Live streaming is easy. You just get in front of the camera and start doing your thing! Right?

Not really… 

While it’s easy to go live, increasing live streaming viewers requires some tweaking.

No, not twerking, although it might help!

We’re talking about promoting your live stream, and all the little details that make a live stream successful!

Are you struggling to get more viewers on your live stream? Are you in search of ways to increase viewers tuning in to your live feeds?

As usual, we got you with our 12 tips to get more viewers on live stream below!

12 ways to increase viewers when going live

1) Create the hype

There’s so much content to consume online these days that if you don’t make enough noise on the right platforms about your broadcast, not many people will know about it let alone tune in. 

Plus, it’s not like cable TV where viewers already know what’s coming on at what time. Live sessions are mostly spontaneous. 

So each time before you have a live session, let people know on your socials, email everyone on your contact list, post relatable questions or content to get viewers excited and hype them up so that they are compelled to tune in when you finally go live. 

Doing this will also help your live stream gain more visibility in the long run as long as you keep it consistent. 

 

2) Custom banners and cover images

Think of promoting your live sessions as your very own marketing campaign. 

Create relevant, appropriate artwork for consistent branding while boosting credibility by advertising them on your socials or wherever you can. 

For instance, change the cover or profile picture on your social media outlets to your customised artwork so that whenever anyone visits your page, they will be reminded about your live session. 

Further amplify exposure by adding banners to your website or go a step further and set it as your email signature. Promoting your broadcast this way is great in increasing live streaming viewers without bothering your audience. 

 

3) Tease your viewers

Similar to movie trailers, another way to hype up your live sessions is by creating short teaser videos that you can use to publicise on your socials ahead of time. 

Your teaser video shouldn’t be too long (between 5 to 10 seconds) and it should be fairly simple. More importantly, include details about your broadcast such as the date, time, and the link to your live session so that viewers will have no problem finding it. 

To ensure consistency, see that you use the same background and visuals for your teaser as your live session. Also, remember to set an appealing thumbnail for your preview to further entice viewers. 

 

4) Entice viewers with compelling titles and descriptions

Every aspect of how you promote your live session matters, even down to the titles and descriptions. 

When coming up with a title, you want to communicate precisely what viewers can expect. It needs to be concise, compelling, and coherent. 

Brainstorm words or phrases by listing down a bunch of ideas and narrowing them down until you’ve found suitable suggestions. 

As for the description portion, you want to give viewers a little more detail about your broadcast, but not too much as to ruin the magic. 

Focus on the value that your viewers can get if they tune in. Who knows? Someone who’s just scrolling through might find it relatable and become compelled to tune in.

Here is also where you should include related keywords so that viewers can easily find you via search engines. 

Fully utilise the description portion by including a call-to-action to prompt users to interact with your page such as to sign up for the next live session, follow you on other social media platforms, or a link to your website(if you have one). 

 

5) Create a signup sheet

You can improve your chances of getting more views on your live videos by creating a digital signup sheet so that potential viewers can receive reminders ahead of your session. 

Sometimes, your viewers might have the intention to join in but simply forget. 

These reminders contribute to generating hype, and you will also have a rough estimate of the number of potential viewers based on the signup sheet. 

 

6) Timing

Launching a live session at the right time is essential if you want to get more viewers on your live stream. 

Find out user analytics such as what time most of the users are online on the platform you’re using to go live, their geographic locations, time zones, etc. 

Besides this, you can also test out different timings by going live at different times of the day to find the optimum timing when most of the users are online and engaging on the platforms. 

 

7) Interact with viewers

Live streaming is an experience, and your viewers tune in because they want to be part of it. 

Remember to greet them, ask them questions like you would when talking to a friend such as asking about their day, where they’re watching from etc. 

The ability to interact live with viewers via the comments section is one of the most appealing aspects of live streams. As viewers’ comments pop up on the screen, highlight them to make them feel extra special.

Don’t know what to talk about? Q&A sessions are always a fun way to promote conversation and boost engagement! 

Viewers will feel connected as they have a chance to ask questions and be heard during your live stream. Others are also encouraged to participate in the hopes of getting answers to their questions. 

 

8) Long sessions

On-demand videos are typically shorter to capture the attention span of viewers. Live streams, on the other hand, are intended to be longer and more engaging. 

This is partly due to the fact that the ‘views’ for a live stream is recorded differently. 

If you’re just planning on doing a spontaneous live video, then a short one would do. However, if your mission is to attract more people to your broadcast, you need to have longer sessions. 

The longer you remain live, the more chances people will be able to join in. Over the course of your live session, the number of viewers will rise. 

More viewers usually mean more comments, interactions, information, and conversions – which equates to a successful sesh.

 

9) Use multiple platforms

Streaming platforms now enable live streamers to simultaneously broadcast a single video stream to multiple platforms. 

This is also known as simulcasting, and it’s a terrific technique to increase visibility so that you can meet your audience where they are and boost your overall viewership. 

What are the advantages of this? Think of it as fishing, and you are casting a wider net to attract as many viewers as possible. 

Since viewers typically have their own favourite platform to watch live streams, you can bring your content to them rather than waiting for them to come to you. If you stick to broadcasting on just one platform, you are limiting the number of people you can reach. 

 

10) Get others to join the hype

Get other people to promote your broadcast in addition to your own promotion efforts so that it appears that everyone is excited and talking about it. 

If you already have existing partners, have them promote your session to their audience and lure them with rewards to join in. You can do the same for your partners too! 

If you don’t already have a partner, now’s the perfect chance to find one so that you can tap into their audience pool. Ideally, you want someone who’s in a similar niche or audience that can relate to your content. 

 

11) Reward your viewers

Show your viewers you appreciate them tuning in by providing a reward that’s of value so that they’ll tune in again and again. Rewards can come in any shape or form, and they can also be social in nature. 

If your live stream was about something beauty related, perhaps you could do a giveaway by sending a few lucky commenters some free samples or special discount codes. 

 

12) Quality and consistency

The greatest way to ensure viewership is to constantly produce captivating, high-quality content so make sure your broadcasts look and sound impeccable at all times. 

Always ask yourself – Is this something you’d tune in to? Is the content exciting enough to attract you if you heard about it? Is it visually and audibly appealing? 

Last but not least, consistency is key. You need to build momentum by posting consistently so that viewers will have your streams on the top of their minds and will remember to tune in regularly. 

Also read: Guide To Live Stream on Sugarbook Live

 

Start putting these 12 tips into action and your live streams will be buzzing with activity in no time!

Searching for a new live streaming platform so that you can reach out to a broader pool of audience? 

Try out the new Sugarbook Live where you will have an audience of over 1 million affluent members from all over the world! It’s easy to get started on the platform, check it out today so that you can begin growing and monetising your talents!

We can’t wait to see you live 😉