Restream and The Power of Lives
Why Go Live?
Is this relatively new experience of live streaming really so important? Yes, yes, and YES. In this time of separation and remote working, having authentic and engaging social media has become an important tool in building a loyal audience. Whether you are trying to establish a brand or build up awareness for an event, social media can make or break your success. Therefore, it is essential that you utilize all of the tools and resources that social media provides. One of ELE’s favorite tools for entertaining and informing our audience are “Lives”. Lives are different from traditional social media because they allow for real-time engagement and feedback. Not only are you able to deliver a more personalized experience to your audience, one that takes into account their current wants and needs; this also gives you the ability to receive real-time feedback as you release content. This type of engagement can give you new insight as you watch people tune in or tune out, make comments, and ask questions. You are able to see what captivates your specific audience, and even more importantly, you see what doesn’t. If you are like us, your business or event will have multiple social media platforms and most offer the ability to go live; so how do you choose the right audience to broadcast to? Will this content resonate more with my Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, or Twitch audience? What if I want this content on all of these platforms?
Restream
These questions are issues of the past! We want to introduce you to Restream, a broadcasting website that allows you to live stream to multiple social media platforms simultaneously. By connecting all of your audiences across multiple platforms, you can expand your digital reach and connect to people on their preferred platform. We recently used this platform during our Mindfulness Live with Tawanna Kane and we have much to say on the subject, so let's dive in!
Pros
You can connect with multiple audiences! Regardless of a person’s preferred social media platform, you can reach them without sacrificing your followers from another site.
It’s super user-friendly and they provide great support via their Help Center!
You can add logos, account names, and backgrounds on your video. (Although some of these features are only available with a paid subscription.)
Viewers will experience your Live as if you were broadcasting to that specific platform.
Restream funnels viewer reactions from the different platforms back to Restream. From there, you can respond to people and it will appear as if you were responding locally.
You can pre-record and schedule your content in Restream to broadcast as if it were Live.
You can invite guests to join your Live from Restream.
You can upload and include additional audio and video into your livestream.
If you don’t want to use their video recording platform, you can connect to a Zoom account and broadcast from there!
Cons
It’s difficult to connect to Instagram Live. Restream does not currently offer Instagram as an option under their platforms list. In order to connect to an Instagram account you must have at least the “standard” (not free) version of their platform. You will also need to use a third-party computer app called YellowDuck.tv to generate codes for the Restream and Instagram connection. Watch this nifty video for a step-by-step tutorial! However, we must warn you that broadcasting to Instagram this way is against Instagram’s Terms and Agreements and you risk your account being shut down. So while it is technically possible to broadcast to Instagram using Restream, it is not advisable.
Due to the addition of a third-party app, Restream does not funnel Instagram comments back to you. There is also less control in how your video is framed within Instagram’s vertical layout.
The free version of Restream is limited. You can only connect to one Facebook page at a time and they have to be personal profiles (not groups or business pages). In order to access group and page streaming, you must upgrade to a paid Standard account.
The video feed is not seamless with delayed broadcast times up to 10 seconds long.
Final thoughts
Restream is a great tool for businesses that wish to expand the reach of their audience by simulcasting Live content to multiple social media platforms. The platform is extremely user friendly and there are many resources to help you get started. We still recommend practicing on the platform before your Live event to work out any user errors that may occur. The major setback with Restream is the difficulty and shadiness that surrounds broadcasting to Instagram. We are hoping this becomes a possibility in the future and we will keep you updated on any related news. Overall, we recommend this platform, especially for businesses trying to build up their social media presence.