Live and alive
Live streaming has exploded in popularity in recent years, offering tourism brands endless possibilities to reach potential travellers.
It’s been a challenging year for tourism brands. With COVID-19 completely changing the way we travel, many people are looking to scratch the travel itch without leaving their homes, and live streaming might just be the answer.
While people have been stuck at home over the last year, we’ve seen a massive increase in digital travel, VR travel, 24/7 webcam streams, and live streaming.
For tourism brands, live streaming has boomed recently. Why? For tourism brands, it’s a cheap and engaging way to reach and connect with captive audiences. For consumers, live streaming has become a free option to learn about locations and plan holidays.
Will live streaming become the new normal for tourism marketing? Let’s explore four live streaming tips for tourism brands.
Why should tourism brands use live streaming?
Simply put, live streaming is here, and it’s here to stay. If you aren’t incorporating live streaming into your marketing and business operations, you risk getting left behind.
Here are a few of the benefits of live streaming:
- It’s relatively affordable
- It’s easier than you may think
- It increases your online presence and visibility
- People love live videos
- Live streaming offers a real-time experience like nothing else online
- It’s excellent for interaction, engagement, and answering questions
- You can do it from almost anywhere
If you want to sell a destination or experience to a potential traveller, what better way than to give them a glimpse into what that destination or experience has to offer in real-time? Think of live streaming as a digital try-before-you-buy experience. Done right, the benefits of live streaming can vastly outweigh any cost.
1. Use live streaming to promote travelling locally
International travel has once again become a possibility. However, that doesn’t mean you should cease promoting local travel destinations and experiences.
While people are looking to scratch that international travel itch, many others are still looking for holidays closer to home.
For many people, a holiday is a big deal. That’s why they often choose to look outside their own borders. It’s also why many travellers seem to miss out on the natural beauty and exciting destinations that exist right under their noses.
Live streaming offers a cost-effective and engaging way to share local destinations with eager travellers looking for their next escape. Think of live streaming as a digital try-before-you-buy experience.
2. Share an experience
One of the traps that many tourism brands fall into is being overly salesy in their marketing efforts. Hosting a live stream is an opportunity to be genuine, engaging, and share an experience with your audience. After all, when it comes to tourism, you’re selling an experience, not a product.
Your live streams should focus on showing off locations and experiences without constantly selling your audience something. There’s a big difference between physically selling something and selling an idea.
3. Be prepared before you go live
We’ve already spoken about a live stream’s immediacy is one of the medium’s biggest drawcards. However, just because a live stream has an immediacy to it, this doesn’t mean it’s completely spontaneous.
Before you go live, you need to be prepared. Let’s break this down into three steps:
- Make sure you have a plan.
- What is the focus of your stream?
- On which platform should your stream take place?
Being prepared lets your audience know you care, makes you look more professional, and allows you to control a medium that can quickly get out of hand.
4. What about screen sharing?
If you’ve ever taken part in a Zoom call, it’s almost certain that you’ve either shared your screen or watched as someone else shared theirs. Screen sharing is a fantastic tool for video conferencing, as it allows participants to share information without sending documents beforehand.
But what about screen sharing while live streaming? Well, it works much in the same way. Sharing your screen during a live stream is a powerful marketing tool, especially for people in the tourism and hospitality industry.
OBS Studio is a free and open-source software for video recording and live streaming, and it’s compatible with macOS, Windows, and Linux. It’s easy to install, has many excellent features, and works well with Facebook and YouTube.
BONUS: Best live streaming platforms
Before you can jump into live streaming, you must know which platforms are out there and what’s the best choice for you. While there are many popular live-streaming platforms available today, for tourism brands, it’s best to go with a live streaming service already tied to a social media platform.
Furthermore, the platform you choose will have an impact on the feel of your stream. Some streaming services are more formal, while others are more laid back and fun.
Let’s take a look at the best live streaming platforms for tourism brands
Facebook Live
The first option here is an absolute no-brainer. If you’re a tourism brand, we’re willing to bet that you already have a Facebook page, right? Well, Facebook Live is probably your best bet.
Not only does Facebook Live save you the time and effort of building an entirely new audience, but it also offers a host of features:
- Viewers can react and comment on your stream in real-time
- You can moderate comments
- Facebook Live is available from your phone or computer
- You can monetise your Facebook Live streams
- You can invite guests into your stream
- Live streams can be scheduled in advance
- So much more!
YouTube
When we think about videos on the internet, most immediately think of one platform: YouTube. So it should be no surprise that the platform is also incredibly popular for live streaming.
Instagram Live
Instagram Live is fantastic for visibility. When you go live, your stream will appear in the very first position of your followers’ Stories sections. Owned by Facebook, you can expect pretty much everything Facebook Live has to offer here.
TikTok Live
If you’re trying to connect with a younger audience, going live on TikTok is a fantastic tool from which to do so. Live video is increasing in popularity on the platform; however, keep in mind that your account needs at least 1,000 followers to unlock the live feature.
