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Engage Your TAM using Live Streaming to Increase B2B SaaS Sales

Introduction

In this article I want to talk about the best B2B live streaming strategies to maintain visibility and engagement with your Total Addressable Market (TAM).

Whilst you may not be planning to set up your own studio tomorrow, I always think it makes sense to explain everything in advance, to help you understand and anticipate what we will do for you as well as giving you some pointers and ideas beforehand.

By approaching the whole digital selling strategy from the right stand-point content like this will help you decide much quicker whether or not you want to take this inhouse or outsource with salesXchange.

Creating engaging content and promoting your live streams effectively, will increase brand awareness, generate leads, and ultimately drive sales.  That said, you need to understand, or at least be aware of what it takes to put on a series of shows.


Table of Contents 

  1. Promoting Live Streams to Your TAM
  2. Engaging Show Segments & Content
  3. Consistency and Scheduling
  4. Selecting the Right Live Streaming Platforms
  5. Encourage Interaction and Engagement
  6. Measure Your Success and Optimise
  7. Collaborate with Influencers and Partners
  8. Integrate Live Streaming with Other Marketing Efforts
  9. Invest in Quality Equipment and Production
  10. Develop a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)
  11. Repurpose Your Live Streams to Podcasts
  12. Prepare for Technical Issues
  13. Maintain a Professional Appearance & Set Design
  14. Provide Real-Time Support
  15. Learn from Your Competitors
  16. Track Key Metrics
  17. Gather Feedback
  18. Test Different Formats and Approaches
  19. Leverage Social Media
  20. Frequently Asked Questions
  21. Conclusion

Preparing Your Business to Fly

1. Promoting Live Streams to Your TAM

If you haven’t read my previous article about the marketing process to promote your business to your total addressable market, I would recommend you read that one first as it segues into this article quite nicely!  It’s called TAM-Driven B2B SaaS Revenue Growth.

Using social media, email marketing, and any other marketing channels to promote your live streams in advance, make sure to include a clear call-to-action and encourage your audience to share the event with their networks.  I know it sounds obvious; however, you will need to build up to an audience sharing your broadcast dates. 

This is B2B, not B2C, business owners and buyers do not binge on social media as many platforms would have you believe, therefore, in the same way I have recommended a drip-drip feed to potential prospects, the same is required for promoting your live stream.

Below is a graphic showing nine of forty-two adverts posted on LinkedIn.  These were posted every day using a platform called Recurpost.  The point of creating multiple adverts is to keep posting unique content.  If you post too many of the same item, LinkedIn will throttle your content and it will be wasted.

Using AI tools like Mid Journey, enables your team to create multiple adverts and keep your new show visible to your prospects.

87 Nine 9 adverts

I recommend the following strategy – having done it myself:

  • If you haven’t already got a TAM database, go and buy one. It will cost approximately £350 per thousand names. You want 10,000 names, therefore prepare to invest £3,500.
  • Twelve weeks in advance, import the newly acquired database to LinkedIn and launch a banner advertisement campaign. These ads should appear in the newsfeeds of everyone in the database, urging your Total Addressable Market (TAM) to 'Follow' your company and highlighting the forthcoming live stream events.
  • Start crafting a series of emails twelve weeks before your live stream series kicks off. Dispatch one email weekly for the first eleven weeks. In the final week, ramp up the excitement with daily emails teasing, "It's coming, it's coming."
  • On the show day, send an email to your TAM approximately an hour before going live, alerting them that the broadcast is imminent.

Keep in mind; Of your TAM, between 1% and 15% are planning to begin their buying journey every week.  That means, approximately 100 to 1500 businesses are prime!  A percentage of them will watch your live show.  If fifty watched, that would match the equivalent work effort of at least fifty BDRs or telesales operatives cold calling. 

The costs and benefits of this strategy are unmatched in anything you have ever done before in the lifetime of your business.

Below is an infographic of the entire preparation and marketing process to your TAM.  The Digital Selling Timeline

digital selling timeline

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2. Engaging Show Segments & Content

Create content that is relevant, informative, and entertaining for your TAM. This can include interviews, group discussions, product demonstrations, Q&A sessions, interviews, webinars, or behind-the-scenes footage. 

Establish a consistent streaming schedule to build anticipation and develop a loyal following. Regularly streaming at specific times allows your audience to plan their participation and engagement.

For more information regarding content, we have a section on Digital Selling which explains the various methods and strategies you can adopt.

Below is an illustration of all the various segments you can consider.

87 live segment ideas

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3. Consistency and Scheduling

Although the word Live Stream infers everything is going to be live, there is nothing stopping you from broadcasting a pre-recorded video as part of your show.

