1. Introduction to Live Streaming
The beauty industry in Singapore has jumped aboard live-streaming participation through “live-hailing” of local content influencers who can promote, educate, and influence their audience with new products and demonstrations. The phenomenon of consumers watching a product demonstration video by a content influencer and following suit by purchasing the endorsed product(s) has popularized the term “see now, buy now” coined by the fashion industry. Can the beauty industry offer the same phenomenon for consumer purchasing behavior, and how does the phenomenon play an essential role in the Singaporean streaming experience?
Live stream service is defined as broadcasting video and audio content to a social media audience through a mobile device or a computer. The event is happening live as it streams online, and the audience watches it in real time as it unfolds, providing a two-way conversation between the audience and anyone featured. Also known as interactive video streaming, live streaming Singapore has transcended from just being entertainment to the business world as a useful marketing tool. Industries have identified the benefits and began experimenting with how their entity may benefit and capitalize from the platform. Leading the industries taking advantage of live streaming are the fashion, beauty, and food industries. These entities have solid reasons to adopt and invest in live streaming, and the active use has also generated multitudes of followers who tune in to watch live events.
1.1. Definition and Evolution of Live Streaming
The evolution of live streaming. Live streaming of e-commerce in Singapore is more broadly known as live shopping, live video shopping, video shopping, or live video shopping. Certainly, only recently have foreign online markets recorded the rapid development of the relationship between the internet, television, and television (ITV). Nowadays, online shopping and the experience of the online shopping atmosphere differ substantially. Users can get them all in their homes with the development of electronic commerce. The range towards which online shopping is shifting is a part of shopping for the standards. They may go to an online site and purchase wrestling items on other occasions.
What is the definition of live streaming? E-commerce has been a booming industry since the year 2000. Since about a decade ago, new technologies have been able to offer internet users the ability to combine live video content and e-commerce systems. By definition, ‘live streaming’ is defined as ‘a live online broadcast’. Usually, live streaming means broadcasting and watching video over the internet, especially through a content delivery network, in real-time. Live streaming allows users to watch the broadcasted live video at the same time the video is actually being conducted and broadcasted on the internet. Now, live streaming is shaping the 6th factor of the industrial revolution.
2. Benefits of Live Streaming for Brands
Behind the glitter of social media celebs and influencers, many lesser-known brands are starting to see the ROI that influencers can deliver and are achieving enormous sales growth through engagement with the right influencers. But this is just one of the many benefits of using live streams for brands across all industries in Singapore. The interactivity that live stream offers users is one of the most attractive aspects of the medium. In the era of split-second Snapchat stimulation, audiences are crying out for engagement with the content creators they follow. First of all, there’s the live real-time feedback that viewers can give to those who are behind the scenes during the broadcast. A live stream is also an ideal platform to host an interview where your subject, be it an employee or owner, etc., can engage in a Q&A with audiences in real time. Depending on their schedule, viewers can also request a time in the chat during the broadcast. The greater the interactivity that the broadcast has, the more successful it can be when it comes to audience engagement.
As a small nation with a technologically savvy population, Singapore has been at the forefront of many pivotal moments when it comes to live streaming. We were the first to live stream our national day parade way back in 2010. Our Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, faced a political crisis head-on in 2017 via a live-streamed speech. We even live-streamed the birth of Chaw Chaw the red panda, though in all honesty, these live streams can be pretty hit or miss. While it’s more common to find marketers of e-commerce platforms and consumer goods giants turning to live streaming for its benefits, live streaming can do Singaporean brands a world of good as well. With such high levels of internet penetration and smartphone usage in Singapore, many of these consumers are watching and engaging with influencers across a variety of social platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube on a regular basis.
2.1. Increased Audience Engagement
On the off chance that brands are able to grab the attention of an online user, it is often for only a moment. Users typically scroll through endless photos and videos without ever really seeing anything. Not investing in engaging content is a risky move for brands given the impact the “scroll-phenomenon” has had in diminishing the value of sponsored brand videos. Facebook executives recently confessed that they are considering hiding the number of “likes” on a post. One of the reasons they cite is to reduce social pressures to compete for online attention. If casual scrolling and likes are here today and forever gone tomorrow, what will rise in their place? The fact that live videos are recorded as they unfold means brands now have the power to capture their audience. Participating in events that happen live creates a sense of immediacy, a call to action. By promoting and hosting events that are unconditionally unique, diverse, and interactive, brands can create a mixed form of entertainment and aspirations to foster organic viewership.
One critical factor that sets live streaming apart is that it naturally encourages increased viewer engagement. In our multimedia-driven world, it has gotten increasingly difficult for brands to really engage their customers. If online users aren’t mindlessly scrolling through social media, they’re chatting with friends, watching a YouTube video, or playing video games. Much to the chagrin of brands, it can be challenging to pull users away from whatever they’re doing. Which is why they need to start thinking about creating content in places where users already are. Not just as traditional forms of advertising, but also repurposing their products and services as a source of entertainment for their audience. These types of organic interactions help to create a loyal customer base by building products that users not only find value in but enjoy. Come to think of it, that is why brands need to start taking notes from the online video game industry.
3. Best Practices for Successful Live Streaming
As in any emerging field, conducting effective live streams requires overcoming a plethora of obstacles including technique, technical, trust, and risk during the transitions that stem from before, during, and post-live streaming. Live streaming does not always successfully translate from theory into desired evaluations and outcomes, although it has the potential to effectively promote brand awareness, brand image, and customer decrease in Singapore. The study has constructed a conceptual review of the significance of live streaming for Singaporean brands and best practice strategies to attain results and returns while following semi-structured interviews and participant observation over 24 different live streams on an online commerce website.
