YouTube vs TikTok vs Twitch: Best for streamers?
Live streaming isn’t just for celebrities and influencers.
Business owners are taking to their phones to engage with audiences. It’s cheap, with no production costs, and you can make money if you get it right.
You only need a smartphone or tablet to start, and with streaming apps such as YouTube, TikTok and Twitch, you can connect with millions of people.
But which app is right for your business? Here’s what you need to know.
Why should you live stream?
Showing your face is one of the easiest ways to strengthen relationships with viewers. From physiognomy to emojis, it takes you on an emotional path where you can attract more empathy from users.
We have specialized neural circuits in the brain called the fusiform gyrus, or the fusiform face area (FFA), that respond only to faces.
So if your face appears in a live stream video, your customer’s FFA will light up and immediately pay attention.
Businesses often omit faces from their marketing videos, focusing on the product rather than people, which misses this vital human connection.
On Instagram, pictures with human faces are 38% more likely to receive likes and 32% more likely to attract comments.
You might not be aware of it, but we mimic each other’s expressions in face-to-face conversation, which is emotional contagion and helps us form connections.
That’s why creators and businesses are turning to live streaming to boost brand awareness.
Is YouTube Shorts good for business?
YouTube Shorts run for up to 60 seconds and enable you to stream bright bursts of video on the go. Transforming the way people create and watch content online, they plan to give creators 45% of the revenue generated by the ads that play in-between videos from early 2023.
Shorts are easy to make. You can create a short by opening YouTube on your smartphone and pressing play. It’s that simple.
Suppose you can carve out an audience on YouTube by making live stream videos. It might transform your business just like Eloise Head, the Fitwaffle Kitchen founder. She currently broadcasts cooking demos to 1.25 million subscribers.
Like everyone else on YouTube, her viewers are hungry for light and digestible content that educates and entertains.
TikTok Shop is coming
TikTok boasts more than one billion users and was the most downloaded app in 2022, allowing you to create and share 15 and 30-second videos.
Letting your customers discover and buy products in a fun way. TikTok Shop is bringing live shopping to the United States in time for the holiday season.
When you host a live event, TikTok will showcase your items for sale, and people can click and buy them during the stream.
Here you can see a vendor selling live on TikTok.
TikTok is currently the favorite app platform among young people, and that’s the market share YouTube and Twitch are chasing.
Using Twitch for business
Twitch is a live streaming service for content creators, including gaming, entertainment, cooking, sports, and music. It’s free to download, and streams are free to watch.
It’s incredibly popular with younger (male) audiences, with around 140 million monthly active users in 2022.
The Amazon-owned platform lets you connect with streamers and watch long-form content and live broadcasts. It’s common for streams to last for an hour or two.
You can broadcast a live stream or watch other streamers, who usually give gameplay commentary, while you connect and chat on the sidebar.
While Twitch is primarily a gamer’s platform, there are multiple programs you can watch, including tech shows, cooking demonstrations, e-sports, and music performances.
Best unlimited bandwidth VPN for live streaming
Whether you stream on YouTube, TikTok, or Twitch, you can reduce buffering using a virtual private network (VPN).
Live streaming takes up lots of bandwidth, and your ISP (Internet Service Provider) may slow your connection speed to offset network congestion, leading to a poor user experience.
A VPN is essential for streaming as it encrypts your online activities and hides your IP address so that you can broadcast quickly and securely. Since your ISP won’t know where your Internet traffic is going, it’s much harder to slow down.
Think of your Wi-Fi connection as a car traveling along a freeway. The more traffic you encounter, the slower your live stream will be.
So if you want to reach out to customers quickly, then a secure, fast VPN with unlimited bandwidth is great for business.
Making money from live streaming
With live streaming apps, you can offer customers a sneak peek of new products and drum up excitement.
Streaming videos don’t need to be funny or outrageous to succeed. However, your content must provide value and fulfill a promise to viewers.
So whether you want to share cooking recipes or model t-shirts in your kitchen, a well-planned video can do wonders for your business. Moreover, you can set up a live channel in seconds and build an instant rapport with customers.
That’s why it pays to put a face to a name.
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