By Michael Palmrose
Nowadays, integrating live streaming into a government communications strategy is a must.
According to Vimeo, 388 governments across 70 different countries used live streaming to broadcast their events in 2017. The biggest advantage to live streaming events is the interactive, real-time engagements that constituents can have with their representatives. Live stream services that offer a chat, voting or polling option within the live stream tend to have a much more profound impact on the community.
Here are some ways you can benefit your community by hosting government-sponsored live events:
Government-sponsored Workshops: Increase the number of your workshop attendees by offering the class with a paid or non-paid live stream option. Here are some workshop ideas that are perfect for live streaming to local residents:
How to file taxes
How to start a small business
How to run for office
Town Hall meetings: Expand your audience beyond the town hall venue. This offers your government a chance to solicit thought leadership from your constituents and give them feedback while they are watching at home. Here are some town hall topics to consider for your community:
How to clean up the community
What can your city government do better?
Local election coverage
Construction or zoning plans
Local parades, concerts and fundraisers: Broadcast events to those who cannot attend because of physical or geographical restraints. Provide a sense of community for a larger audience that is not physically able to attend the event. People participating in the actual event can also share the live stream link with their friends and loved ones.
Partner with a local non-profit: By leveraging a non-profit as the organizer for your event, you can double your promotional efforts and promote the live stream on their marketing channels. Non-profits often host government-focused events that can help benefit the community and take the workload off of your shoulders.
Disaster Relief and Emergencies: Live streaming urgent information to the public in your jurisdiction from your website is an efficient way to keep your constituents informed about important alerts that affect their safety and well-being. A livestream from government headquarters can often serve as a way to alert the community about where to get access to shelter, what areas to avoid and where to get recovery supplies.
To ensure you have a valid return on investment for your livestream, keep the following things in mind:
Integrate the live stream link into your communication plan
Who is your target audience?
What is your goal of live streaming this event?
Has it been promoted on your website?
Has it been promoted on your social media channels?
Have you shared the live stream link with your audience via email?
Have you provided a live stream link on the homepage of your website?
After the event, check in to see if your audience has grown
Has my event attendance gone up (online and in-person)?
If it’s a polling event, has anyone participated in the poll?
If there was a feedback option, has anyone provided feedback?
Has there been a reduction of complaints from our constituents?
Live streaming is becoming an important part of government operations in the 21st century. Following the guidelines presented above, you should be able to increase your audience size for all of your government needs.