Events are one of the fastest growing industries in the United States, expected to generate $18B in revenue by 2018 and grow 44% by 2020 according to the US Bureau of Labor. Every day, Livestream helps organizations of all sizes get their ideas and events in front of audiences around the world. Below we explore how SaaStr and Enterprise Sales Meetup utilized Livestream to expand their reach and amplify their live events.
How Livestream Helped SaaStr Increase Their Audience 2080%
SaaStr is the leading force in SaaS sales, developing content and hosting multiple events throughout the year for the next generation of SaaS and B2B entrepreneurs. In 2015, Livestream partnered with the organization to stream their Sales Hacker and SaaStr Annual conferences.
“We want to connect with the entire world of SaaS founders and Livestream is absolutely the way to do it,” said SaaStr founder Jason Lemkin.
While 5,000 people from 47 countries attended in-person, the SaaStr Annual livestream reached over 109,000 live viewers and another 112,740 on demand.
By opening SaaStr’s event through a Livestream, they were able to reach a global audience that exceeded the physical capacity of their venue. This meant more eyes on their content, more brand awareness, and more leads.
“We know there are people that want to attend and want to learn, but everyone but can't make it,” said Sales Hacker Founder and CEO Max Altschuler. “It’s a great way to reach those people. They can watch what’s going on, interact with attendees on Twitter and interact with their friends that are here while they’re watching the content.”
SaaStr’s secret weapon for massive audience amplification was Livestream Audience Booster: a tool that allows our customers to reach an exponential number of viewers for only pennies per view. Livestream Audience Booster turns live video content into embeddable native advertisements. These videos appear on premium websites like MSN, USAToday, Slate, and ESPN, acquiring real views from real people. You can also whitelist websites based on the audience you’re targeting.
“The whole point of the Saastr community is we all grow and do sales and marketing the same way,” said Lemkin. “So if we get together either physically or virtually through Livestream, we can all learn together.”
Enterprise Sales Meetup Reaches More Members Online
After working with the startup community for a few years, Mark Birch saw a need to have real conversations around sales tactics and best practices in what was often, a very junior market.
“They don’t have a lot of experience around sales so Meetup was a good opportunity to bring together a lot of those folks,” said Birch, the Founder of Enterprise Sales Meetup. “Over time that started to expand to people a little later in their careers, a lot of sales leaders, who also want to come to Meetup to be part of the community and sharpen their own skills.”
Enterprise Sales Meetup works to build a community of salespeople in major cities across the U.S. through monthly events and online content that allows members to network, share ideas, and learn from successful sales leaders. Their goal: “to bring innovative, modern enterprise sales techniques to sales professionals that are practical and actionable.” Part of how they achieve this is through Livestreaming their events to their wider community. Enterprise Sales Meetup’s in-person events are usually attended by 50 to 100 people, but over 28,700 viewers have watched these events live.
“I see Livestream as instrumental to the success of Enterprise Sales Meetup,” said Birch. “Our community demands it. They want to have access to the events even if they can’t be there in person and this is an easy way to connect to those folks and have them feel as if they’re part of the community. Having Livestream as a partner helps me get the message out about what we’re doing here – giving access to all this great content and all these great speakers so that anyone around the world can view the content and learn from it.”
Livestream has also helped expand Enterprise Sales Meetup’s in-person events. A Director Of Sales Development reached out to Birch about setting up a Denver chapter after seeing several Enterprise Sales Meetup Livestreams. They just launched their first event, which was also broadcast on Livestream.
Birch’s advice to others dreaming of launching an industry-focused Meetup is to start small and think achievable. ”Don’t bite off more than you can chew,” he said. “That goes for all aspects of the event. Just focus on the core elements of what will make your event successful. All the other bells and whistles can be added after you’re able to execute a really solid event.”
Birch suggests organizers also really focus on creating quality content, not just facilitating in-person networking. “Livestream is a great thing to help, it gives me an opportunity to reach people I couldn’t reach,” said Birch.
Want to learn more about expanding your brand’s audience reach and event ROI with Livestream?
Download the Ultimate Guide to Livestreaming Events to learn everything you need to know about producing a successful event livestream.
