Build A Better Qualified Lead

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(And Win The Game At The Mid-Funnel)

This article is a summary of the presentation talk by Ed Fry from Hull.io at the HubSpot User Group Meeting in December 2017. The full transcript of the talk and the video presentation can be seen by following this link. 

Note: Use this link to download this guide as an eBook to keep and reference. 

One of the most important challenge for marketers nowadays is not to attract new visitors on their website or to close a selling process, but to nurture existent leads until they are ready to buy. In 2 words: Lead Qualification.

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SEO Isn’t the Only Way to Drive Traffic. Here Are 6 Alternative Strategies.

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As marketers, we invest a lot of our time and energy into SEO.

Considering that Google receives over 66,000 searches every second, we’d be stupid not to.

But when it comes down to it, Google and other search engines are just one of the many ways you can drive traffic to your website.

In fact, depending on your target audience and competition, Google may not even be your best traffic source.

Take Upworthy, for example.

This site, which has a reputation for sharing feel-good viral videos, gets almost 43% of their traffic from social and less than 19% from search.

Groups of consumers all use the web differently.

Some like to get their content from friends or influencers on social.

A few depend on their trusted newsletters to tell them what content they need to read.

Others use an alternative search engine like YouTube or even Facebook.

To prove that you don’t need Google to drive traffic to your website, here are six alternatives that can help boost your visits.

1. Create a YouTube channel

2. Start conversations on social

3. Partner with influencers

4. Take advantage of your email subscribers

5. Provide assistance on forums and question sites

6. Take advantage of guest posting

1. Create a YouTube channel

YouTube has 1.5 billion active users each month, making it the world’s second-largest social platform.

With 1.5 billion active users each month, YouTube is the world’s second-largest social platform.

Over 30 million users log on to watch a total of 5 billion videos each and every day.

These numbers are massive.

However, these numbers still don’t rival Google, which processes about 3.5 billion searches per day.

So, how can you drive even a fraction of the traffic with YouTube that you could with Google?

Well, the beauty of YouTube is that it allows you to share videos.

While Google does display YouTube videos as part of its results lists (Google does, after all, own YouTube), the results aren’t quite the same.

In order to appeal and reach these video-lovers, you need to create YouTube content.

Because YouTube reaches more people from the ages of 18-49 than any cable network, this is particularly true if you’re marketing to younger generations.

Gen Z’s love affair with YouTube runs especially deep.

In fact, 50% of Gen Z-ers told AdWeek they wouldn’t be able to live without the sharing site.

They also shared why.

For Gen Z-ers, YouTube is more than just a video-sharing site. Look at all of the things that they go to YouTube for:

If Gen Z’s love for videos continues as they grow older and start making new purchasing decisions, this may be a major game-changer for marketing in years to come.

Uploading videos to YouTube allows you to appear in front of customers who use the site like a traditional search engine.

Then, with appropriately-placed links, you can drive those users back to your website.

Let’s take a look at how GoPro’s YouTube channel does this.

As one of the most popular YouTube channels around, GoPro uses their high-quality videos to show what their product is capable of doing.

However, simply uploading videos doesn’t drive sales.

That’s why they also make it easy for customers to get from their YouTube channel to a product page.

Here, we have a video shot users shot with the GoPro HERO6:

Right within the first couple lines of the description, viewers have a link that will bring them straight to the product page for the GoPro HERO6.

Interested customers can check out what the new camera is capable of, then easily make their way over to the GoPro website to get additional details or make a purchase.

And this isn’t the only way GoPro pushes traffic to their website.

You can also find a link to their website and their social media profiles within their cover image.

This gives YouTube users who land on the company’s channel an opportunity to get to their website quickly.

You can also add links to your website within your actual video content.

YouTube even offers features that allow users to create interactive video ads.

These features display either over the video itself or at the end of a video, prompting viewers to make the next move.

You’ll see from this chart that both call-to-action overlays and auto end screens help drive traffic to your website.

Here’s an example of a call-to-action overlay from a HubSpot video.

YouTube features the link right within the middle of the video. HubSpot timed it perfectly so that it appears when the viewer has a thorough enough understanding of inbound marketing to start feeling enticed.

Now, let’s compare this to an auto end screen.

Here’s an example from The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

This presents the viewer with a number of different options when they’ve completed a video. It includes an offer to head to the NBC website to download the show’s app.

