Why Is Live Video Not Catching On?
What’s wrong with live video? A Sprout Social research project showed that more than half of marketers want to try live video this year, but the operative word is “try.” I bet they will not be successful. 
I worked in the TV world for around 15 years. Using that former TV lens, what I see is that most people treat live broadcasts on YouTube and Facebook like a business that just puts up an OPEN sign and expects people to flow in. If you have a sale, you better do more than add a few helium balloons and cook some hot dogs.
Live TV, like anything new, requires promotion and plenty of it — and I’m not talking about a few posters on restaurant bulletin boards. We’re talking serious and extensive advertising. You need to put as much effort into your advertising as you do for your show.
Right before you go live, hit the promotion with a “coming up next” marketing effort. Even blockbuster movies require a lot of advertising to get people to watch. Many spend just as much advertising the movie as they do producing the movie. 
Before you “try” live Facebook or YouTube, remember that neither will help you promote your show. You need to go all in.
And remember the great words from Yoda, “Do or do not, there is no try.”
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
