Multistreaming for Brands & Agencies

The Game Has Changed. What is Multistreaming and Why Should You Do It?

Last year Twitch changed it's rules to allow creators to stream to multiple platform despite their partnership status. This opened up the door to a new, powerful strategy. Multistreaming, which allows creators to broadcast live content simultaneously across multiple platforms such as Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Kick and Tiktok. This not only maximizes reach but also enhances brand visibility and engagement. We wanted to highlight the significance of multistreaming for marketing activations, including platform specifics, the tools we can provide to unify the experience, and real-world applications. Enjoy!

The Value of Live Streaming

Digital marketing has seen a significant shift with the rise of live streaming. According to a study by Livestream, 80% of consumers prefer watching live videos from a brand to reading a blog, and 82% prefer live video from a brand to social posts. Live streaming allows for real-time interaction, creating a sense of urgency and engagement that is hard to replicate with traditional content. Time to listen up.

Why Multistreaming?

Increased Reach and Visibility
Multistreaming allows brands to broadcast their content to a wider audience across various platforms simultaneously. Each platform, whether that's Twitch, YouTube, Kick or Tiktok, has its own unique user base. By leveraging multistreaming, brands can ensure their message reaches diverse demographics without being confined to a single platform.

Enhanced Engagement
Different platforms offer varied engagement features. Twitch is known for its active chat community and real-time interactions, whereas YouTube provides extensive analytics and video-on-demand options. By multistreaming, brands can exploit the strengths of each platform and enhance overall engagement for minimal extra workload.

Cost-Effectiveness
Instead of creating separate campaigns for each platform, multistreaming allows brands to unify their efforts. Especially with our recently developed tools to combine data from all platforms. This approach reduces the cost and effort associated with managing multiple campaigns while maximizing the return on investment.

Data and Analytics
Multistreaming provides a holistic view of audience behavior across platforms. By analyzing data from multiple sources, brands can gain deeper insights into their audience's preferences, behaviors, and engagement patterns. This information is invaluable for refining marketing strategies and improving future campaigns.

Key Platforms for Multistreaming

Twitch
Twitch is obviously predominantly known for gaming, but it has expanded to include various categories such as music, art, and talk shows. With over 140 million monthly active users, Twitch offers a highly engaged community. Brands can leverage Twitch's unique features like chat interactions, emotes, and Twitch extensions to create immersive experiences.

YouTube
YouTube remains a powerhouse in the digital world with over 2 billion logged-in monthly users. Its robust infrastructure supports high-quality live streaming and offers extensive analytics tools. YouTube's Super Chat and Membership features enable monetization and enhanced interaction with viewers.

Facebook Live
Facebook Live allows brands to tap into the vast user base of the social media giant. With features like real-time reactions, comments, and sharing, Facebook Live is an excellent platform for reaching a broad audience. Facebook's detailed audience insights and targeting options further enhance its appeal.

Tiktok
TikTok has rapidly emerged as a major player in the social media landscape, boasting over 1 billion monthly active users. Its short-form, highly engaging video content has captivated a diverse audience, making it an essential platform for brands and agencies aiming to maximize their reach through multistreaming.

Kick
For agencies and brands, streaming on Kick offers significant benefits despite its controversial approach. The platform's favorable revenue split attracts top-tier streamers, ensuring high visibility and engagement for sponsored content. Kick's growing user base presents a valuable opportunity for brands to reach a new and diverse active audience. Additionally, the platform's interactive features, such as customizable alerts and chat options, allow for innovative and direct engagement with viewers. This direct interaction can enhance brand loyalty and provide real-time feedback, making Kick a compelling choice for agencies and brands looking to leverage the dynamic landscape of live streaming.

Tools for Multistreaming

To effectively manage multistreaming, brands and agencies need robust tools that facilitate seamless broadcasting across multiple platforms. Some of the leading multistreaming tools include:

Restream
Restream is one of the most popular multistreaming platforms, supporting over 30 streaming destinations. It offers features like real-time analytics, audience chat consolidation, and the ability to schedule live streams. Restream’s intuitive interface makes it easy for brands to manage their multistreaming efforts.

Streamlabs
Streamlabs, known for its user-friendly interface, integrates with various platforms, enabling multistreaming with ease. It provides customizable alerts, widgets, and themes, allowing brands to create personalized streaming experiences. Additionally, Streamlabs offers robust monetization options like donations and merchandise sales.

