Digital marketing: The next next best things to being there

So, it's Christmas morning and the faraway grandparents are dying to know how little Izzy and Jackson liked their gifts.

Forget phone calls or text messages or FaceTime. This year, chances are that thousands of Americans will be live-streaming videos of the great gift-giving event, closing the distance between loved ones with the wonders of technology.

The ease with which almost anyone broadcast a 'live shot” continues to revolutionize human communication. And with any revolution in communication, you can be certain that marketers won't be far behind.

Once the wrapping paper is disposed of and the holidays are behind us, marketers will be scrambling to make live-stream marketing the next big thing for 2017.

A (Very) Brief History of Social Live-Stream Video

Facebook was one of the first social media platforms to integrate a live-streaming feature within its platform, rolling out Facebook Live to the public earlier this year. Adoption has been steady with personal videos, news events, sports and even local church services showing up in social media feeds.

Instagram Live and SnapChat (now known by the snappier moniker 'Snap”) launched similar capabilities in the past few months. Twitter, which acquired Periscope nearly two years ago, has just finished integrating the technology fully into its app.

The rest of the social world is quickly falling into step.

At this point, various platforms are focusing on different uses for the tool. Facebook and Instagram are encouraging their customers to broadcast live events. Twitter, on the other hand, has signed a number of agreements with media companies such as CBS, Bloomberg and the NFL to broadcast live events.

YouTube was an early innovator with the hugely popular online gaming events for video game enthusiasts. Snap and its disappearing messages always have been popular with the more, ahem, discreet among us.

There's even an extraterrestrial audience for live-streaming, with NASA astronauts hosting live videos from space on YouTube Live Hang-Outs On Air (formerly Google Hang-Outs on Air) for those interested in recent NASA discoveries.

Brands

Brands have been using live-streaming video in a number of ways on social media. Some build community and increase engagement by featuring employees in fun or quirky situations.

Others give their followers a sense of a behind-the-scenes view that makes them feel a part of the event. Some use this vehicle as an authentic - not to mention inexpensive - way to show off their products, deliver testimonials and to create some genuine 'social proof” that their products or services are indeed all the rage.

Ad Buys

Of course, any live-streamed video with a lot eyeballs will attract marketers who want to advertise there. With the right messaging and creative, businesses will be able to reach the specific demographics they want to maximize their advertising dollars. As the social platforms always are looking for ways to monetize their offerings, most are in the process developing more effective video ad platforms for marketers.

Facebook already is using mid-roll video ads on promoted videos, and just last month it started testing real-time ads for Facebook Live videos.

But that's all for next year. In the meantime, put on your best holiday socks and give Grammy and Gramps the best an old-fashioned, lived-streamed holiday greeting you've got.

l Regina Gilloon-Meyer is a content marketing specialist for Fusionfarm, a division of The Gazette Company; (319) 368-8530; regina@fusionfarm.com; @Regiimary