When using either of these interactive features, be sure to provide a clear and direct value to your watcher.

Also, keep in mind that you don’t want to plaster over your video with links to dozens of content pieces.

Instead, focus on just one or two that truly support the contents of your video.

2. Start conversations on social

If you do it correctly, social can rival Google as a traffic source.

According to Sprout Social, 48% of Millennials and 48% of Gen X-ers followed a brand on social media in Q1 of 2017.

This means you have less noise to cut through to get to your target audience.

Additionally, social provides you with an opportunity to engage and entertain – something you’ll struggle to do on a search engine.

When social users scroll through their timelines and news feeds, they’re looking for just about anything that will pique their interest.

If you’re capable of providing something high-quality and interesting, they’ll click through to your site to check out more.

However, it’s important to recognize how social is changing for brands.

In 2017, social accounted for 25.6% of all site visits.

But this number is actually down from past years.

From the same study, we can see that from about the end of 2013 to the beginning of 2017, social was outperforming search for driving traffic.

Unfortunately, the changes to the Facebook algorithm led to serious declines in organic reach on the platform.

Compared to the first half of 2017, Facebook saw about a 9% drop in social media referrals in the second half of the year.

However, one social site’s loss is another’s gain.

While Facebook saw a large dip at the end of 2017, both Pinterest and Instagram saw some pretty significant jumps.

Regardless of the social networks you choose to target, you want to provide meaningful and valuable information.

Remember that users log onto social to engage with their friends – not to have someone sell them something.

You want to find ways to engage your user while they’re still on the platform.

Buzzfeed Tasty does an excellent job at this.

Within their Facebook post, they include it all.

They created a video to grab attention.

They have friendly messages that establish the viewer as their friend.

And they include not one but two links that can either push the user to buy or to check out the recipe from the video.

And they do all of that without making it feel overwhelming!

This tactic has gained the Tasty Facebook page serious attention – almost 95 million followers!

To replicate this for your own audience, know your audience and create social content that blends seamlessly into their timelines.

Another way to get a conversation started is to use Twitter threads.

Twitter threads allow you to share insights, tips, and thoughts that connect by replying to yourself – and they have the power to bring you viral attention.

Check out what happened to travel blogger Hey Ciara.

On January 1st, she started this thread.

With this one thread alone, Ciara gained over 13,000 new Twitter followers, 6,000 new Instagram followers, and a 10x increase in her blog traffic.

Threads like these provide a distinct value to followers in a relatable way.

After sharing her secrets, Ciara drops a link to a blog post on her website containing more information.

Though the engagement with the link is significantly less than the first post, it was still able to drive traffic.

She already established authority with her followers in the thread. They trust her and know that she has information worth sharing. That gives them a reason to click on the link.

Creating a Twitter thread typically takes minimal effort. However, you want to be prepared to keep the momentum going.

Know the direction you’re going to take before you begin and be ready to share images, videos, or links that support your claims.

3. Partner with influencers

There are a lot of scams on the web, making shoppers wary about who they choose to purchase from.

If they’ve never heard of a business, they’re not going to pull out their credit cards after seeing just one ad.

Before they’re ready to shop, they need to trust you.

Unfortunately, it takes time to build trust organically.

However, you can speed up that process by working with influencers.

Almost nine out of ten individuals say that they trust online recommendations as much as personal recommendations.

Influencer marketing gives your content a “stamp of approval” from someone your audience already values. This dramatically cuts down on the trust-building process.

There are two main ways that you can get in touch with influencers.

First, you can use the more traditional pathway of having influencers share sponsored posts.

Here’s an example of a sponsored post from Emma Blackery.

The National Citizen Service (NCS) sponsored the ad. In the UK, they offer kids from 15-17 years old a camp-like, professional development opportunity.

By sharing this post, Emma is bringing awareness to NCS while also vouching for its validity.

She also includes a link to the company’s homepage, encouraging her followers to check out the organization more.

Within just five hours, Emma’s post gained over 480 likes, 38 retweets, and 24 comments.

Compared to the handful of likes NCS’s own posts get, this kind of attention is huge.

Paying for advertisements can give you more control as a brand.

If you’re a small business or you have a limited marketing budget, it might not be right for you.

But even if you don’t have money to invest in influencer marketing, you can appeal to influencers for free by featuring them in your own content.

