A Live Blog is an instant attention-grabbing tool that empowers brands to generate real-time engagement. Here’s how some companies are using it to establish a deeper connection with their audience.
High-quality content is more important now than it has ever been.
Digitized and multi-connected, today’s audiences pay significant attention to content that can answer their questions and help them decide if a product or service is right. There is no denying that content is a vital part of the continuously-important customer experience.
With so much competition and information running wild at all times, cutting through the noise might be hard.
With the present moment changing so drastically in such a short period, you surely want to implement the most effective solutions to increase engagement and make your consumers loyal.
But how can you stand out from the crowd and generate immediate engagement with such an imperative audience?
I’m sure you have asked yourself this question a few times through the years.
Thankfully, this article is all about an extraordinary tool that customers are growing extremely fond of and are already expecting your company to have: a Live Blog.
Here, you will find how companies are using Live Blogs to generate relevant content and connect with a real-time audience—and why you shouldn’t wait to do the same.
Why a real-time audience matters
Customers are always on. Given the newness of technology and innovation, they have all the tools to remain connected nonstop and wish to consume reliable information that leads them to make better decisions. The faster, the better.
Timing is essential in any marketing tactic these days. A message or campaign will only be valid when it gets to customers exactly when they need it.
Many professionals work day and night to assess customer data and develop exciting content alternatives that arrive sharply on-time. Those who are succeeding already know it: Live content is a gold mine and engages audiences as few things can.
Live content meets consumers’ expectations perfectly because it empowers them to be part of a real-time experience. It promotes instant debates people can get involved with, combining timing and appropriate messages to create a matchless customer experience.
In this scenario, marketers are growing aware of Live Blogs and how to attract their audiences and enhance customer engagement.
How are companies using Live Blogs?
Dynamic and extremely interactive, a Live Blog allows brands to bring different post formats and sources to deliver real-time content for an instant audience.
Live Blogs support several types of content, such as videos, audios, texts, social media posts, and more, to shape a different and more interactional feed.
By liveblogging, you can post regular updates of a relevant event that’s taking place in your field and keep your readers updated on the latest news.
More than that, you can live meaningful stream events that interest your followers, providing them with exclusive coverage. This is way more interesting than writing about an event only after it happened.
It makes users spend more time on your pages instead of digesting information on Twitter or Facebook.
Giving audiences a multimedia content and narrative experience already pays off to companies that embraced Live Blog and made it a crucial part of their marketing communication.
We have already written about how Arena customers are using a successful Live Blog engagement strategy and revolutionizing their content. This time, you will find a few examples to inspire you to use a Live Blog and catch real-time audience’s attention.
Winter came, and everybody watched: Game of Thrones Live Blog
Game of Thrones’ fans has always been head-over-heels for the show.
Considering that 87% of consumers use a second screen while watching TV, giving these passionate fans the chance to follow a Live Blog that was updated as new episodes could only be a fantastic idea.
That was what RadioTimes did back in 2019, mixing Twitter posts, memes, soundtrack videos, and written texts to both updates and entertain its audience.
All posts were made by Huw Fullerton, a pop-culture reference covering the biggest TV shows and movies for a while.
Huw was already known by the Radio Times readers, which made it easier to create connections and a sense of identification with their audience, that could cry and tremble about the episodes with someone they trusted in.
These details made Radio Times’ Game of Thrones Live Blog a success case.
Technology biggest reference: Apple Event Live Blog
With a frequently-refreshing Live Blog, Apple has allowed its customer base to get all the freshest iPhone news on its website for years.
This takes the brand closer to its niche audience, but it creates a phenomenal hype and turns the Apple Live Blog as the right place to go when customers want brand-new information.
Apple also often live streams special events to announce new products and upgraded features that create market awareness and indulge Apple fans in details they’re curious about.
One of the most critical and historic Apple events was the Worldwide Developers Conference 2020, which took place during the Coronavirus outbreak.
Vehicles like The Verge even made a Live Blog of their own to debate the conference’s content and Tim Cook’s considerations about the company’s future.
Free access to political information: Debate Live Blog
Democratic debates are powerful attention-callers. People are always alert to what politicians have to say, especially when they’re in doubt about whom to vote for or want a specialist’s opinion.
FiveThirtyEight is one of those websites that use liveblogging to provide readers with constant updates, so they know what goes down in debates and primaries.
FiveThirtyEight editors feed pages with texts, videos, and Twitter posts to comment on political debates. Meanwhile, the editors let users interact with intuitive graphics, polls, forecasts, and other easy-to-visualize content.