Establish a consistent streaming schedule to build anticipation and develop a loyal following. Regularly streaming at specific times allows your audience to plan their participation and engagement.

Apart from www.restream.io being very easy to use, it also has an API to enable you to schedule your live stream according to the times and dates you have set up in LinkedIn or Facebook.  All you need do is set the dates and map Restream to LinkedIn or Facebook.

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4. Selecting the Right Live Streaming Platforms

Identify the platforms where your TAM spends most of their time, such as Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Twitch, or LinkedIn Live. It's important to choose platforms that align with your audience's preferences and your brand's goals.  But don't worry if you have completely defined them, there not set in stone.

We’re talking B2B, therefore your main platforms are ging to be LinkedIn - Live and Facebook – Live and naturally YouTube Live.  That said, LinkedIn Live requires you to use an intermediary piece of SaaS to broadcast and the most effective I have found is www.restream.io.

restream platform screenshot

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Live Streaming to Your Total Addressable Market

5. Encourage Interaction and Engagement

Invite your viewers to participate by asking questions, sharing their thoughts, and interacting with other viewers. This fosters a sense of community and keeps your audience engaged. 

One thing I want to point out – businesses do not want to broadcast they might be looking at a certain product or service, hence watching and remaining anonymous, therefore, do be giving a shout-out to different people or businesses when they appear on the watching feed and if they ask you a question, refrain from mentioning surnames or business names.

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6. Measure Your Success and Optimise

By analysing Restream, you can monitor your live streaming performance through metrics like views, engagement, and conversions. Use these insights to optimise your strategy and improve future live streams. 

Additionally, you can embed a Restream player in your website and give your prospects the option of watching you on a social media channel or they can watch, completely anonymously, if they click through to your own website page Restream Player.

Keep in mind the premise of Digital Selling and the information we have research and revealed; every item of content you post must be seen as a type of ‘breadcrumb’.  None of us bite the first time we see something business related.  First, we glance at it, and over time we become more familiar.  This is how you need to view all your marketing including the responses to your live stream show.

The screenshot below shows how easy it is to live stream across multiple channels at the same time.  Simply enable the social channel.

restream multi-platform distribution

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7. Collaborate with Influencers and Partners

It is a seriously good idea to partner with influencers or other businesses associated to your industry to expand your reach, tap into new audiences, and enhance the credibility of your brand. 

Other businesses will want to connect with as many new contacts as they can, therefore if you can find some common ground and not compete with them, you have the basis of a good relationship moving forward. 

For more ideas about collaboration and syndicate selling, take a look at our sX Syndicates - articles and here for our sX Syndicates - Guide and here for our sX Syndicates - Cost Analysis

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8. Integrate Live Streaming with Other Marketing Efforts

Ensure your live streaming strategy complements and supports your overall marketing plan. Cross-promote your live streams with other marketing efforts like social media, article posts, and email campaigns.

Ensure your team change their LinkedIn profiles to reflect your live shows.  This can include changing their photos, if they’re involved in the show to replacing all the profile banners of all members of staff who have changed their profiles to say they work for your company – they have said they work for you, haven’t they?

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9. Invest in Quality Equipment and Production

I appreciate you may not be getting out your cheque book just yet to invest in all the live streaming gear, but it is worth mentioning about investing in high-quality equipment and production gear to provide your audience with an enjoyable viewing experience.  Good lighting, audio, and video quality makes a significant difference in engagement and viewer retention.  We have all watched a crappy video, but if the audio is bad too, we all switch off.

This is another area where we come in.  We use equipment from an Australian company called Blackmagic Design.  They’ve been around for years and have offices all over the world.  They are pretty much the broadcasting standard.

Take a look at our Blackmagic Design page to get a feel for the kit, but also, take a look at our first live stream efforts when we were using Ecamm and a green screen to the quality of the broadcast and greenscreen work used on the News Broadcasts in March 2023. 

Our B2B News Segment, Fox News lookalike!

Green screen news presenting

Click through to our Resources > Live Streaming page to see our progression from using a Mac-based platform called Ecamm and our 1st Shows through to the News 'skits' and most recent live shows.  

To date I have produced and hosted three live stream series.  It’s interesting to see the changes over a relatively short period of time, in terms of technology and presenting.  Here’s a link to Live Show Series 3.

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Live Streaming Best Practices

10. Develop a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

It’s really important to include a clear Call To Action during or at the end of your live stream to guide viewers towards a specific action. This can be signing up for a newsletter, visiting your website, or purchasing a product. Make sure your CTA is relevant and aligned with your show, no one wants to see or hear something ‘left-field’.

