Did you know that Live Shopping and inbound marketing can be closely linked in your strategy? In recent years, the concept of inbound marketing has emerged as a flywheel: a cyclical process in continuous motion capable of attracting, engaging, and ‘delighting’ users—ultimately turning them into brand advocates who can attract new users into the cycle.
Creating a content strategy that takes into account the needs and entertainment habits of your target audience allows you to attract, entertain, and trigger a feedback loop of users.
Image sourced from Hubspot
But how can you integrate this process into your eCommerce with Live Shopping?
In this article, we will explore how live sessions can become a powerful inbound marketing tool to create, strengthen, and nurture a community of loyal customers.
Indice
Creating: How to attract users with live sessions
Traditional eCommerce platforms often feel cold and impersonal, lacking any human interaction. In fact, 71% of consumers report feeling frustrated by impersonal shopping experiences. To overcome this challenge, it’s essential to introduce a human element into the digital landscape of online stores.
Live sessions can help by placing people and human interaction at the heart of your eCommerce website, similar to what happens in physical stores.
But how do live sessions help you attract users to your site and build a community?
- Create exclusive events
Focus on exclusivity: organize special live events that create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out). This approach can effectively pique consumer curiosity in an engaging way.
To increase the reach of your event, invite relevant creators, influencers, or celebrities to connect with your community. For example, Sephora hosted a live session featuring none other than Lady Gaga.
- Promote your events
Reach your users across all touchpoints, both online and offline: social media, newsletters, SMS, your website, and even in-store, creating a truly omnichannel communication strategy. It’s essential to leverage omnichannel capabilities for broadcasting as well; you can stream live sessions simultaneously on both your website and social media using multistreaming to reach a wider audience.
- Connect with users at every stage
You shouldn’t connect just before the live session; involve users during and after the broadcast as well. During the stream, for instance, you can send reminders to your users and engage website visitors with a thumbnail of the ongoing live session.
Don’t forget to promote your live events even after they conclude. Most views and conversions occur after the live session has ended, especially during the replay. Continue sharing live content, such as shorts on social media or shoppable videos on your website.
Consolidating: How to engage users with live sessions
Once you’ve attracted users, it’s crucial to keep them engaged. Live Shopping allows you to create immersive and exclusive experiences. Here are some tips to boost engagement during your live sessions.
- Create mini shows
Live sessions aren’t just sales events; they’re like mini shows. Therefore, it’s important to choose the right format for your live session. There are various models of Live Shopping: you can host live events in-store, stream from physical events like fairs, conduct live cooking demonstrations, or even broadcast fashion shows through Live Shopping!
- Emotional storytelling
Live sessions are not just opportunities for entertainment; they also create emotional connections with users. This is why focusing on elements like education and storytelling is effective. A particularly engaging case is Atida eFarma in Italy, which hosts various live sessions covering health and wellness topics, including sensitive issues like intimate well-being and female sexuality.
In one live session, the focus was on motherhood, discussing experiences related to breastfeeding and weaning. The personal stories shared by the three hosts fostered an empathetic and emotional bond with the viewers. Such live events not only enhance the emotional component of Live Shopping but also raise awareness about topics that are sometimes considered taboo.
- Elements of gamification
Live sessions are highly interactive events, thanks to the ability to create real-time conversations and Q&A sessions through chat. One way to enhance interactivity and engagement is through gamification.
For instance, you can create polls, quizzes, or even contests with prizes, encouraging participation and capturing your users’ attention.
A great example of gamification comes from Leroy Merlin Italy. In a BBQ-themed live session with chef Max Mariola, two teams competed in a ‘last grill’ challenge. The winning team was determined not only by chef Max but also by the viewers, who cast their votes in real-time from home (similar to a ‘tele-vote’).
Nurturing: How to turn users into brand advocates
Building a community is just the beginning; it’s essential to nurture the trust and create lasting relationships. Here’s how you can achieve this.
- Co-creation
Create your live sessions together with the community. Invite users to collaborate on the format or to co-develop the schedule of broadcasts. This approach allows you to deliver shows that truly align with their interests, making them feel involved.
- Live streaming calendar
Events should be scheduled regularly; this is how you encourage customers to become attached and return for each session, just like a gathering with friends!
- Customer ambassadors
You can also directly involve your customers in live sessions. For example, invite them to share user-generated content (UGC) in video format or to participate live. This way, they become the face of your brand and agents of promotion, fueling digital word-of-mouth and supporting the inbound cycle.
Conclusions
Live Shopping is a powerful inbound marketing tool, but only if executed strategically. Remember to develop a long-term plan that considers the various inbound phases. Only then can you attract, involve, and ‘delight’ your users, transforming them into brand advocates and marketing drivers.
Marketing by people, for people!
LET’S TAKE IT LIVE TOGETHER!