Posts like this one from Comm100 are a great way to connect with several influencers at once.

This not only gives you free promotion, but it can also help you create long-term relationships with influencers and experts you might want to partner with in the future.

If you choose to use this kind of content, have realistic expectations.

It isn’t likely that each influencer you mention will share the post, especially if they already have a large following.

However, reaching out to each expert to let them know that you’ve featured them might help you get a few new shares and a boost in web traffic.

One way of reaching out is to present a quote.

In this Twitter post from Jitesh Patil, he pulled a quote from Robbie Richards and then tagged him in the tweet.

This gained Robbie’s attention, so he retweeted it to his own audience.

This kind of outreach makes it easy for the influencer to share your content. With just one click of a button, they’ve done their job.

You can also reach out via direct message. This is one of Gary Vaynerchuk’s favorite ways to network.

According to Gary, “the key is to connect first, provide value, and THEN given the right opportunity presents itself, ASK.”

This kind of relationship can help you establish long-term relationships with influencers.

4. Take advantage of your email subscribers

The conversation about whether or not email is dying has been happening for years.

Many markers are quick to support social or mobile apps over email marketing.

However, in Adobe’s 2017 Consumer Email Survey Report, they found that email was the preferred form of contact for 61% of survey participants.

In fact, email was the only contact method that actually improved between 2016 and 2017.

But user preference isn’t the only thing that email marketing has over other contact methods.

The average click-through rate is also much higher.

For email, the average click-through rate is 3.42%.

While this might seem low, the average click-through rate for Facebook Ads is only 0.90%.

This means that you’re much more likely to get web traffic from your email subscribers than your social profiles.

And that starts with personalization.

Here’s an example of personalization from LinkedIn.

LinkedIn takes a user’s location, job title, and qualifications and provides unique job recommendations for them.

This goes far beyond simply changing the name at the top of a message. For best results, you need to personalize the email’s body, too.

According to research, personalizing email bodies has a dramatic effect on open rates and click-through-rates.

Open rates are almost 7% higher with a personalized email body, and click-through rates jump by over 1.3%.

You can also personalize the sender name for even stronger click-through-rate results.

Take this example from HubSpot.

When they sent a message from “Maggie Georgieva, HubSpot,” there was a 0.50% higher open rate and 0.25% higher click-through rate than when they sent the email from just “HubSpot.”

For HubSpot, this meant that a personalized sender generated 292 more clicks.

To improve click-through rates even further, you also want to optimize your emails for mobile.

In the study from Adobe that we looked at above, we see that users are much more likely to check their personal email on a smartphone than a desktop or laptop.

Make it easy for your email subscribers to get back to your website regardless of the screen they’re viewing your message on.

Use CTA buttons rather than in-text links and keep your messages short and to the point.

Provide enough information to pique your reader’s interest, but your end goal should always be to push to subscribers back to your site.

5. Provide assistance on forums and question sites

People have a lot of questions.

And they don’t exclusively turn to Google to get their answers.

Users turn to forums and question sites.

Participating in conversations on sites like Reddit for Quora can help you attract individuals looking for answers beyond what Google can provide.

With over 330 million users, Reddit is the fourth most-visited website in the US.

Although Google, YouTube, and Facebook outrank the site in terms of popularity, Reddit beats them all based on the average amount of time that users spend on the site.

Reddit can be a great place to promote your site. However, you need to be strategic with how you go about it.

Most subreddits have strict rules about what you can and can’t say in their comments.

Each subreddit has a moderator. If you post the wrong material, they’ll delete your post and potentially even ban your account.

Users turn to forums like Reddit for help – not to have someone sell to them.

But that doesn’t mean that you can’t use Reddit to drive traffic to your site.

One of the best ways to do it successfully is through an “ask me anything” session, or an AMA.

Here’s an example of a successful AMA from Student Loan Hero.

While the post is promoting the business, it’s more focused on providing Reddit users with valuable information about paying off debt.

By answering questions, Student Loan Hero is able to improve trust with Reddit users and get them interested in the brand.

They also find ways to link to their content and tools as they answer questions.

Here is an example.

Student Loan Hero isn’t using this platform as a way to spit out ads.

Instead, they’re framing their content to fit the unique needs of each individual asking questions.

If you’re trying to be spammy on Reddit, users will be quick to call you out.

However, you can still see a lot of success from the platform by making your value clear.

