For those who have been talking to a live audience for quite some time, livestreaming is not new as we use it to educate, entertain, and sell our products, services, and programs.
Livestreaming apps took off during the pandemic lockdown leading to an increase in livestreamers on platforms such as Uplive, Poppo, Niki, Bigo, and other audio-only platforms.
Generating revenue from advertisements, memberships, and merchandising became an additional source of revenue as well with the rise of YouTube, TikTok, and the like.
This also prompted e-commerce marketplaces to embrace live selling and opened the doors to hosts who can sell online.
One of them is Cerise Limueco, a musician and lead singer of the band Zerise. She shared, “I started as a freelance livestreamer and decided to try looking for a regular job to gain experience. I stumbled upon HEBE Beauty Cosmetics Inc. which was looking for live sellers/social media influencers. I sent a job application and got accepted.”
Limueco always wanted to have her own makeup and skincare business in the future. Live selling for a beauty company taught her the importance of having strong back-end operations support, selling techniques, the need to consistently sell online daily, and survival in a competitive environment. “It also helped me to be more confident and improve my communication skills,” she added.
TikTok hits the mark
She also recommends TikTok to entrepreneurs for its straightforward and easy-to-use tools. Limueco would choose to buy on TikTok because she loves watching entertaining and authentic review content. “I love that when I watch an honest review of a good product I can easily buy it on the spot, not having to go to another website, which is an advantage TikTok has.”
As a livestreamer, one thing I liked about TikTok is the advertising option of driving more viewers to your live stream. This can help lessen your nervousness on how to gather audience when you go live. The challenge switches to how can you keep them engaged.
Be kind
Limueco keeps her audience engaged through storytelling and small talk. “You need to keep the energy upbeat and humor helps too. It’s better if your movement and communication style don’t feel like selling. It should feel like a live session where you share why you love the products you are selling and why you recommend them to them. Authenticity can’t be fabricated.”
Limueco learned early on that kindness is key when interacting with customers and viewers online. “For complaints or negative feedback, entrepreneurs need to take note, assist the customer, and respond as kindly as possible until the problem is solved. Use customer feedback to improve the products and services.”
But what about trolls? “You can just block them. But if you can use the comments for entertainment, you can also get more views and engagement. In my experience, we can use the opportunity to handle it as gracefully as we can and our loyal customers usually side with us during these times.”
Live selling tips
From a liveseller’s perspective, like Limueco, a typical day would usually have her meeting with the promotions team on what should be kept in mind. This includes the clothes, makeup, and hairstyle. It’s important to know about the TikTok guidelines and not violate it. Otherwise, the consequences can be damaging and the platform can really lower your live session visibility.
If you have a lot of products, Limueco suggests observing your sales and creating promotions based on top-selling products. You can also push products according to occasions and seasons like back-to-school, Valentines Day, payday sale, Christmas, and the like.
If consumers demand a flash sale on a certain product, you can get your audience involved by reaching a target number of viewers or engagement before implementing it. This can give a natural organic boost on your live session.
Live selling is no child’s play. According to Limueco, “The setup and background of the live helps set the mood for live product showcasing. It may look easy but it is usually a lot of work from conceptualizing the design of the livestream setup, buying the right equipment like lighting, doing the graphic design on OBS to match the brand, strategizing the right promotions to gain more sales, learning about the products, hiring team members, and others”.
She further emphasized, “Use the products on the spot as you would normally use it on day to day basis. With positive energy, show the great qualities when you demo so that consumers will get a full experience of the product live.”
One of the usual challenges in live selling would be the times when the views are low. Motivation won’t be enough. “Discipline is key to overcome these times. Having different strategies, observing what works and what doesn’t, and problem-solving really helps.”