One of the main points of livestreaming is to kickstart the engagement process at scale of your total addressable market (TAM).  They are only expecting to get to know you, so stick to creating engaging content that educates. 

As B2B buyers, we know others will buy when they’re ready and not before.  They are buying to increase their company’s profits, they not buying for fun or personal reasons.  

As part of the Digital Selling process or strategy, buyers want to learn why they should buy a certain product and from whom.  Your job is to provide them with that information and to do it at scale.

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11. Repurpose Your Live Streams

Live streaming does not require editing, because it’s live.  However, a one-hour live stream will generate approximately 8-10,000 words.  These words can be automatically transcribed and embedded on the same page as the live show.  This content, when indexed, will help Google better understand what your business is about, also some people prefer to follow what’s being said!

Also, consider a typical article starts around 1,000 words.  This means you have the raw information to create an abundance of associated content from one live show.

Maximising the value of your live streams can be done by repurposing the content for other marketing channels. Turn the recorded sessions into article posts, podcasts, or social media snippets. This will help you reach a wider audience and reinforce your message.  However, it will require editing to do this. 

We use Adobe Premiere Pro and Blackmagic Designs’ Resolve (which is free) which also have the added benefit offering enhanced integration with their camera technology, making it easier to edit live streams.  many of the AI or less featured non-liner-editors (NLE).

We also use Adobe Audition which is their audio editing platform. When transposing to a podcast, there are some simple strategies such as creating a short intro and outro and inserting company adverts where applicable.

You may be aware that podcasts use RSS for distribution.  Once your account is set up on a hosting platform, as soon as your podcast is uploaded, it is distributed to multiple platforms around the world.

Every derivative of your content must be exploited to achieve the greatest exposure for your business – and at the least effort and cost.

post show editing

Visit our Blackmagic Design web page.

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12. Prepare for Technical Issues

People like live shows because they are authentic and real.  However, there is always the possibility of a technical failure during a live stream, so it's essential to be prepared. Have a backup plan in place, such as pre-recorded content, to keep your audience engaged in case of technical difficulties.

But hey! These things happen right.  And if your live team are comfortable with the technology and know what could go wrong, then they are as pre-prepared as they can be.  We’ll help with all of this in advance.

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13. Maintain a Professional Appearance & Set Design

This becomes all part of your branding.  Ensure that you and any partner guests on your live stream maintain a professional appearance, as this reflects your brand image. Dress appropriately, and ensure your streaming space is clean and visually appealing.

When it comes to set design, it all is driven by your desired impression on your prospects.  Bearing in mind, you don’t get a second chance at a first impression!  There are important points as follows:

  • Backdrop: Choose a clean and uncluttered backdrop that complements your brand and content. Consider using a branded banner(s), an illuminated logo, or bespoke artwork for a professional look.
  • Lighting: Ensure proper lighting to enhance the overall video quality. Use a combination of natural light, soft boxes, and ring lights to eliminate shadows and create an even distribution of light.
  • Multiple Camera Angles: Position the camera at eye level to create a natural and engaging viewing experience. Experiment with different angles to find the most flattering perspective.
  • Framing: Compose the frame to include enough headroom and maintain the rule of thirds. Make sure important elements are within the frame without being too cluttered.
  • Props and Accessories: Use relevant props and accessories to add visual interest and support the content. Be mindful of their placement and avoid overcrowding the set.
  • Colours: Choose colours that align with your brand and create contrast between the subject and the background. Avoid wearing the same colour as the backdrop to prevent blending in.
  • Sound: Minimise background noise and echo by using a high-quality microphone, soundproofing materials, and placing the microphone close to the subject.

By paying attention to these set design elements, you can create an engaging and visually appealing live streaming environment that reflects your business professionalism and resonates with your audience.

Before I finish on this, think about the television shows you’ve watched.  From the morning news to early evening shows through to the late-night programs.  There’s nothing complicated, just a desk and chairs for the host(s) and a chair or two for the guests – plus the cameras.  That’s it and that’s what’s appealing to your prospects.

live stream technology2

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14. Provide Real-Time Support

Offer real-time support during your live streams to address any questions or concerns from your audience. This can be done through chat moderation or by having a dedicated team member(s) available to respond to ‘live’ enquiries.

The big deal here is that you are making your business available and visible to 5, 10, 50 or 500 businesses and they want to see how authentic you are and how you present your business.  Answering questions is a small part of the overall offering, but an important part.

Every step of this process needs to be reviewed based upon how you and your team(s) respond to online shows – but not webinars – this is not a webinar, don’t even mention webinars, we don’t do webinars. Ever.

