Social media can be a noisy place. How can a brand not only set it itself apart, but remain authentic and connect with an audience in an intimate way?

The answer is live-streaming, and it’s blowing up the social media scene these days.

From Youtube to Vine to Periscope, video is evolving. Live-streaming is live video available in real time on a public platform; there are several services now providing some sort of live option.

The point is to be raw and real. There aren’t filters or editing, and audiences are eating it up.

Brands that have embraced this new and organic way to reach people have seen a remarkable engagement and growth rate on their social media platforms.

Why does live streaming work?

It works because it’s authentic. It’s hard to fake a live video. The audience is able to get a real dose of the brand’s identity and voice. That kind of connection creates loyalty. That kind of connection creates brand ambassadors.

Being authentic and creating connections with your audience is part of the inbound marketing methodology of attracting visitors to your brand and converting them into leads.

Authenticity naturally attracts potential customers because it builds trust with those who come into contact with your brand. If a brand can establish trust with potential customers through a particular channel, then it can use that channel to drive traffic to an optimized landing page and begin the inbound marketing journey.

Which live service app should I use?

There are many apps out there that you can broadcast live from, but not all of them let you access your content after the fact. So the best services to use are those that allow you to save your broadcast for use later and in other forms of content.

Periscope does just that, and it even has a 24-hour-playback feature. It’s a really great tool if your brand already has an audience on Twitter as it will connect with the social network automatically. Plus, you can download each “scope,” as they call them, to use them in blog posts and share them again and again on social media.

Facebook Live allows you to save your broadcasts and taps into the audience you already have on Facebook.

Youtube Live is another solid option that also taps into an existing audience and works with a platform your brand may have already built a following on.

Younow and Blab are all also options that have specific demographic reach. Younow, for example, is popular among younger audiences.

As with all things social, it’s always best to try different things out and see what works best for your brand. There is no one size fits all solution.

How do I get started?

It can seem daunting trying to figure what to do on live video.

As with all good marketing, start with your audience. Who are they? What live streaming platforms are they using? What questions are they asking? What problems can you solve for them?

Once you’ve identified your audience’s preferred live service and put together a list of questions and problems they have, start with answering and solving them. Break those solutions down into small pieces and there are your talking points.

Think of a way to help show those answers rather than just talk about them in front of a screen.

Then it’s action time! Start getting on-screen and sharing what you know!