Jeff Callahan, creator of one of the most successful Reddit posts, says that success on the platform begins with a “non-clickbaity” title.

He begins his post by sharing who he is and how he relates to the other users. Then, he communicates exactly what he has to say and why he’s credible enough to say it.

He then follows these same ideas throughout his post, always relating back to the user before providing tips or insights he can back up with personal experience.

If you use it wisely, Reddit can be a great place to bring visitors to your website.

You can also use Quora, which has 200 million unique monthly visitors, to answer questions from potential audience members.

Here’s an example of how I responded to a Quora question.

Like Reddit, Quora allows you to engage with individuals who are asking questions. Answering questions helps you prove your value to them before they head to your website.

This can encourage more traffic to your page.

Kevin Lee, founder of Product Manager HQ, attributes his business’s start and growth to Quora.

According to his post about how Quora changed his life, Kevin explains that Quora brought thousands of new subscribers to his blog.

He says that people in public have even recognized him from his Quora answers.

If you’re in a niche industry, there are other forums you may want to take advantage of.

For example, marketers may want to become active on Inbound.org while lawyers should check out Avvo.

6. Take advantage of guest posting

Guest posting can be a powerful way to bring new traffic to your website.

About 57% of business bloggers use guest posting as part of their content strategy.

Some major brands even used guest blogging to get their platforms off the ground.

For example, Buffer used guest blogging to grow their site to 100,000 users in their first nine months.

When looking for guest posting opportunities, you want to find sites that are within your niche but aren’t direct competitors.

Hosting a post on another website puts your content in front of a new audience, driving new leads back to your page.

Check out this example of a guest post on Entrepreneur.

As you can see, Dan Dowling, the guest author in this example, has links to his Facebook page, Twitter account, and website homepage.

Guest posting on other websites isn’t the only way to use the strategy to drive traffic.

You can also feature guest posts on your own site.

This not only gives you a bit of a break in your content schedule, but it also encourages guest posters to share links to your page.

Here’s an example from ProBlogger.

ProBlogger benefits from this post because the author, Larry Alton, will want to advertise that they’re featuring him on their site.

Each time Larry promotes the piece, ProBlogger gets a new wave of traffic.

But blogging isn’t your only option.

You can also appear on podcasts or webinars to share your opinion and expertise.

Here’s an example from SEMrush’s Search Marketing Scoop with David Bain.

In this episode, both Barry Schwartz, News Editor at Search Engine Land, and Richard Fergie, a consultant at E-Analytica, jump on the podcast to talk about paid and organic search.

These types of partnerships typically take more time, but they can provide serious returns in the end.

You want to think of what podcasts or webinars your audience may be engaging with that aren’t your direct competitors.

Conclusion

You don’t need Google to drive traffic to your website.

Sure, it helps.

But it shouldn’t be your only traffic source.

In fact, for the most success, you should have multiple pathways bringing new traffic to you.

Use these six traffic-generating sources as a starting point for diversifying how you bring in new visitors.

Pay close attention to your customers and target audience.

If they’re not responding to a particular pathway, don’t waste your time.

When you provide what they’re looking for in an avenue they’re already engaging with, traffic will flock to your page.

What are some of the best traffic sources for your website outside of SEO?

About the Author: Neil Patel is the cofounder of Neil Patel Digital.

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What is an SSL Certificate and How It Can Help Your Website

Why Live Video Is Your Next Big Win (and How to Start Dominating Today)

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Live video commands the attention of the business world.

Projections show that live streaming will be worth a staggering $70.05 billion by 2021.

Unlike ever before, people have a means of interacting with their favorite brands. They can do this at the exact moment that those brands are reaching out.

This means that potential customers can (and often do) direct the action.

Here’s the good news:

You can use live video to engage your customers at the starting price of $0.

So, what’s stopping you from jumping in and using live video, too?

If you’re like most beginners, you’re stuck on choosing which platform is best for your needs. Luckily, live video is versatile, and most platforms are quick and easy to set up.

You can use Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Periscope, or a variety of other platforms.

Your platform of choice will largely depend on your target audience. Once you choose your platform, live streaming is simple. You’ll be crushing video in no time.

And I’m happy to teach you how. But first, you need to understand a little bit about how live video works.

What is live video?

Video content has proven itself to be some of the most compelling content on the Internet in 2018.

Streaming is in demand.

