With engagement rates remaining flat across Instagram and Facebook in 2020, and organic reach averaging under 5%, brands clearly need a better way to connect with consumers and drive ROI. The rise of livestreaming brings hope.

Livestreamed events grew by 1468% in 2020 and are preferred by consumers over static social posts, giving brands and influencers new ways to meaningfully engage in real-time conversations at scale. While COVID certainly accelerated adoption, livestream commerce will become a mainstay post-Corona given its convenience and combination of entertainment and commerce.

Live shopping is projected to reach $11 billion in the US this year, almost doubling from 2020. Impressive as that is, China is expected to reach $170 billion in live shopping this year, confirming we're still in the early days. Viya, China’s top livestreaming influencer leads the way, having generated nearly $600M on the first day of the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival in 2020.

With Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitch, YouTube, and Amazon all having recently launched some form of live shopping – now is their time for future-focused brands to develop their livestream strategy raising both relevancy and revenue.

This article originally appeared in the March 16th, 2021 issue of Moving Image & Content’s agency newsletter. Subscribe here

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