It’s common practise for businesses and professionals these days to utilise live streaming in some way. Whether it’s used on a small scale as a means to build relationships with their audience or to host large scale and high-production virtual events.
The popularity of live streaming is partially down to the fact that it is now widely accessible and completely adaptable to any budget. With all major social platforms offering free live streaming features and larger live streaming platforms like Zidivo offering professional features at affordable prices, businesses of any size can try their hand at live video. While established brands can use it to offer professional-quality streams with interchanging camera angles, smaller businesses can use it just as effectively with a simple smartphone and tripod. You get to decide how complex your live streams are and, in turn, have the budget available to fund it.
There are a number of key components that will determine the budget required for your planned live streams. For example, what type of video do you have in store for your audience? Are you planning a live virtual event that will be highly dynamic or a simple sit-down video with one person talking to the camera? The complexity, content and equipment needed to pull off your live stream will all have an influence on the budget you need available.
The quality of the viewing experience you want to offer your audience plays a big part in how much you should be willing to spend. For brands that want to offer their audience high-resolution streams in 1080p or, even better, 4k HD as many cameras allow these days, its important to be prepared for the extra costs that this will ensue. While it’s true that video quality is key and your audience won’t stick around to watch a blurry live stream, this doesn’t mean you have to invest in top of the range camera and audio equipment - a smartphone can do the job.
Another element of your production is the equipment required. For example, brands looking to host large scale events online that offer their audience multiple views, camera angles and audio feeds, will need far more equipment. Multi-camera live streams are entirely possible and incredibly effective, but they ramp up your overall budget considerably, requiring multiple cameras, microphones, a video switcher and a reliable encoder to make sure your feeds are ready to be streamed across the internet. For brands with lower production streams in mind, there is tons of encoding software out there so you can go live straight from a smartphone to your website with minimal setup, funding or internet bandwidth required.
Once you have a good idea of how complex you plan your streams to be and how much your equipment is going to cost, think about the duration of your live streams. The longer your videos, the stronger and more reliable your internet connection and live streaming platform will need to be, again affecting the cost. Think about how long you expect your average viewer to watch your video content to make sure you don’t go overboard and risk your audience losing interest.
Keep in mind that the higher the resolution and the more complex your stream, the higher your video’s bitrate will be. At Zidivo, we use video bitrate to help our users figure out their live streaming budgets. Simply enter the bitrate offered by your video encoder, along with the number of viewers and your estimated video length, to receive an approximate monthly budget and advice on which of our pricing plans is right for you!
The aim of your live stream will also affect how much you should be willing to spend. Due to the wide range of purposes that live streams can serve and goals that it can help brands to achieve, it’s important to make sure that your equipment, video quality and live streaming platform allow you to reach your goals.
There are several questions to ask yourself. Do you need your streams to be password-protected or extra secure? Do you need a white-label platform that allows you to customise your HTML5 players to represent your brand? Or, do you not yet have a website and need a platform that allows you to create your own webpages to host live streams? Do you want to be able to analyse the success of your live streams using analytics tools? The aim of your live videos will affect the features that you need your live streaming platform to offer and how much you will have to invest.
At Zidivo, we offer users the chance to find a package that works for them and allows them to bring their visions to life. Whether you are looking to work with a live streaming company for a one-off project, or you want to sign-up to one of our monthly packages to live stream in professional quality on a regular basis.
We understand that each company has its own plans and goals, which is why our packages cater to businesses of all sizes and levels. Benefit from our easy live streaming cost calculator or speak to us on ‘live chat’ to get a free quote today.
Simply put, “white label” is a term that refers to something without branding. A white label video platform provides a blank player and the tools for you to add your own branding (if you choose). When people watch your content, they will associate your business with the content, and not the service you used to host or stream it. Every free service comes with some limitations, but not all of them are the same.
There is always going to be a demand for online education and resources, making it essential for teachers, schools, and organisations to understand how to record and stream online learning videos to their students. By adapting to the times now and offering high-quality education videos online, you can provide many students all over the world with an enjoyable and enhanced learning experience that they may not otherwise have had access to.