In fact, projections show that video will account for 82% of all web traffic by 2021.

Why?

Live streaming taps into a uniquely human affinity for sharing and storytelling.

But what differentiates regular video from live video?

Live video is video that a user broadcasts live to an audience of real people engaging in the same exact space.

The hook is that, instead of it being like TV or similar broadcasted video platforms, this iteration of live video goes through social media.

And on social media, people can have an active conversation with the broadcaster.

Live video streams are commonly buzzing with comments and discussions that build a feeling of kinetic energy.

To be a part of the action is to be included.

This not only allows brands to create more authentic connections with customers, but it also gives them meaningful insights into what customers really want.

The combination of live video and social media access spurred an eruption of public interest
over the past year.

After Facebook launched its iteration of live video, each major social media platform released its own live video feature.

And Facebook Live is still the preferred platform for watching live streaming video.

YouTube Live and Instagram trail just behind Facebook.

Keep in mind that some live video platforms are better for certain things than others. You want to target the one that gives you the most utility for your needs.

If you think that live video is just a fad that’s going to die out when the “next big thing” comes along, you’re wrong. Live video is the next big thing, and it’s here to stay.

Here’s why.

Don’t ignore live video’s exploding popularity

According to Recode, more than 500 million people are viewing video on Facebook every single day.

That’s huge.

And in four years, 80% of all consumer Internet traffic will be Internet video traffic.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Pro gaming is an entire industry that thrives on live video, and it’s booming. And that’s just one industry that drives the popularity of live video!

According to Buffer’s 2018 State of Social Report, 96% of businesses use Facebook, 89% use Twitter, 70% use LinkedIn, another 70% use Instagram, and 57% are active on YouTube.

Of these businesses, 85% plan to create even more video across their social accounts than they did the year before.

As if that wasn’t enough, 95% of brand executives think that live video is the key to training, engaging, and communicating in 2018.

If you choose to ignore the importance of live video, your competitors are going to leave you in the dust. Now is the time to choose a platform and get started.

Choosing the right video outlet is vital to the success of your marketing mix this year. But it shouldn’t be too hard to find one that will work for you.

Developers have had time to smooth out most of the live video platforms, which means that they’re easy for both businesses and customers to use.

For example, Facebook live offers a built-in notification system that notifies users when a page that they’ve liked “goes live.”

Facebook also offers features that allow pages to promote a live video ahead of time. Users can simultaneously set reminders so they don’t forget about the broadcast.

If you want to expand your reach and gain exposure for events or product launches, this is a great feature.

Your posts and ads won’t get lost in a sea of status updates. Streaming brings customers straight to you instead.

But how are people interacting with streaming video as a whole? And how are brands specifically using it?

How are people interacting with live video?

Brands aren’t the only ones using live video. Ordinary people use live video on each and every one of the social media platforms that offer it.

Like with videos and photos, social media users are leveraging live video feeds to share their own stories.

It’s more personal than a typical, all-text post.

Because live video allows you to share content in real time, many businesses have taken advantage of the free-flowing nature of the medium to create experiences that wouldn’t work anywhere else.

Kohl’s, for example, does this.

The people who engaged with this video were watching Kohl’s models work out live.

If it weren’t live, the event would have looked like a basic, obvious infomercial. But because it was fully interactive, 37,000 viewers got to experience it together.

That’s virtually impossible when it comes to television ads unless it’s Super Bowl Sunday.

80% of people would rather watch live videos from brands than read their blog posts while 82% prefer live videos from brands over regular social posts.

Here’s the bottom line:

Live video is ideal for human interaction.

It brings people out of their shells on Facebook, for instance, where broadcasts receive 600% more engagement than regular posts.

Brands, influencers, and regular users can all access live video to share the most interesting parts of their days.

So can you.

Live video brings traffic to your business

With Facebook Live, customers can literally engage with you in real time.

You’re able to address viewers by name, which boosts active engagement and participation.

To put it simply, live video allows brands to “break the fourth wall” between them and their customers.

Search Engine Journal found that their live video posts on Facebook like SEJ News Live receive more attention than their regular updates.

In fact, their live videos packed an engagement punch that was 178% higher than the average engagement on their regular posts.

Over two months, live video increased the brand’s referral traffic by 213%.

And with live video, customers are always in the loop about events whether they’re serious or outlandish.