Let’s take the South Carolina Democratic Debate as an example. Notice how editors mix different contents in a timeline to give readers a broader view of the event:
It looks cool, doesn’t it? That’s one of the Live Blog advantages: To mix content and use it intelligently.
The show went on: The Voice Live Blog
NBC’s The Voice kept relevant even during the pandemic. Coaches and contenders changed the already familiar The Voice studio for their homes, and GoldDerby commented on Season 18’s finale to engage interested readers with a broad, real-time Live Blog feeding.
The Voice Live Blog used a more straightforward format approach, posting only short texts to update the page’s visitors.
Still, live blogging was a smart way to promote GoldDerby’s online prediction program. Winning users got a special place in the Live Blog leaderboard, along with a $100 Amazon Card—see how Live Blog is generating engagement here?
GoldDerby also provided users with a commentary section so they could voice their thoughts on The Voice finale. This was essential to grant readers an exclusive place to comment on their favorite show and create a unique sense of community people don’t usually find on social media.
Live Original Blog
Interactive content is like the face of the future: it brings people together and gives a human, personal touch that keeps them interested in what you have to say.
Through the years, Live Blogs have evolved and become excellent channels for folks that watch live sports games, real-time protests, technology conferences, and so on.
Despite that, Live Blogs can still do so much more.
For example, in fashion retail companies, Live Blogs can be used to cover special events that matter in the field, such as fashion runaways and even music festivals.
Covering noteworthy events might make your brand stand out from the competition, but it will also give you the chance to transform your content to smartly address your audiences’ concerns and point them in the right direction.
If you’re interested in learning more about a Live Blog’s potential, we have numbered 30 Live Blog benefits and why you should pay more attention to it for your marketing strategy.
Since we know how much difference a Live Blog can make, it would be selfish not to share other Live Blog ideas you can adjust and use in your company.
More ideas for your Live Blog strategy
Arena has been helping companies from several sectors worldwide build and execute robust Live Blog strategies that skyrocket customer engagement and provide exclusive content.
Want to figure out how? Come along!
- Launch products — and let people know immediately
Covering a real-time launch event is always exciting because people are more than ready to be the first to know.
The sooner you give your audience the news, the more educated and confident they will feel.
Let people see what your new products are about and educate them on why they need to buy from you instead of your competitors.
- Add your commentary to a conference
There are certainly a few exciting events in your field that your audience is dying to see. Take the chance to live to blog them and add your personal touch to the coverage.
- Live blog during a crisis
Live Blogs become critically important in times of crisis when real-time information can influence what readers plan to do next.
This became very clear with the Coronavirus outbreak. Try googling “Coronavirus Live Blog,” and you should probably find websites like NBC Bay Area’s, that publishes all the real-time information available in a single place to keep readers updated and safe.
- Drive traffic to your Live Blog
We know social media is the to-go place when news break—but a Live Blog can change that.
Although it is essential to use social media to connect with your audience, having a Live Blog will drive more traffic to your digital properties. Like that, you should depend less on external algorithms and take your audience ownership back to your website.
When you decide to invest in a Live Blog, attracting attention to it is crucial. Start by spreading the news and creating the right buzz towards it.
This will widen your audience and make the most interested people stick around to keep you company.
- Feel more human to your readers
When aligned with your branding voice, Live Blogs are the perfect place for you to talk about your brand, speak your point of view, and feel more human.
Remember the Game of Thrones Live Blog? It used a reference to shed light on the show and humanize the Live Blog feed with someone’s actual opinions. And people love that.
- Let users interact on your Live Blog
This is essential. People won’t feel like they belong and can be part of the experience if you don’t give them a special place to interact and be active.
Whether you implement a Live Chat Group or a commentary section on your Live Blog, allow readers to express themselves. You’ll see how this stimulates organic engagement and encourages users to come back for more.
Your content strategy is incomplete without a Live Blog
But it doesn’t have to be.
Now that you’ve seen inspiring examples and ideas, it is time to take the next step and benefit from the many wonders of a Live Blog.
Without the perfect platform to embed on your website, you might miss out on some unique features to leverage your website and guarantee your events will be successful.
You want a Live Blog platform that’s intuitive to your crew and your readers and makes the most out of the investments you’re making.
Arena is ready to optimize and monetize your editorial work with a superb Live Blog tool that is easy to embed and can be plugged into your WordPress page. It is SEO friendly, scalable, and works on any website.
Ready to get started? Claim your free trial and try Arena’s Live Blog solution!
