Live video is as effective a medium as it is daunting.

Yes, live video offers greater authenticity, generates urgency, and garners higher engagement – 10x more interactions and comments than non-live video – but how exactly should you use live video across your digital channels?

In other words, what content should you livestream?

Because live is a medium unto itself, it’s best to craft content that dovetails with the medium’s inherent advantages: its immediacy, its intimacy, and the sense of community and shared experience it fosters in viewers.

To that end, we present here an ever-growing content guide to the many ways you can leverage live for brand & product marketing.

1. LIVE EVENTS & DISPATCHES

Expand the audience for your physical event by broadcasting it live to your online audience.

2. PRODUCT REVEALS

Generate buzz around a new product or service by unveiling it on a livestream.

3. PRODUCT SHOWCASES & DEMONSTRATIONS

Spotlight a product in action and use live to answer real-time questions from your audience.

4. TUTORIALS & CUSTOMER SUCCESS

Hold virtual office hours to empower existing customers with tips, troubleshooting, and best practices.

5. Q&A’S & TOWN HALLS

Open a channel to company leadership and reps with Q&A, Ask Me Anything, and feedback sessions.

6. INTERVIEWS

Conduct one-on-ones with company leaders, industry figures, brand partners, celebrities, and influencers.

7. PARTNER & GUEST CONTENT

Highlight brand partnerships and endorsements with co-broadcasts.

8. ROUNDTABLES & PANEL DISCUSSIONS

Host conversations about company products or services, industry news, and culture.

9. THOUGHT LEADERSHIP & EXPERT COMMENTARY

Share insights & analysis around industry developments.

10. VIRTUAL KEYNOTES

Present long-form speeches or communications directly to an online audience.

11. COMPANY UPDATES & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Report the latest news or provide regular briefings about your company.

12. BEHIND THE SCENES

Grant viewers access and show off your brand personality with behind the scenes featurettes like:

> Office tours

> Playful employee interviews

> Brainstorming sessions

> Product testing & experiments

13. VLOGS, CONFESSIONALS & FIRESIDE CHATS

Humanize your brand with honest, personal live diaries from company leaders.

14.  BRANDED SHOWS

Create a recurring talk show, bulletin, or product showcase.

15.  LIVE PERFORMANCES

Attract viewership and build interest with an exclusive performance.

16. COMPETITIONS & GAMES

Entertain and involve your audience with a game centering on your product or service.

17. DIRECT RESPONSE CONTESTS & PROMOS

Tie a live broadcast to a unique promotion to drive performance as well as awareness.

18. NICHE CONTENT

Narrowcast a live video to a private audience or subgroup.

19. TEASERS

Promote an upcoming livestream and build anticipation with a live teaser.

With online live video, the medium is emphatically the message. By itself – irrespective of content – live signals authenticity, transparency, urgency.

This is a way of saying, you need to exploit live video.

The above list of content types is a starting point, and we encourage you to essay these as well as brainstorm your own content.

Check back regularly, as we will update this encyclopedia with new and impactful use cases.