This week I talk with Zoom senior product manager Nitasha Walia. Nitasha and I discuss Zoom’s new live streaming features. Live streaming has the potential to engage and influence millions of stakeholders.

Topline

Zoom’s cross-platform video webinar software can now steam to YouTube or Facebook Live. In the past, Live Steaming was about dull single “camera” presentations. Zoom’s video webinar product will allow live streamers to mix and switch between multiple sources including live video, white boards, slides and desktop sharing. Analytics best practices can enable these audiences of millions to be qualified, retargeted and recorded for KPI tracking.

An organization, brand or stakeholder community could host a video webinar to highlight a single speaker presentation, a 1 on 1 discussion, or a 1:many conversation and share that:

(1st) with a secured webinar group.

(2nd) additionally re-share the webinar via live streaming to Facebook Live or YouTube (for no additional fee). Live streaming into YouTube allows for public, unlisted or private “streams.” On Facebook live streaming can be distributed via personal, or brand pages.

 

Within the Zoom video webinar platform an active participant can share their desktop screen, meaning anything you can put on a desktop can be added to a live stream. For example:

* SAAS tools or any web browser

* Gaming environments

* Live software demos

* Text chats with folks signed into the webinar

* Video or audio from a native file

* Sharing a white board

What-Ifs/Imagine:

* A sports team media day where the public could watch the typical Q&A with each team-member, but also interact with them, or watch them give skill clinics, and personal messaging.

* A fund raising event where members of the public have the choice to watch one of two live streams. One that covers the major portion of the event, but a second with micro programming featuring extended celebrity interaction and ultimately monetized live Q&As.

* An internal event streamed from HQ with cut-away remotes to facilities and staff across the country or the globe (without the need for news trucks and satellite feeds).

* A software demonstration where existing customers are no longer talking heads speaking in platitudes but rather sharing desktops and video from their actual work locations (e.g., adding real world authenticity).

* Political events that bypass gate-keepers by speaking directly to the public.

* In a crisis, a business with multi-channel attribution and marketing automation or CRM integration, could use live streaming to gain real time knowledge the most engaged stakeholder personas and formulate action plans covering multiple persona cohorts right down to individual stakeholders.

Authentic vs. Engaging

Live streams need to be authentic and engaging, and still communicate important messages. We can get a simulacrum of authenticity using poor quality video but will that hold our audiences? [E.g., watching video from someone shaking while holding a 3 year-old smartphone, in poor light, (while forgetting to look into the camera) and moving in and out of focus.]. The Zoom video webinar features hold the promise to make a more interesting, engaging and exciting live stream.

I think the best “add-in” feature is incorporating social proof. This could be including live conversations with micro or macro influencers, or discussing and responding to social media messaging in real-time. There is the ability to add in nearly limitless voices as the webinars can have up to 50 “active” participants.

 

Thousands to Millions

1000’s can watch within the webinar product, but through YouTube or Facebook millions can follow along.,