Social Media Tracker: Is live video content still as effective for operators on social media?

For a long time now, live video content was viewed as one of the best kinds of content for a social media channel. This stems from the idea that when you ‘go live’, your followers receive a notification — something that isn’t always possible with a regular video post. Operators have been incorporating live video content into their social media strategy in response to the statistics but is this still something that is as effective as before? Below, we look at what the research says and which operators are using live video content to reach players.

What do the statistics say?

Livestreaming content, in general, has really taken off over recent years but arguably the pandemic has had a greater effect on its popularity. According to TechJury.net, Twitch is currently the largest streaming platform worldwide with over 9.3 billion hours watched in total. Some operators have been using Twitch to host live slots tournaments between large streamers but this can be an expensive strategy if your budget isn’t very high. Of course, if you aren’t considering using Twitch to showcase games, you’ll probably want to stick to live video content across other social channels like Facebook and Instagram. According to the statistics, the livestreaming market will be worth over $70bn by the end of 2021. Around 80% of consumers prefer to watch live video content rather than read written content. This is really interesting and it is something that must be considered when creating a strategy. Finally, you should note that more than one in five Facebook videos are live and these are watched for three times longer than pre-recorded videos.

Gala Bingo

While some operators have started to move away from live video content on social media, others are noting the importance of this kind of content. One of the leading bingo brands to use live content is Gala Bingo. This brand has a huge following on Facebook with over 163K page likes and an excellent engagement rate. The Gala Bingo team uses a range of content to drive engagement and promote new games but live content is one of its strongest. It regularly hosts live quizzes that require players to engage and answer the questions on the Facebook post. These quizzes are based on The Chase, a popular quiz TV show that the brand sponsors. The live quizzes on the Gala Bingo Facebook page receive a lot of engagement and are clearly popular with players. A recent quiz that took place over 60 minutes received over 4.7K comments and over 100 likes. These comments were left by engaged players who are likely to return for future live content.

Tombola bingo

Another brand to leverage the power of live content on Facebook is tombola bingo. This brand has over 196K Facebook fans and the engagement rate is even better than Gala Bingo. In a similar way, the tombola bingo team hosts live quizzes to boost its engagement. Players regularly engage with both the tombola bingo team and other players who they have spoken to on the chatroom or social channels before. A recent quiz on the tombola bingo page received over 4.4K comments and 200 likes. There were 5.9K views to the video which shows just how effective this kind of content can be. When you compare this content with the regular images or pre-recorded video content released by tombola bingo, you can quickly see why it hosts these quizzes. By creating posts in the lead up to the quiz and notifying players of the live video starting, it is outperforming some of its competitors on social media.

How can you use live content?

As you can see, live video content still holds a lot of power on social media. Operators should be taking note of this effective strategy and coming up with unique content that will drive engagement. While live quizzes like those from tombola bingo and Gala Bingo are effective, there are other ways to create this kind of content. We recommend having brand ambassadors or celebrities active for Q&A sessions on the social channels. It is now possible to ‘go live’ with another account which will only benefit the number of views that the content will receive. Other ideas for using live content can include announcing giveaway winners, featuring winners or giving tours of HQ. As long as the content is live and interesting to the users, it is more likely to perform well on social channels. It goes without saying that live video content is still an effective strategy on social media. Any operators that are not making use of this kind of content should learn from their competitors. Yes, live video content can be more difficult to generate but it can also be more cost-effective as there is less production and editing involved in the final product. Over the next year, the livestreaming market is set to grow even more so this is something we should all keep our eyes on. Try out some video content and measure the results you get to determine the best step forward. Sharon McFarlane is the managing director of Digital Footprints – a digital marketing agency that specialises in igaming. She has eight years’ experience in the industry and has contributed regularly to industry magazines and conferences sharing her expertise on all things digital marketing. Her company (www.digital-footprints.co.uk) offers an outsourced solution for igaming businesses when it comes to content marketing, social media, UX design, website design, branding and conversion rate optimisation.