The NASPL Professional Development Seminar 2019 Livestream Panel (from left to right): Jacqueline Kiedel Martinez (Public Relations, OH), Hillary Houghton (Social Media, OH), Samuel Lowy (Copywriter, OH), Allyson Saltford (Marketing, Arizona Lottery) and Katie Brevoort (Social Media, OH)

We know you’re curious to learn more, too, so we’ve brought Associate Director Hillary Houghton and Coordinator Katie Brevoort from OH’s social media team to share some of the main questions and takeaways from the session, and why you should consider livestreams in your marketing efforts.

Which has been your favorite livestream with the Arizona Lottery?

Hillary: Definitely the Million Dollar Mason Jar Giveaway. It was one of the simplest ideas- a mason jar filled with Scratchers® spinning slowly on a lazy Susan for 90 minutes- but garnered some of the highest engagements we’ve seen on a livestream (well over 27,000 engagements!) We were promoting the Million Dollar Giveaway promotion, which was a second chance entry for players to submit non-winning tickets for a chance to win $1 million. Bringing awareness and interactivity to this promotion through a creative and simplistic approach was a big win for the Arizona Lottery.

27,000 engagements later...

Katie: The Crossword Scratchers livestream we created to help promote another second chance promotion was definitely one of my favorite livestreams. Using face-mapping technology, we were able to bring this ticket to life during the livestream. Every time the actor moved, the on-screen ticket moved, too. Players were able to engage with the ticket and ask specific questions that we would quickly respond to. This was only a 30-minute livestream, but we ended up earning a 7% retention rate through our quick responses and the unique digital component.

How do you get your audience to tune in to your livestream?

Katie: About two or three days before we go live, we create teaser posts to go out on all of the Arizona Lottery’s social platforms in order to generate awareness and excitement about the livestream. We don’t want to only rely on the Facebook notification that players would get when we do go live because we want to give players the opportunity to plan to tune in ahead of time. These posts are important education pieces for the players so that they know what they can win, and potentially tell a friend about what we have up our sleeve.

Hillary: Our PR Sr. Account Executive Jacqueline Kiedel Martinez said it best– incorporate PR into your planning from the start to really make a big splash. Beyond social, you have great opportunities to feed your giveaways to the press before they go live. We incorporated media into our Puppy Pick livestream, where our PR team pitched local stations to have their audiences tune in and help puppies from the Humane Society get adopted. Whenever you can make the livestream impact bigger than just your business objectives, you’ll see a bump in results.

Source: ABC 15, Phoenix

Why are livestreams worth integrating into your marketing mix?

Hillary: Livestreams are just a tactic- but using them correctly gives you a fresh creative platform to share your message. These live videos should be a true extension of your marketing initiatives– the goals, KPIs, and messaging have to align with the bigger picture. Whether you’re looking to promote a new product, or educate your audience on a beneficiary you support, the creative opportunities with livestreams are endless. If you can use them creatively and effectively, they will become a key component of your marketing mix.

Katie: Livestreams provide an opportunity to talk about a simple announcement or promotion in a clever, engaging way. With the incorporation of livestreams for the Arizona Lottery, we’ve helped educate the players while increasing our engagement on social. Tuning in to see someone trying to break a giant block of ice is a more entertaining way to tell players about a new promotion than simply sharing a digital ad. Livestreaming doesn’t always have to be educational– it can simply be to offer a fun giveaway to switch things up for an audience.

What are ways you can engage your audience through livestreams?

Katie: Engaging with the audience is the key to any livestream. If you want viewers to stay interested, you should be asking the audience questions in order to build on the relationship that you have formed on social. For the Arizona Lottery’s livestreams, we typically start off by welcoming the audience and asking where they are tuning in from. This introduction gives us more insight into who is tuning into the livestreams and allows the audience to feel valued by the brand.

Hillary: Consider adding a giveaway, if it fits within your brand and message. With the Arizona Lottery, we use grand prizes and smaller giveaways throughout the livestream to keep an actively engaged audience. We asked heat-related trivia questions for our Beat the Heat Livestream, had users vote for which “tool” to use when melting an ice block, and the like. This added layer helps give users added incentive to engage, while giving them an opportunity to share something about their own preference or personality. It becomes a fully immersed experience for the viewers.

Look at those trivia answers rolling in!

What does success look like for a livestream?

Hillary: It all comes back to the bigger picture. What was your goal from the start, and which KPIs were tied to that? If you’re looking to educate your audience, you should be tracking video view rates to see how long they’re tuning in and being impacted by your messaging. If it’s brand affinity you seek, track shares and tagged comments to see how many people are aligning themselves with your brand. Whatever your goals are, you should be seeing impactful results in the 24 hours following the livestream.

Katie: A quick measure of success after your livestream ends is simply seeing positive comments coming in that say, “That was fun! Congrats to all of the winners!” or “Can’t wait for the next one!” These comments show that the livestream you just hosted was engaging and fun for the audience. Chances are that the viewers will tune in to your next livestream because they were excited about this one. A successful livestream has a high engagement rate, a high unique view count and a high retention rate. The great thing about social media audiences is that they’ll be sure to let you know if you did it wrong, or in our case, right.