Businesses had to pivot and find new ways to communicate with their customers and try to gain new ones. One form of communication that took off over the last year was live streaming.

The live streaming industry grew 99% over the last year. It’s expected to grow even more over the next six years.

Do you want to make live streaming a part of your marketing strategy? You’ll want to pay attention to this article. Read on to find out what you need to do to make your live stream great, from testing to improving your live stream production.

Why Live Stream Testing

When you’re live streaming, you want the show to go as perfectly as possible. It’s like going on live TV, so you want to make sure there are no technical glitches.

You might be tempted to skip testing to go for an “authentic” look and feel. That works in some instances, but you could end up creating a bad impression of your brand.

You have to make sure that your brand is congruent with your live stream style. You could have all of your online posts and videos be stylized and polished. A live stream that doesn’t reflect that will throw people off.

On the other hand, you could portray approachability with your brand. In that case, a live stream with a lower production value could fit your brand.

What do you need to test before you go live? Here’s a short checklist of things to check.

Servers

If you’re running your live stream on a local server, you need to test to make sure your servers have the capacity to handle the video feed and a large live audience.

Lighting

The lighting can create a mood for your live stream. You don’t want to have your stream using standard tungsten lights. These lights are warm and create a yellow look.

Get a ring light if the live stream will focus on one person in a closeup or medium shot. Another option is to get a set of white balanced continuous lights.

Test the lighting to make sure there are no distracting shadows and the subject is well lit.

Sound

The audio is going to be incredibly important, too. You don’t want to rely on your camera’s audio because it can pick up the background noise.

Get a lavalier mic that connects to your camera. You want to test it to make sure the sound levels are optimal.

Camera

You do need to test the camera that you’re planning to use. You should also have a backup camera tested and ready to go.

Mobile phones are popular for live streams, but you can connect a DSLR camera to your computer and use that for a live stream.

Device Testing

Are you live streaming from a broadcast studio to a branded app? That will require additional testing to make sure that the live stream looks sharp across devices.

It may seem impossible to get all of these items tested before you go live. There are various testing services that you can turn to for some of the technical tests.

Don’t Forget About the Call-to-Action!

The goal of your live stream should be to get a viewer to take some kind of action. You might compel them to watch another video or subscribe to your streaming channel.

Your live stream has to have a purpose and a call to action. This tells viewers what the next step in the process is. You don’t want to get into a situation where your live stream is a great success, but the next step has glitches and bugs.

For example, you might want to have viewers download an app. If the link to your app doesn’t work, or the app is buggy, then you lost all of the credibility you earned during the live stream.

It’s incredibly tough to get back.

That’s also true if the purpose of the live stream is to generate leads. You have to test the website, automated emails, and much more.

Click here to find out more about test services that can help you test your apps and website.

Tips to Improve Your Live Stream

What else can you do to improve your live stream? There are a few things that you can do to raise the production value of your live stream.

Pick the Right Platform

What platform do you want to use for your live stream? You can use Twitch, Facebook, Instagram, Periscope, and YouTube.

You can decide to just use one platform, such as Facebook. There are services that allow you to broadcast your stream to multiple platforms at the same time.

Practice Makes Perfect

Don’t assume that you’ll be able to wing your presentation. It will be full of “uhhs” and “ums” that will annoy viewers. It comes across like you don’t know what you’re talking about.

Take the time to rehearse your presentation. You should internalize your presentation, so it doesn’t sound too rehearsed or like you’re reading it.

Take Advantage of Live Streaming

Live streaming is an excellent way to grow your brand and reach a new audience. You do have to make sure that you test the technology behind the live stream before you go live.

You don’t want to risk your brand’s reputation because you didn’t run technology tests and run through the material beforehand. It’s also important to test every part of your funnel and post live stream call-to-action. That will prevent your business from losing revenue and leads.

For more witty tips, head over to the Business section of this site.