then as you have different uses, you'll adapt as you do conferences, you'll do more professionally produced stuff as you do, too. better chance you'll do stuff that's more engaging, you'll find lots of different uses. And, and, you know, there's really not a downside to just just giving it a go.

Neal Schaffer: 15:08

Yeah, so I guess the takeaway here for those of you that read maximize your social and that notion of experimentation is that, you know, video might be the flavor of your experimentation in December, or in January and February, whatever month, and starting with a periscope, or a vine or an Instagram video, and just seeing where that goes and trying to figure out where video would sort of fit in that content marketing strategy. Once again, if you could have a long conversation with your target user, what would that look like? And I think, just like anything else, once you start to think of it just similar to repurposing content, once you start to think of it, you'll probably think of a lot of ways of using video. And whether it be you know, the hot things we talked about a social tool, summit employee advocacy, whether it be influencer marketing, whether it be a campaign, or engagement, marketing, almost everything you do, there is probably a way of fitting video and and it's just a new way of thinking about it. But you know, once you you begin to get a sense as to the value of having it. And the value is is you know, among a lot of different fronts, it could be from the engage the additional engagement you get the deeper relationship you make. There's also SEO benefits, obviously, if you upload these things to YouTube, so a lot of different benefits. And I guess, you know, if you haven't been doing anything, if you have been doing stuff, that's great, I'd love you to comment on this podcast, and share your experience with us. But if you haven't, now's the time to really give it a try. And you know, see what happens. And from that, you know, it reminds me shout almost of employee advocacy is this concept that permeated the conversations of social tool Summit. And everyone was saying, Well, you know, your program is going to become radically different than what you imagined. It takes a life of its own after you do it. I'm wonder if maybe video marketing is the same, right?

Chad Abott: 16:47

Yes, that's right, because you sort of let the consumer lead the conversation, see where it goes. That's sort of the point. So oftentimes, it'll end up in a very different place than where it started. And that's not a bad thing.

Neal Schaffer: 16:57

Yeah. And that's, that's a beautiful and valuable journey to take for anyone. So Chad, tell us how people can find out more about yourself in your company.

Chad Abott: 17:07

Yeah, definitely. If you're interested in talking more about live video and how it can work for you. You can reach me personally, you can just shoot me an email chat at Absen at ABB SOS comm or find us on Twitter at apps and live

Neal Schaffer: 17:22

easy enough. And that's a BB SLM li ve Correct.

Chad Abott: 17:27

You got it? Yeah, yeah,

Neal Schaffer: 17:28

it's always two b's. That's what you need to remember. All right. Well, Chad, thank you very much for being here on maximize your social podcast. I hope that all you listening will engage with Chad. If you have any comments or questions, shoot it out to him or you can comment on this post. We'll be back again soon. And as always, as I like to end this podcast, wherever you are in the world, make it a great social Day. Bye Bye, everybody. Thanks for listening to maximize your social. We appreciate all of your iTunes subscriptions, ratings, and comments. If you would like to appear on this show or recommend content, please contact Neal Schaffer at Neal at maximize your social.com Please also make sure to check out Neil's new community, the Social Media Center of Excellence at social media co e.com as well as Neil social media conference, the social tools summit