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15. Learn from Your Competitors

Analyse your competitors' live streaming strategies to identify areas where you can improve or differentiate your approach. This will help you stay ahead of the competition and deliver a unique experience to your audience.

By incorporating these additional best practices into your live streaming strategy, you can further increase visibility and engagement with your Total Addressable Market. This will ultimately help your business generate more interest and drive sales through the effective use of digital selling.

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Measure & Optimise Your Live Streaming Strategy

16. Track Key Metrics

To measure the success of your live streaming strategy, it's crucial to track key performance indicators (KPIs). These may include the number of viewers, engagement rate, watch time, and conversion rate.

Monitoring these metrics will help you understand what resonates with your audience and make data-driven decisions to improve future live streams. It is probably a good idea to suggest your team take a look at our page regarding Google Analytics & Google Tag Manager.

87 Google Logo

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17. Gather Feedback

Using the description below the player pane on LinkedIn, Facebook, or YouTube, ask your audience for feedback after each live stream to gain insights into what they liked, disliked, or found most valuable. This information can help you fine-tune your content and delivery to better cater to your audience's needs and preferences.

It will also serve you to email them too and ask for feedback as they might be more willing to click reply than to broadcast that they’re watching you and have a question.  Better that, than some bight-spark online trying to answer before you.

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18. Test Different Formats and Approaches

Experiment with various live streaming formats, such as live or pre-planned Q&As, interviews, product demos, and educational sessions. This will allow you to identify which formats generate the most engagement and interest from your audience.

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19. Leverage Social Media

Promote your live streams on social media platforms to expand your reach and attract more viewers. Share teasers from previous shows, behind-the-scenes video content and photographs taken on the day. 

Post reminders to create buzz and excitement around your live events. Additionally, consider partnering with influencers to further amplify your message.

Continuously plan your promotion using Social 444.  This provides a framework to auto-schedule social media posts with a call-to-action to encourage sign ups directly on LinkedIn, but a word of advice – don’t contact the registrants, let them get to know you and they will contact you if your product or service fits.

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FAQs

What equipment do I need to start live streaming?

To start live streaming, you will need a camera (can be your smartphone camera), a microphone, and a stable internet connection. If you want to improve the quality of your stream, you can invest in additional equipment such as lighting, a tripod, and a capture card.

Do I need to be tech-savvy to start live streaming?

You don't need to be a tech expert to start live streaming, but it does require some basic technical knowledge. You'll need to understand how to use your camera and microphone, how to set up your streaming software or platform, and how to troubleshoot any technical issues that may arise.

How long should my live streams be?

The length of your live streams will depend on your audience and the type of content you're presenting. Generally, a live stream should be at least 10-15 minutes long to give your audience enough time to engage with your content, but not too long that they lose interest.

How often should I live stream?

The frequency of your live streams will depend on your audience's preferences and your availability. It's important to establish a consistent schedule that works for you and your audience, whether it's once a week or once a month.

How can I measure the success of my live streams?

You can measure the success of your live streams by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as viewership, engagement rate, watch time, and conversion rate. Use these metrics to make data-driven decisions and improve your future live streams. Additionally, gather feedback from your audience to understand what worked and what didn't.

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Conclusion

Whilst live streaming is an amazing tool for businesses, it is critical to focus on your Total Addressable Market (TAM) and generate information and content to satisfy their interest in your products or services.

Selecting the right platforms is one thing, but it is more important to concentrate on creating engaging content that can be adapted to provide consistent streaming ideas and a streaming schedule.

Your business can build a loyal following and increase visibility among your TAM by exploiting the impact of live streaming and integrating it with your overall marketing efforts.

Collaborating with influencers and partners will help keep the live stream programs fresh and more fun due to the unpredictability of people! Also, investing in quality equipment and production tools will definitely make life easier, should you decide to set live streaming up for yourself.

All of the points mentioned above, such as measuring success, gathering feedback and testing different formats, is to help your business optimise a live streaming strategy to stay ahead of your competition.

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Go to our Digital Selling pages to see how you can change the way you work and scale up your business.

Author

The author and founder of salesXchange, Nigel Maine is a B2B marketing and sales expert with a proven track record in scaling up growth for Technology, SaaS, and Professional Services organisations. With 30 years hands-on experience and unique approach, Nigel has developed an effective strategy that dramatically increases exposure and profitability for B2B organizations.

Nigel has founded multiple start-ups, is a published author, public speaker and hosts both a podcast and business live streaming show, broadcast on LinkedIn Live, YouTube & Facebook. He also has extensive knowledge of MarTech software, creative hardware and software, and A.I. prompting tools.  Contact: 0800 970 9751 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.