Live-selling has emerged as a powerful tool within the social commerce realm, where it offers brands an opportunity to boost sales while establishing authentic connections with their audience. Last year, the livestream e-commerce market reached $31.7 billion, nearly triple its size in 2021. That market is expected to more than double by 2026 to $67.8 billion, accounting for more than 5 percent of e-commerce. This growth makes sense when considering that live ecommerce conversion rates are up to 10 times higher than traditional e-commerce conversion rates.
So, how can brands get in on this fast-growing opportunity? The key lies in effective livestream content creation, partnered with the ability to scale its impact beyond the livestream itself. Let’s dig into the five essential practices brands must focus on to maximize the effectiveness of livestreams and unlock their potential to drive sales growth.
Setting the Stage: Creating Engaging Livestream Content
Creating effective livestream content requires marketers to strike a balance between authenticity and quality production value. Ultimately, creating authentic and natural experiences with livestream content is more important than obsessing over high production quality. However, that doesn’t mean brands should neglect the need for proper lighting, good audio, and a visually appealing background.
Above all, when determining the formality required in a livestream setup, brands should consider their audience and align with their expectations. Rather than trying to adhere to rigid guidelines developed for other channels, it’s best to allow for flexibility in the location and setup.
Disruptions happen, and the ability to move forward with livestreams as planned is more important than ensuring every single livestream looks and feels the same. Staying on schedule might mean streaming from a founder’s bedroom at times, and that’s something that good planning can accommodate.
Leveraging the Compounding Effect: Building Relationships Over Time
It’s impossible to overemphasize the value of consistent livestreaming when it comes to maximizing impact. Every livestream helps train a brand’s audience to shop live — a process that might be new to many viewers given the relatively recent rise of live-shopping events on social.
Every stream fosters a face-to-face connection that enables brands to establish a personal rapport with viewers. This rapport-building process has a compounding effect that leads to higher conversion rates and increased revenue over time.
Strategic Product Placement: Maximizing Conversion Opportunities
Beyond considering production details and maintaining consistency, it’s important to consider how a company will strategically showcase its products during livestreams. These broadcasts are well-suited for highlighting new releases and offering exclusive availability to viewers. Still, the specific approach a brand takes will depend on its industry, audience’s interests, and product lines. Fashion retailers, for example, might want to start with their hot seasonal items and then gradually transition to featuring best-sellers.
Brands with diverse SKUs might want to consider theming their livestreams around specific product categories or use cases. On the other hand, brands with fewer than 10 SKUs might want to focus on one or two products within a stream and go into greater detail in the form of a live demo, unboxing, Q&A, or exhibiting ways the product can be used.
As the brand introduces new products and product lines, livestreams can transition into a VIP or “early access” platform on which the brand provides product updates to loyal customers, collects feedback, and ultimately launches products before they’re available on other channels.
It’s also worth considering how livestreams can feature affiliate products. On TikTok, for example, a clothing boutique’s livestreamer could snack on their favorite chips while doing a “get ready with me” stream featuring shoppable makeup products. Sales of both the makeup products and the chips would earn a commission.
Interaction is Key: Engaging With Viewers and Driving Social Signals
Brands should actively engage with viewers during livestreams, answering their questions and acknowledging their usernames. In addition, reading and responding to comments out loud during the livestream can help promote a sense of inclusivity and community.
Gamification techniques, such as giveaways or limited-time offers, can also be effective during livestreams. They boost viewer engagement and encourage positive social signals (likes, comments, and shares). With the right delivery, brands can make giveaways and engagements feel spontaneous, even when they’re planned.
Energy Matters: Sustaining Energetic Presentations Throughout
Finally, let’s talk energy. It’s important for hosts to maintain high energy levels and consistent enthusiasm throughout the livestream. When preparing, marketers should encourage hosts to share personal stories or anecdotes to humanize the brand and forge stronger connections with viewers. By delivering information in an engaging and captivating way, livestreams can keep the audience entertained, interested and (hopefully) purchasing.
Live-selling events offer opportunities not just to boost sales, but also to establish lasting customer relationships in the social commerce landscape. By embracing this fast-growing opportunity and applying these best practices, brands can bolster livestream revenue and, most importantly, build loyal customer relationships that will enhance results across all sales channels.
Ethan Kramer is the president of EK Creative, an Agital company. EK Creative is a marketing agency built for the future of social commerce.
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