For example, back in 2016, BuzzFeed held their audience’s attention for 45 minutes while two employees were putting rubber bands around a watermelon until it “blew up.”

Even though it was a rather silly event, the suspense of the live broadcast kept the audience watching.

The content wouldn’t have been as interesting if BuzzFeed had posted it on their social media accounts as a regular video. The fact that it was live created a sense of community for viewers.

Viewers waited for the watermelon to pop together. While waiting, they speculated on the number of rubber bands it would take for the fruit to reach its breaking point.

Live video also helps influencers because they can learn exactly what viewers are interested in talking about.

Influencer Brian Fanzo advises creating a strategy for live video ahead of time but keeping things flexible.

Here’s what he told Convince and Convert:

“I was giving a tour behind the scenes with the goal to make the streaming a ‘backstage pass’ event, when several viewers started asking questions about my new Samsung phone.”

He switched gears and started talking about technology with viewers since that’s where participants wanted to take the conversation.

You have to be willing to go with the flow.

If you work with an influencer on live video campaigns, both the host and your brand will be able to access the wants, needs, and desires of your audience more authentically.

Tons of brands are finding huge success by broadcasting recurring live videos.

Consider HelloFresh, for example. The brand hosts a live, interactive cooking show where their customers cook along with the host. They get tips from professional chefs and immediate answers to their questions.

This helps viewers improve their cooking skills and prepare tasty meals with help from an expert.

Viewers can find the Facebook Live Cooking Party series on the HelloFresh Facebook page.

And HelloFresh isn’t the only big brand utilizing live video for all it’s worth. In March of 2018, Nissan live streamed the reveal of their new 2019 Altima.

But you don’t have to limit live streaming to simple product launches.

You could live stream a Q&A like the developers of the popular game Hearthstone did back in June of 2017.

Pepsi got creative by partnering with Nature Conservancy and using the power of live streaming to protect watersheds nationwide.

The possible uses for live video are virtually endless. The technology opens all kinds of doors, and it’s here to stay.

One reason that you can count on live video continuing to grow in popularity is that it’s a great tool for SEO.

Consumers are eager for more content from the brands that they follow, but as many as 80% of them say that they would prefer to consume live video to blog posts.

And since most platforms notify users about live content in their feeds, they don’t have to look very far to find it.

If you launch a live video and don’t have many viewers at first, don’t get discouraged too quickly.

Let’s say that you host a small event and decide to live stream it. When you first go live, only 15 people are watching it. That might not seem like many viewers.

But while you’re live, some viewers might post the video to their page and ask their friends to watch it. The longer you’re live, the more people will continue to share the video.

Who knows? You could end up racking up a total reach of thousands of people from one live stream.

To sweeten the deal, you don’t need a huge marketing budget to broadcast live video.

In fact, it’s possible to share an effective live video on pretty much every platform without spending a single dime.

Here’s how to choose the live video platform that works best for you and start using it.

How to choose a live video platform and get started

When it comes to live video, the options are (almost) limitless.

If you’re not sure which platform to go live on, keep reading. I’ll walk you through some of your options.

1. Facebook

Facebook has the largest user base out of all social platforms, which makes it a great place to stream video. Practically all of your family and friends are already on there.

If you go live on Facebook, you’ll have a greater chance to boost online visibility and reach than you will with other platforms.

And going live on Facebook is easy. It’s arguably easier than any other platform out there.

From the app, start composing a regular status update like you normally would.

From an iOS device, a list of options will appear below the text field.

Tap on “Live Video.”

Then hit “Continue.”

Now, you’re almost ready.

The steps are similar on an Android device. Hit “Go Live” and “Continue.”

Enter in a title for your live video explaining what you plan to talk about (or where you’re broadcasting from) and choose a privacy level.

For the widest reach, select “Public.”

When you’re live, your followers will receive a notification.

You’ll be able to see how many people are currently viewing your video, what their comments are, and how they’re “reacting” to it.

You can also comment on your live video and pin comments to the post. Once you finish broadcasting, Facebook will save the video to your profile.

2. Instagram

Like Facebook, Instagram will notify your followers once you decide to go live.

Your video won’t automatically upload to your profile, but you do have the option to upload it to your story for 24 hours after you record it.

To start a live video on Instagram, tap the camera icon at the top left of your screen. You can also swipe right from your news feed.

