At the recent Streaming Media West Conference in California, the monetization of live streaming was one of the big topics up for discussion. One of the panels took a look at best practices for producers of online live streaming video, and how they can make their content pay.

There is an appetite for live video content, but the trick is to find your market and to deliver the right quality of content in the right manner, to attract and retain a loyal audience. We’re going to take a look at some of the advice that came out of the California event.

What are the best ways to build an audience for your live content?

Everyone loves to get something for nothing, so one of the best ways of attracting viewers is to offer them some initial free content. From here you can gather viewers’ email address and start building up your database.

Once you have done the groundwork then you need to start to monetize your content. You have to work out the best monetary solution for you. Often you may want to provide the chance to watch an event live with a selection of delayed on demand viewing options available.

What type of content should you produce?

If you want to make money from your online video content then you need to make sure that you are producing content that people actually want to watch. Some of the most popular areas for viewing are:

• Sports, especially if you can find an untapped niche.
• Spiritual content
• Business events and conferences

If you can find your own area where there isn’t a surplus of content, and there is an audience, then your chances of securing good monetization are higher.

Think about the quality and the build-up

Generally, the better the quality of the live stream the higher the cost of watching it. If you are going to charge a premium rate for watching your content you may still be able to secure a decent sized audience as long as the streaming quality is of a high standard.

In order to secure the audience numbers you are looking for its important to publicise your content, by email to people who have viewed before, or to potential new viewers across your social media channels. You need to make sure that people are aware of your live streams; otherwise you will not get an audience, no matter how good the content is.

Top tips for producers

At InPlayer we were interested to see some of the tips coming out of the event in California; advice that we often give to our partners.

• Start with a basic product to test the water. As your audience grows you can scale-up the content.
• Keep your content global; offer different languages and currencies where possible.
• Capture the mobile market. As many as 30% of live streaming transactions are carried out on mobile devices so you have to be mobile aware.

We also believe that choosing the right monetization partner is vital for anyone who is producing online video content. Our partners use the InPlayer product to make it simple for their viewers to pay for content while they are watching. There are no long processes or unwanted distractions; it’s quick and it’s easy.