Example for successful live streaming includes using a secondary management system to better capture outcomes and returns, generative educational settings that require inexperienced users to record and generate attractive videos, the features of creating an interest sensation by utilizing social media efficiently, the omission of unnecessary platform functions, managing the risk of impulsive behavior, and curating a healthy live streaming environment. Businesses can also partner with website administrators to better enhance their live stream management and customer trust to improve the outcome of live streaming. In summary, to maximize successful live streaming as a platform for increased brand awareness, brand image, and customer trust for Singaporean brands, businesses and marketers should exploit the tools, strategies, and lessons identified in the paper.
3.1. Choosing the Right Platform
Some companies make the mistake of assuming that live streaming is only intended for large-scale events or only stream-worthy for brands in a specialized market, such as fashion or sports. To debunk the myth, any brand can utilize live streaming to achieve their marketing objectives. It simply involves picking the right platform to engage a niche audience or to communicate with a large group of followers through an influencer. Taking a closer look at social media, every platform that your brand could possibly utilize for live streaming encourages longer airtime. Hence, it isn’t necessarily only YouTube, Twitch, or Facebook which you might want to consider for live streaming, among others. Instagram in particular allows you to produce short videos to add to story features. In Singapore, there is greater internet accessibility, and a high percentage of the population already has an account on one of the available platforms. You can engage customers through live streaming relatively easily.
4. Case Studies of Successful Live Streaming Campaigns
Consumers’ desires for such experiences are reflected in the soaring demand for live game streaming on platforms such as HUYA and DouYu.
The third case involves a popular Chinese star, Zhang Liang, who helped to promote Australian Manu Feildel Tango King Oyster Sailwing, which sold 17,563 bundles in nineteen minutes. With each bundle worth 258 RMB, the company obtained more than 4.852 million RMB in revenue. They even became one of the top ten sellers on the Double 11 campaign by only selling dried mushrooms and oysters, achieving amazing results that astonished many consumers.
The second case involves a single lipstick product that sold twenty-six thousand tubes in just over five minutes with one live streaming campaign. In this session, Li obtained 1,656,000 Renminbi in revenue and 42,557 orders.
In the first case, Li Jiaqi (Austin Li) demonstrated the benefits of using and reviewing scented candles from a Taiwanese candle company on Taobao. This action helped the company quickly sell close to ten thousand candles, each worth 499-699 RMB, within twenty minutes.
As previously discussed, many brands in China have seized the opportunities presented by advanced live-streaming technologies to engage their customers innovatively. In this section, we present case studies of successful live streaming campaigns by popular Chinese KOLs.
4.1. Singaporean Brands
The team’s preliminary data has shown growth in the trend of live streaming consumption in Singapore. More than 30% of respondents indicated that they watched more live streams in Q4 2020, compared to Q1 2020; there has been a growth of 12% in the sample during review. The young adults have recorded the highest growth in live stream consumption. Gen Z and Millennials continue to contribute to the growth in live streaming, enjoying more premium content with higher affinity as they curate their content to their preference. The team’s research gears to the importance of live streaming in Singapore; the latest research note from Kantar assigns live streaming sessions heavy to overwhelming importance as it aims to understand how the pandemic has impacted the future of viewing television. The study identifies that even though there are distinct differences by market, the pandemic has accelerated habitual changes to viewing television. The research gives insight into how established behaviors and new routines have been ingrained within such a short period of time; it also hints at how this trend will most likely continue even after the pandemic is over.
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the shifting consumer viewing habits in broadcast media. Global data shows people have been consuming more TV in general, with broad underlying habits set by the pandemic. Live TV accounted for nearly 65% of the time that was spent with video across television and digital in Singapore, and sometime between April and May 2020, time spent with live TV viewing had risen by 5% across select Southeast countries including Singapore. Among age groups, adults 35-49 had the highest monthly consumption of TV, accounting for 118 hours and 3 minutes each month. Singaporeans subscribe to an average of three streaming services – with Viu, HBO Go, and Netflix as popular choices among consumers. Despite offering identical content, Netflix is the most preferred choice for international English language content while HBO GO and Viu are considered go-to choices for premium and local content respectively. Even though TV is the standout in video in Singapore, viewers are warming up to the idea of streaming services due to an increase in “Stay-At-Home” behaviors.
5. Conclusion and Future Trends
By using live streaming to connect with consumers, brands can improve their relevance with traditional media outlets and help consumers get the latest information and details around innovations and new product models, as well as making more personal connections with brand and product ambassadors. They can also gain insights into what their audience is thinking and interested in, and potentially learn what makes for compelling content and storytelling. According to Fung, the most useful data sets or analytics are those that brands collect themselves. While social media platforms and services have sophisticated tools for insights, analytics, and marketing, the direct connection with followers that is enabled by the content and communications on a brand’s own channels is very powerful.
Traditional media advertising and product demonstrations will remain important in the future for brands selling products that require tactile or hands-on engagement, or for brands segmenting specific consumer niches. However, brands that are looking to create a community around their products or services should consider the development of a live streaming strategy. Brands can either develop their own live streaming capabilities or work with a sales channel partner who has already established a popular live-streamed shopping channel.
