Sports fans are a highly-engaged bunch. They’ll have sports they love and an in-built passion for their teams. Of these devoted fans, 66% go online at least once a day for sports content. Nearly half prefer to follow their teams digitally, using up to five devices to consume sports.
How can you cement relationships with fans already emotionally engaged? How can you tap into fan hunger for sports content across devices? Live streaming could be the answer.
Here, I’ve created a ten-point plan to help you prep and promo live-streamed sports content
PREP
Facebook Live can be less polished and more raw and authentic, according to Hootsuite’s Amanda Wood. However, being raw and authentic is not the same as appearing unprepared. So…
Define your live stream
What do you want to achieve and how will going live help? You may want to show fans behind the scenes, or live stream entire matches. Be clear about what you want to do.
Think about presentation
If someone is going to present a live stream, think about their appearance and style of presentation. Practice beforehand. Go through your running order and agree camera angles, as well as other logistics.
Test your equipment
Test rigorously. One of the downfalls of many live streams is poor sound. Perhaps invest in some basic professional equipment to help your streams to shine.
Prepare extra live content
If you’re streaming games there will be breaks. Make sure you have content to fill these, such as glimpses from the locker room or interactions with a live audience.
Be ready to engage
Hootsuite always have an ‘engagement person’ ready to interact with and respond to comments during live streams. This is a great idea, as you can catch fans in the moment.
PROMOTE
Seventy-two percent of sports fans are most engaged by exciting pre-game content. They often second screen, frequently using laptops or smartphones to search for sports-related content during games. How you promote a live stream can tap into this…
Inform your audience
Use all marketing channels at your disposal – from email announcements to social media channels – to guide people to your broadcast. If you’re being really efficient, you might pre-schedule social updates before your event using a social media management platform.
Schedule a ‘Go Live’ notification
A Go Live notification is a great way to let people know when to tune in via Facebook Live. In your video settings, simply toggle the switch from off to on. Once done, followers can subscribe to your channel and receive a push notification when your broadcast begins.
Create sneak previews
Remember, sports fans are more engaged pre-event. Hype them and your event by releasing sneak previews. Short-form videos work well as they’re likely to be re-shared.
Keep promoting in real-time
As your event unfolds, create video highlight clips and share them through all social media channels. This will encourage people to watch the main livestream.
Re-purpose content post-live
Once you’ve gone live, repurpose and re-share the recorded event as short form videos. These can be used to promote your next live stream.
Creating and distrubuting short-form promo videos (mentioned in points 8-10) is easily achieved with our Tellyo platform.
If you’ve got any good pointers to include in the above plan, please post in the comments below.
