Live streaming sales: ignore the anchor, here’s the real secret!
The benefits that live streaming brings to online marketing are so obvious that many businesses are looking to gain a foothold in this highly competitive market. Choosing the right anchor and having the right skills for live streaming is crucial.
The benefits of live selling are very unique and according to data published by IBM cloud video, the main benefits of live streaming for branded retail channels are the following 9 points: Achieve deeper interaction with audiences; Make videos more accessible; Add human element to digital marketing; Engage social audiences; Hear directly from product experts; Increase Overall viewing time; Capture emails via event registration; Learn and adjust from real-time feedback; Get higher e-commerce conversion rates.
When it comes to sell your products on live streaming, whether it’s a new player or a traditional online seller, many people’s first reaction is that they have to find a beautiful, handsome anchor to live stream. But this is a complete cognitive bias. While a good-looking and handsome anchor will enhance the user’s perception, it is not the most central factor affecting live sales. If you are in the women’s clothing industry, doing affordable and popular brands, the anchor being too pretty can become a risk factor. Because when the anchor wears it beautifully, but when the buyer actually wears it on their body it does not achieve the expected effect, the buyer will have a big psychological gap after trying it on, and the return rate will become very high.
Some industries are more concerned about the matching degree of age, identity and experience. For example, if you sell mother and baby products in the live broadcast, let the mother with childcare experience be the anchor instead of a young women in their twenties and you will sell more goods. There are also equivalents in other areas — like food live streaming, helping farmers to sell goods online in live streaming. How can you show “delicious”? Where did the anchor take them? Is it factory traceability or deep into the fields? So whether the anchor looks good or not may be a plus for live selling, but it is not a must.
Selling live, maintaining ideal online hours and accompanying customers is key.
A live studio is more than just a shopping venue for many people.
Sometimes the role of the anchor’s company is much greater than the shopping lead, so much so that some followers may be lost on the day that some anchors don’t go live. That’s why it’s important to have good stamina if you want to be a qualified anchor! Also, good stamina is a key to success! There has been a lot of controversy about 996 (working 9am to 9pm every day, six days a week), but for many anchors, 007 (working over 15 hours a day for seven days a week) is the norm.
So as an anchor, you must have the following skills.
1. Continuous 4, 5 hours daily live streaming
As an online seller, it is extremely common to start broadcasting from around 7pm to end at 12pm.
Some anchors are broadcasting in the morning, noon and night in order to enhance user engagement faster, and on average, they have to broadcast 7 or 8 hours a day, which is much harder than ordinary work.
2. Have the stamina to continuously broadcast for 100 days.
Live broadcast is another kind of merchandising detail page, and live broadcast is even more of an emotional linker.
The more time you spend with the user, and win the trust of the user, the more the user will have the urge to buy from you again and again.
If you want to get the support of the platform in live streaming traffic, if you want to gain the trust of users in spending money, if you want to see the results of live streaming as soon as possible, then I think 100 days of continuous live streaming is a foundation, If you can’t do this, the results are already imaginable. Because your ability to spread, and the user’s trust relationship will take time to build, so you need to be able to tolerate loneliness. Otherwise you broadcast two or three days and then run away, how do users dare to make an order?
After meeting the requirement of live broadcast length, to be a good lead anchor, here are my tips:
I. You should be a good listener . The first requirement is to pay attention to the users, both new users joining and old users. For example, which old customer has entered the live room again, can you say his name directly? The second is to focus on the live comments. An anchor selling is not about memorising lines and reading instructions.
II. The core of companionship lies in interactive chat. The anchor has to keep an eye on the pop-ups in the live room, who has asked for prices, sizes, who has shared what’s on their mind lately, etc. This makes the user feel involved and important.
III. Focus on demand. Whenever you recommend goods, what suggestions do users have for the goods you recommend and what goods do they need? Is this recent item something that the user desperately needed before, such as a pop-up return or a new product launch?
I summarise the above three points as the ability to observe words. It is the anchor who plays this role of accompanying, listening and communicating, so that the transaction is generated, because there is a basis of trust.
The core point of live-streaming is to establish a trusting relationship with the consumer through the anchor’s personal characteristics, and then to guide rational consumption. You make a sincere recommendation to the user, telling him why it is worth buying the product, such as its efficacy, quality, value, benefits and so on. The more sincere you are with the product, the easier it is for the user to buy.
Be materialistic and expressive about goods
I. Materialistic desire
If you want to become a selling anchor, you must first be a shopper yourself.
Even if your consumption is not that frequent, you must at least have the urge to understand and use an item when it is put in front of you. If you only have the urge for the product you are interested in, it will be difficult to have a sense of involvement when you introduce it to the user.
II. Expression
If you want to sell your products live, you have to be willing to face the audience and not be shy.
For individuals and companies themselves, you are not like those celebrity anchors with millions of followers, because they are required to finish the presentation of a certain number of products within a limited time, and then follow it up with the next product. But for you, you may only introduce a few items in a live broadcast, and if you don’t have the desire to express yourself, it will be difficult for a live broadcast to go on. Be on the lookout and learn to create content with your users. Because for individuals/businesses, there is a single item to recommend each day, but the length of your live broadcast cannot be too short.
Expert knowledge of the merchandise
Each professional anchor is trying to expand their own category and they always have their own areas of expertise.
For example, when it comes to lipstick and other cosmetic shades, ingredients and usage scenarios, they know them by heart and can give professional advice. So they are very clear about the efficacy of the products and the psychology of the users. This is why, I recommend some sellers to start their own live-streaming with goods they use, because you probably have the most in-depth knowledge of the products among the whole team.
Of course for those who are about to engage in live banding, first, identify the area you want to live stream and then spend more time understanding it.
Do what you say, say what you mean, say what you feel, and say what you see, so that you can impress consumers.
Otherwise, if it is a back script type of live sales, the anchor will know the customer as soon as he opens his mouth, and it is difficult for the user to have the desire to consume.
Here I also want to emphasise a point, the so-called professional ability is not just knowing the efficacy of the product only. Real life experience is also extremely important, having an anchor with life experience, in the live setting is very natural, the user will be able to tell that it is not a false and stiff presentation, and the rallying force will be stronger.
About this article
This article has been written by a student on the Grenoble Ecole de Management’s Advanced Masters in Digital Strategy Management. As part of a content creation assignment, students are given the task of writing articles based on their digital interests and disseminate the articles online. Articles are marked but we make minimal changes to the content. Thanks for reading! James Barisic, Programme Director, MS DSM.