OBS Studio with MultiRTMP
OBS Studio is a free and open-source software widely used for live streaming. With the MultiRTMP plugin, OBS Studio can stream to multiple platforms simultaneously. This setup is highly customizable and ideal for brands that want more control over their streaming setup.

Wirecast
Wirecast is a professional live streaming production tool that supports multistreaming. It offers advanced features like multi-camera switching, live titling, and social media integration. Wirecast is suitable for brands looking for a high-quality production value in their live streams.

Real-World Applications of Multistreaming

Product Launches
Multistreaming on various platforms, including Twitch, can significantly amplify the reach and impact of a product launch or sales campaign. By broadcasting simultaneously on multiple channels, brands can tap into diverse audiences across different platforms, maximizing exposure and engagement. Each platform has its own unique user base and engagement style; for example, Twitch is known for its interactive community and real-time engagement through chat, while YouTube offers longevity with its searchable video content. This multi-platform approach ensures that the product message reaches a broader demographic, increasing the likelihood of capturing the interest of potential customers who might prefer one platform over another.

Furthermore, multistreaming allows brands to leverage the strengths of each platform to create a more comprehensive and engaging campaign. On Twitch, the real-time interaction can build excitement and urgency around a product launch, with streamers engaging directly with their audience, answering questions, and demonstrating product features live. This immediacy can drive immediate sales, especially with the use of our direct commercial integrations like Twitch extensions, and foster a sense of community around the product. Meanwhile, streaming on platforms like Facebook and YouTube can provide lasting content that continues to attract viewers and potential customers long after the live event has ended. This combination of live engagement and lasting content ensures sustained interest and ongoing sales opportunities, making multistreaming a powerful strategy for product launches and sales initiatives.

Influencer Collaborations
Multistreaming is crucial for maximizing the impact of influencer collaborations, allowing influencers and brands to reach a broader audience across various platforms simultaneously. By leveraging the unique strengths of each platform, influencers can engage with their followers in diverse and dynamic ways. For instance, Twitch's real-time interaction fosters immediate engagement and authenticity, enabling influencers to connect directly with their audience, answer questions, and showcase products live. Concurrently, platforms like YouTube and Facebook provide more permanent content, ensuring that the collaboration continues to reach new viewers over time. This multi-platform presence significantly amplifies the reach of the collaboration, increasing brand visibility and engagement.

Moreover, multistreaming enhances the effectiveness of influencer marketing campaigns by catering to different audience preferences and habits. While some users may prefer the interactive experience of Twitch, others might favor the discoverability and accessibility of content on YouTube or the community-oriented approach of Facebook. By being present on multiple platforms, influencers can connect with a wider and more varied audience, increasing the chances of converting viewers into customers. This comprehensive approach ensures that the collaboration does not rely on a single platform's algorithm or user base, making the campaign more resilient and adaptable. Ultimately, multistreaming strengthens influencer collaborations by broadening their reach, diversifying engagement methods, and ensuring sustained visibility across the digital landscape.

Challenges and Considerations

While multistreaming offers numerous benefits, it also comes with challenges that agencies need to consider:

Technical Complexity
Managing multistreaming can be technically demanding. Brands need to ensure they have the necessary infrastructure and expertise to handle simultaneous broadcasts. This includes reliable internet connections, high-quality streaming equipment, and technical know-how.

Platform-Specific Content
Different platforms have different content norms and audience expectations. Brands need to tailor their content to suit each platform while maintaining a consistent overall message. This requires careful planning and content strategy.

Engagement Management
Engaging with audiences across multiple platforms can be challenging. Brands need to monitor and respond to comments, questions, and interactions in real-time. Tools that unify chat and event data from multiple platforms ensure viewers all get the same robust and engaging experience.

Analytics Integration
Analyzing data from multiple platforms can be complex. Brands need to integrate analytics from various sources to gain a unified view of their campaign performance. This often requires specialized tools and expertise in data analysis.

Conclusion

Multistreaming is no longer just an option; it is a necessity for brands and agencies aiming to maximize their digital marketing efforts. By leveraging the unique strengths of platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok, brands can increase their reach, enhance engagement, and gain valuable insights into their audience's behavior. The availability of robust multistreaming tools simplifies the process, making it accessible even to brands with limited resources.

As digital marketing continues to evolve, multistreaming stands out as a powerful strategy for achieving marketing activation goals. By embracing this approach, brands can stay ahead of the curve, ensuring their message resonates with a broader, more engaged audience. Whether it's for product launches or influencer collaborations, multistreaming offers a versatile and effective solution.

Find out more about how we can help to unify your campaign experience across all platforms with innovative multistreaming tools.