In the past two years, the growth in digital content consumption was further accelerated by COVID-19 and had more brands turn to online advertising to reach potential customers. However, this surge in online advertising made it more challenging than ever for brands to cut through the noise, especially when trying to make an impact on Gen-Z — a particularly selective and elusive audience. In this article, we will talk about why brands should invest in live streaming platforms to create an authentic dialogue with their audiences and stand out among other competitors.
80% of consumers prefer watching live video to reading a blog post. Every day, new viewers step into the world of live streaming to find relevant, genuine, and appealing content that comes with unparalleled engagement opportunities. Some would attribute this surging interest in live streaming to recent lockdowns; however, many think that COVID-19 only accelerated this growth and the shift in behavior it has created will be irreversible.
Today, Amazon-owned Twitch has over 140 million monthly unique visitors and there are over 9 million active live streamers on the platform. According to Rainmaker.gg’s report, in 2021, Twitch has seen a 45% YoY growth in total watch hours whereas Facebook Gaming went from 3.6 billion to 5.3 billion hours watched.
The interest that skyrocketed the viewership numbers in these platforms made tech-giants like Meta, Google, and Amazon accelerate their investments in live streaming by allocating more resources into attracting top streamers to their platforms in the hopes of increasing their share in the market. Almost every social platform has jumped on the train by integrating live streaming capabilities into their platforms.
According to Adage, from consumer packaged goods to quick-service restaurants, to financial services, more than 1.2 million official marketing partners engaged in marketing activities just on Twitch last year.
Having been born amid technological developments, tech-savvy Gen-Z does not watch TV or read newspapers, making traditional advertising efforts aiming to reach them futile. Even mediums like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter that were considered effective in reaching them until recently no longer bring desired levels of engagement.
In fact, according to Alist Daily, 82% of Gen Z say that they skip ads as soon as they can when given the option, while 52% say that they use ad blockers to avoid any distractions. In short, Gen-Z does not like being interrupted when engaging with content they love.
That is exactly why interactive, non-intrusive overlays with appealing designs that blend right in with the content are brands’ best bet to win Gen Z over. Instead of running pre-roll and mid-roll ads and being perceived as an intruder, brands can position themselves as a supporter of the creators and content that Gen-Z loves engaging with through live stream marketing.
As live streaming platforms grow in popularity, more creators with diverse backgrounds and interests start broadcasting live video in the hopes of connecting with new audiences in an authentic way, increasing the depth and breadth of the content available on these platforms spanning categories as diverse as video games, cooking, music, art, talk shows & quiz contests, and just chatting.
The opportunity for brands to showcase their products and deliver their message to their target audience via relevant, authentic creators is extremely valuable, because these audiences actually care about their favorite creators and value their opinions. With its data-driven approach and AI-based algorithms, LIVAD makes it easier than ever for brands to craft the perfect campaign and deliver it to the right audience via thousands of authentic creators across the best live stream moments.
Working with many pioneer brands from various industries across Europe and the Americas, LIVAD introduces new brands to live stream marketing every day and has managed more than 200 sponsorship campaigns with more than 100 established brands and thousands of streamers.
Meet with LIVAD to deliver your message to millions of users through elegant, interactive, and non-intrusive overlay that are distributed automatically to the live streams of thousands of streamers around the globe — start today!
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