Tap “Live” at the bottom of your screen and select “Start Live Video.”

You’ll be able to see the number of viewers you have at the top of the screen, and comments will appear at the bottom.

If you want to add your own comment, you can tap and hold it to pin it to the top of the page for all of your viewers to see.

When you finish your live stream, hit “Save” for a copy of your post that you can add to your story.

3. Twitter

Twitter live video works a bit differently than Facebook Live or Instagram.

Periscope, Twitter’s live video app, powers it. However, you don’t have to set up a Periscope account to use the feature through Twitter.

To get started, tap the button that you would normally press to create a new tweet.

From there, tap “LIVE.” Once you’re ready, start your video.

Viewers who see your live post on their timelines can watch, comment, or send hearts.

You can see how many people are watching your content and post your own comments in the stream.

4. Periscope

Over 2 million active users are on Periscope, and users stream 350,000 hours of video on the platform every single day.

Out of all members, 24% say that they use the platform at least once a week. 20% of them use the service several times every day.

To use Periscope, you can download and launch the app from the App Store (using an iOS device).

Next, sign in.

After confirming your settings, tap on the camera icon at the bottom.

Select the buttons for camera, microphone, and location.

If you’re accessing Periscope on an Android device, tap on the camera icon at the bottom right of your screen.

Then, write a title that describes what you’re going to broadcast. From there, select who you want to share your live video with.

You can manage your location and chat settings or tweet your stream by using the three icons above the “Go LIVE” button.

Once you’re ready to go live, tap “Go LIVE.”

Click “Stop Broadcast” to quit recording.

5. YouTube

YouTube Live has experienced a slower rollout than other platforms, which is kind of ironic since most people think of YouTube as the original online video service.

But YouTube is still the top video marketing platform.

In 2017, YouTube first opened up mobile live streaming to all users with 10,000 or more subscribers. They later decreased the required number of subscribers to 1,000.

Though that still means that not everyone on the platform can use this feature, channels that are relatively small can still take advantage of the opportunity to share live video with their subscribers.

To go live from the Android or iOS app, click the camera button in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Then, click “GO LIVE.”

From here, you’ll be able to enter in a title for your stream, select your privacy options, and take a cover screenshot for your broadcast.

Once you’re officially live, you’ll be able to see how many viewers you have. You can also see the comments that viewers have posted on your stream and the number of “likes” your video has received.

6. Twitch

The designers of Twitch originally created it for streaming video games, but you can now use it to stream everything from talk shows to regular live “vlogs.”

Twitch is a unique streaming outlet since partners and affiliates can monetize live streams on the platform.

Anyone can become a Twitch partner or affiliate. Members can receive donations from viewers and earn 5% of any game sale revenue that comes from referrals from their profiles.

Partners also get access to video ads, custom emoticons and badges, paid subscription options, and more.

In short, people are making a full living off of streaming on Twitch alone.

The singer Drake dropped into a stream to play Fortnite with a user. The stream racked up 628,000 views at the same time, which made that the most popular stream to date.

If you want to go live on Twitch, you’ll need to create an account first.

Once you’ve done that, choose “Dashboard” from the drop-down menu in the top-right corner of the screen.

If you want to stream a game, select it under the “Playing” tab.

Next, enter a title for your broadcast, and you’re ready to stream.

Conclusion

In the next few years, live video will be a booming industry worth more than $70 billion.

The majority of marketers plan to create more video in 2018 than any other form of content.

Most people would rather consume live video from brands than read blog articles.

And it’s not just a fad. Video is here to stay.

Video content motivates people from around the world to connect in real time with one another and the brands they love.

Live video brings traffic to your business, creates engagement, and holds the attention of your viewers. Plus, streaming live video is free.

But it can be hard to choose the streaming platform that’s right for you.

Facebook Live is a great platform if you’re just getting started. Plus, it has the highest number of monthly users. It’s a great go-to option if you’re new to live streaming.

But you have lots of other platforms to consider. Instagram, Twitter, Periscope, YouTube, and Twitch are all great options, too.

At the end of the day, you’ll want to utilize the platform that most of your target audience is using. You may even want to stream on more than one of them if your audience is spread out between them.

No matter where you go live, be sure that you set your privacy to public so that all of your followers can view your stream.

How will you take advantage of live video in 2018?

About the Author: Neil Patel is the cofounder of Neil Patel Digital.

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