With community restrictions and quarantine in place due to the global COVID-19 outbreak, live streaming has become more popular in record numbers. It is a great avenue to create and promote content, whether it’s about food, shopping, gaming, entertainment, news, or even the most trivial Q&A. Aside from its income-generating benefit, live streaming offers a huge opportunity to promote events, products, and services. It is also accessible to both professional and personal users.
A live streaming platform can be a mobile, desktop, or web tool that allows you to host, upload and broadcast video content. This is greatly useful in generating leads, growing the number of your followers, advertising products, building brand awareness or simply sharing random information about yourself to your audience.
With the abundance of live streaming apps, it can be overwhelming to choose the right platform for your content needs.
Here we rounded up ten of the best live streaming platforms in 2021 that you could use to strengthen your online presence. This list does not rank the platforms in a specific order but presents their key features, as well as the pros and cons of using them, to help you make a more informed decision.
If you are ready to learn which live streaming platform would best suit your needs and personality, read on!
Facebook, as we all know, is one of the largest social media platforms out there. With its huge user base of over 2.8 billion monthly active users, Facebook is undoubtedly one of the best live streaming platforms that will help you gain significant exposure. The app also makes information sharing with thousands (if not millions of people) easy. It also has a simple and easy-to-use UI, where users can start broadcasting straight from their mobile or desktop devices.
Facebook Live is also one of the few most integrated platforms currently available. If you are using a broadcaster software or any live streaming-enabled devices, there is a good chance that Facebook Live is already integrated with the app or software.
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From its early days as Justin.tv back in 2007 to its rebranding and re-launch in 2011, Twitch is a consumer-grade platform that is highly popular among the e-sport and video game community. Twitch has also expanded its category to cover live streaming from different genres, such as music and technology. It is also highly integrated into most broadcasting software, which makes managing your live stream a breeze by simply using broadcasting software like Streamlabs OBS.
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Youtube has long been known as one of the first platforms to make video streaming popular. It is currently the only platform that is powered by Google. Hence, Youtube has an exceptional search algorithm, which makes content easily discoverable.
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Instagram is a much newer live streaming app compared to Facebook and Youtube Live. It is best known for its photo- and video-sharing abilities where users can upload images and videos on their account. The app’s live streaming feature works as part of Insta stories, which sometimes limits their discoverability to the user’s followers. However, with 500 million daily active users, Instagram Live is another effective live streaming platform for content promotion.
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ViuLive is a new live streaming platform that supports multi-screen display, as well as group broadcasting. The platform is currently in its early stages, with more upcoming features planned for future releases. The app has a unique feature that allows audience to select which camera angle they wish to watch if the streamer is using multiple cameras during the live stream. All the live stream content published will then be saved as a VOD, which can be watched at a later time. The app is also available on mobile and desktop devices, as well as on TV apps that allow users to watch the live stream and VOD.
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Omlet Arcade is another live streaming platform popular among the mobile gaming community, with a native built-in live stream encoder. Though the platform features real-life streaming, it’s a niche app that supports mobile games. This is the main contributor to the app’s rising popularity. It also supports traditional live streaming using broadcasting software on a desktop.
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Without a doubt Linkedin as a social media, was a bit late to the live streaming party compared to others. However, that hasn’t resulted in the scarcity of live stream success for the professional networking platform. Being one of the if not the only social media that is home to a global network of professionals, Linkedin has a diverse user demographics with the 25 – 34 years age group forming its largest advertising unit.
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TikTok is present in 154 countries and boast a younger audience demographics. TikTok’s algorithm is geared towards growth and that makes it relatively easy to go viral and build your own follower base on this app. 46% of TikTok Live users are in between the age of 16-24 while 20% of the user base are students.
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Vimeo are well known for being an online video hosting service that allows video showcasing on a site or across the web a brezze. They offer a flexible solution to accommodate small and large businesses. You can gain access to their platform through a combination of plans. However, live streaming is only available on the top tier ones.
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DaCast are well known to provide solution for all types of businesses. Users can broadcast to their live streaming website and control the branding and access to their content. DaCast also support monetization features.
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There are a lot of live streaming platforms available now in the market. With a lot of streamers vying for their audience’s attention, it is necessary to choose the best platform that is most suited to your personality, target market, and content. While these six platforms will give you enough discoverability and exposure, it is also important to produce content that will add value to your audience.
If you’re ready to share your content and grow your online following, here’s a recap of the 10 best live streaming platforms that you must consider in 2021:
Are there other live streaming platforms that you think should be on this list? Let us know in the comments section below!
Namaste UI collaborates closely with clients to develop tailored guest posting strategies that align with their unique goals and target audiences. Their commitment to delivering high-quality, niche-specific content ensures that each guest post not only meets but exceeds the expectations of both clients and the hosting platforms. Connect with us on social media for the latest updates on guest posting trends, outreach strategies, and digital marketing tips. For any types of guest posting services, contact us on info[at]namasteui.com.
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