Streaming it's TV 2.0 or why it's time for brands to switch to streaming platforms

Now people decide what to watch themselves

Back in the day, the TV decided for a person what to watch. But now there are interactive set-top boxes, online cinemas, and, of course, YouTube, which allow people to choose what and when to watch. Therefore, television is no longer such a popular way of consuming content. Why watch a live broadcast on a TV channel if you can watch what you want, and even under any circumstances — on the way, in a queue or even in the toilet.

Brands are constantly looking for new channels

Every day the preferences of the audience change, along with them the tools of gaining attention that marketers and brands use.

Integrations that may be relevant in the "box" still exists, but its amount is significantly reduced compared to other channels. Brands are shifting their focus to Gen-Z, which has a higher consumer potential. Therefore, companies have to keep track of what and where this generation is watching.

An important advantage of the Internet over TV is the transparency of statistics and information. If a sponsor places a video on TV, he cannot track the entire user path of the consumer and find out whether the viewer ultimately purchased the product or the advertised service. On the Internet, all this can be tracked. For example, with the help of links with embedded UTM-tags that allow you to track from which channel a visitor came to the site and what target action he performed there.

Streams, for example, draw a large audience, which can also be measured in quantitative and qualitative terms. It is also easier to convey a message to the target audience here.

The impact of the pandemic on digitalization

The consumption of content in the Internet has long occupied a large part of the daily routine of many people. However, with the beginning of the pandemic, the amount time to view content has significantly increased. People began to watch even things that initially did not interest them. Most likely, many during the lockdown period have never even turned on the TV, if they have one at all. Many switched to streams, watched videos and broadcasts by interests: from eSports to politics. By the way, according to the «Esport Charts» portal, views of eSports streams on Twitch increased sharply by 37% in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic.

Popularity of eSports and streaming platforms

ESports is now a very popular and affordable activity. This has promoted the popularity of streaming services. Broadcasts on the Internet on CS: GO, Dota 2, PUBG and other games get millions of viewers. We are talking not only about big eSports events like the CS:GO Major, but also about broadcasts of ordinary users who run their own channels and regularly get in touch with the audience.

People stream not only games. You can find streams where streamers broadcast how they do their hobbies. For example, music or cooking. This is a real launching ground for brands who can find their target audience by content preferences and set up impressions precisely on target. For example, if you sell waffle iron, then it is best to promote your product on a cooking stream to lovers of cooking and delicious food.

Boom in live-stream shopping

Brands began to pay attention to the stream industry in the middle of the last decade. Like, for example, the Chinese platform for the sale of clothing and cosmetics "Mogujie". On the air, the presenters tried on different types of clothes, and the audience interacted with them through live chat windows and asked about the quality of the fabric or asked to wear items with different sets of accessories. Such streams got tens of millions of views, and sales increased more than 300 times.

And the Shopify service began TikTok cooperation in 2020. Now platform users can make purchases directly in the app.

How brands to promote on streaming platforms

If you decided to test streaming services as effective platforms, then you need to consider several ad placement options.

What promote tools exist on streaming platforms?

Working with streamers directly

‍You can agree on anything directly with the creator. The formats of partnership integration into the broadcast can be different - from product-placement to direct mention of your brand during the broadcast. Prices will vary depending on the quantity and quality of the streamer's audience, and it will also be difficult to evaluate the results as on TV. But for brand promote it will do just fine if you need an audience of a specific author, and not many at once. Then you will have to spend a lot of time contacting everyone and discuss the terms of the impressions agreement.

‍Banner

‍Promote in the form of banners under also. There is a successful example of the "WePlay" channel on Twitch, which broadcast the most important CS:GO tournament. Several banners from different brands were always displayed under the broadcasts of all matches. Among them were, for example, bookmakers and CS:GO servers. Usually such sponsorships campaigns are accompanied by promo codes from the streamer, so there are more clicks on the brands website.

‍Video placement‍

Also automatic promote placement services offer a feature of displaying promo blocks right inside the broadcast. You post your video, and viewers will see it right on the air when the streamer decides to launch it.

Brands choose an ad format for their goals and objectives. If necessary, you can combine them. The advertising campaign will definitely not lose from this.

Services for brands and streamers

Let's say you’ve ordered a promotion from a streamer, but how to track statistics? How to know how many people clicked on your integrations? Specifically for this purpose, there are services that will be an excellent assistant to both advertisers and streamers.

For example, InStreamly or GetStream. They provide a wide range of options for users, significantly simplifying the life of sponsors and streamers. These are excellent services for automating influence-marketing.

There is also the Uplify service, which, unlike the previous ones, uses a more media approach — a programmatic. This is the first such platform in Russia that provides a service for automating the statistics of sponsorship campaigns in streams.

GetStream writes on its website that they take away all management from clients and analyze everything themselves. This is not always a good way. There are individual settings in Uplify that help the brand choose the right number of impressions, format, and even stop advertising if the CTR on the streamer channel becomes lower. The service allows brands to launch promo by themselves (self service remote) or with the support of the Uplify team (manage remote).

Such services are distinguished by transparent statistics. All statistics in the services are transparent and accessible. For example, during and after a sponsorship campaign, Uplify will display all information on impressions, clicks and will give a full report on the results of the campaign. In this case, the sponsors immediately understands where and how effectively he spends money.