Using YouTube Live

In the last 12 months, live streaming has become more and more popular on YouTube. Trying to compete with streaming powerhouses such as Periscope and Twitch, YouTube are encouraging major creators and brands to live stream on their platform, and it’s been very successful so far.

Broadcast to millions.

So why would you choose YouTube for livestreaming, and what could it do for your business? Well, you’d have to be living under a rock to not be aware of YouTube’s popularity. The video site has even surpassed Facebook to become the second most-visited site in the world today after Google. Even more interesting, YouTube has actually become a popular search engine in its own right, with people often searching for news reports, instructional videos, and celebrity interviews.

Indeed, YouTube’s popularity has stemmed from its versatility. It’s a combination of information and entertainment that allows people to see whatever they want, without the inflexibility of television or the boredom of text-based websites. Visitors can go from watching a video about the US presidential election, to a clip of their favourite stand-up comedian, to highlights of a football match.

But what can it do for me?

YouTube’s appeal is simple: it’s almost immeasurably popular. Not just in terms of traffic, but because people spend more time on average watching YouTube videos than they spend on any other site, including Facebook and Twitter. The average amount of time spent on YouTube is 23 minutes per session, with users viewing an average of 12 pages. Just for the sake of comparison, people spend 19 minutes on Facebook on average,   visiting 9 pages per session. Even more impressive, the bounce rate for YouTube is just 33%, 7% lower than the average.

YouTube is also the website of choice for that much sought-after demographic, the 18 to 35 year olds. So if a website has young adults spending far too much time on there, why wouldn’t you want to use that platform to market yourself? If your company livestreams on YouTube, not only are people more likely to watch it, but they’ll watch it for longer than a Facebook or Periscope stream.

Case Studies:

Various brands have used YouTube live to create brand awareness and bring in new customers. Here are a few examples:

Fox Sports: At the start of the 2015-16 Bundesliga season, Fox Sports wanted to spread awareness regarding its newly-acquired Bundesliga broadcast rights. They chose to livestream an opening day match, specifically the match between Bayern Munich and Hamburg. There were 3,000 people watching at kick-off, and that number steadily rose throughout the course of the game.

[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVRMYOXdFZ4[/youtube]

Red Bull with Felix Baumgartner: With Baumgartner livestreaming his incredible base jump from outer space, Red Bull decided to use the opportunity to sponsor Felix and his endeavour. Millions of people saw the Red Bull logo in space, and will forever associate it with that iconic moment.

[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHtvDA0W34I[/youtube]

Various award shows: As so many YouTube content creators are becoming household names among younger adults, certain award shows have started to become part of the YouTube culture. In fact, both the Teen Choice Awards and the Billboard Awards were streamed live to millions on YouTube, with YouTube stars like PewDiePie attending the award shows in person. It’s a testament to the popularity of YouTube and its biggest names that the crossover appeal has reached this level.

[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuFKZ6P4paE[/youtube]

Start Streaming Today

So how can you start streaming? Well, first you’ll need a verified account. That’s simple enough, as you can just visit youtube.com/verify and follow the steps. Then you just have to enable streaming from the Creator Studio tools, and you’re ready to go!

So why not give it a try and see just how popular YouTube has become for yourself?