How to do live streaming sales from 0 to 1

In 2016, live streaming e-commerce entered the public eye for the first time. With the rapid development of short video platforms, the momentum of live streaming e-commerce has become increasingly strong. With the outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, live streaming has even become a life-saving straw for all walks of life. In 2022, the trend of live streaming sales is still on the rise.

More and more traditional companies have joined the short video and live broadcast track, which has now become an important channel for many small and medium-sized businesses to monetize. But for some companies that are just starting out in live streaming, it is not that easy. How to build a team, how to select products, and how to do live streaming have all become difficult problems. Next, let’s talk about how businesses plan to sell goods through live streaming. These experiences can be used as reference and reused whether on Douyin or Video Account.

Live streaming sales from 0 to 1 includes the following steps:

• Building a live broadcast team
• Key points for live product selection
• Live broadcast preparation
• Live broadcast script and process
• Dimensions of live broadcast review

1. Building a live broadcast team

If you want to carry out live streaming sales for a long time, it is difficult to do it well by the strength of a single person, so you must first set up a live streaming team. The most important thing is planning and execution, and the entire team requires at least 4 people.

1. Operation (1 person)

Operations is responsible for the overall live broadcast rhythm, specific tasks:

(1) Planning normal live broadcast content

Determine whether the theme of the live broadcast is daily live broadcast or official event live broadcast, and then match the goods and interest points according to the theme. Also plan the time period of the broadcast, traffic and traffic sources, and the gameplay of the live broadcast.

(2) Team coordination

On the one hand, there is external coordination, such as the shooting of the cover photo, the distribution of prizes, and the coordination of the warehouse department; on the other hand, there is internal coordination, including coordinating the live broadcast time of the live broadcast personnel, problems that arise during the live broadcast, etc.

(3) Review

After the live broadcast is completed, we must first conduct a detailed data review based on the performance of department personnel and user data feedback, and compare it with the plans and goals formulated in the early stage to learn from experience, summarize lessons, and strive for improvements next time.

2. Field control (1 person)

The role of field control is mainly to implement the live broadcast planning plan, assist the anchor to follow the plan and ensure the smooth progress of the live broadcast. Specific work:

• Debug related software and hardware before broadcasting .
• After the broadcast starts, you will be responsible for all related backend operations of the central console, including live broadcast push, announcements, product listings, etc.
• Data monitoring . Real-time monitoring of data including the peak number of real-time online users, product click-through rate, etc., and feedback to the live broadcast operation when any abnormal situation occurs.
• Receiving and transmitting instructions. For example, if the live broadcast operation has information to convey, the field control must convey it to the anchor and assistant and let them tell the audience.

3. Anchor (1 person)

The anchor is the protagonist of the entire live broadcast process and is both a product explainer and a salesperson. Specific work:

(1) Before the broadcast begins , you must be able to control the rhythm of the entire live broadcast, familiarize yourself with product features, scripts, points of interest, etc., and achieve a relatively fluent level of expression to facilitate user conversion.

(2) During the live broadcast , pay attention to livening up the atmosphere in the live broadcast room, answer fans' questions and interact with fans, guide new fans to pay attention and encourage users to place orders, and always pay attention to your performance in front of the camera.

(3) After the broadcast , if the anchor is a professional anchor trained by the company, the company needs to use more channels to build and promote the anchor's IP in daily operations, such as store main pictures, store homepage posters, store groups, etc., as well as continuous operation and exposure on new media platforms such as the anchor's personal WeChat group, WeChat account, and Douyin. Only if the anchors continue to increase their exposure and strengthen their personal IP branding can they attract more users and establish stronger trust in the future.

4. Assistant (1 person)

The main duties of the anchor assistant are to cooperate with the anchor to display products and interact with the audience. Specific work:

• Before the show starts, you need to confirm whether the goods, samples and props are ready.
• During the live broadcast, he needs to cooperate with the venue control to coordinate with the anchor. When there are many viewers and the anchor is explaining, he can help with interactive Q&A, link sending, product display and merchandise sorting, etc.

The above four positions are standard for companies to do live broadcasts, and companies can also adjust them according to actual conditions.

2. Key points of live product selection

There are two situations for product selection. One is to sell the company’s own brand or products produced through live broadcast, and the other is to sell other people’s products obtained through investment. The dimensions chosen at this time will be different.

If you are selling your own products, the products you choose must have four characteristics : high cost-effectiveness, meet current needs, have good user reputation, and have great fan demand .

If you are selling other people's products, you must first analyze the company's audience and find out what types of products and prices the users like based on their user portraits. The second step is to analyze whether the selected product itself meets the needs of the corporate audience.

Usually we can divide products into three categories: traffic-generating products, hot-selling products, and profit-making products . The functions of each item are as follows:

• Traffic-generating funds: used to generate traffic for live broadcast rooms, and can also be called welfare funds. The characteristics of this type of product are wide audience, low unit price and high cost performance.
• Hot-selling products: The main purpose is to promote transactions and boost sales. Generally, as the main item of live broadcast activities, the frequency and duration of the host’s explanation will be longer. The characteristic of this type of product is that the price is usually not as low as the drainage model, but it can still be accepted by most users.
• Profit payment: It is mainly to ensure the profit of the entire live broadcast. The characteristics of this type of product are high quality, unique selling points, and users are not very price sensitive to this type of product.

Different types of live broadcast rooms can refer to different quantities of selected products:

• Factories and single product suppliers: suitable for promoting only 1-2 hot-selling products. Don’t worry about the single product, just focus on the selling points of the product. For example, water cups, garbage bags, umbrellas and other products.
• Small and medium-sized anchors: suitable for promoting 5-6 products. We need both traffic-generating products to drive traffic, and hot-selling and profitable products to maintain the normal operation of live streaming.
• Big anchor: more than 20 products. Big anchors with large and stable traffic can promote various types of products.

Other notes:

• When selecting products, you need to carefully check the catalogues that are prohibited from sale on the platform, such as medical products, financial investment information, high-end imitations, and other products.
• Don’t just follow the big anchors in selecting products. Big anchors can get extremely low prices, and it is difficult for small anchors to have an advantage.
• Product selection should be based on the positioning of the live broadcast account and the target audience, and don’t just sell whatever you like.

3. Live broadcast preparation

1. Live broadcast room layout

(1) Basic equipment

According to the size of the live broadcast room:

• Basic model : a computer, a live streaming mobile phone, and 2-3 lights;
• Medium : 2 computers, 3-4 professional lights (face light, background light, contour light), 1 HD camera;
• Large : more than three computers, more than five professional standard color temperature lights (front light, contour light, background light, top light, 2-3 high-definition cameras), one large monitor

(2) Background layout

Usually the entire live broadcast room is divided into 6 areas:

• Background area: product display, brand display, and image display;
• Middle area: anchor explanation area, upper body overall display, anchor operation demonstration;
• Entering the scenic area: details and texture display;
• Products to be explained area: Products to be explained during the entire live broadcast are placed;
• Lighting area: where to place lights and where to install them;
• Central console area: The area where computers are placed, responsible for listing and changing prices of products in real time according to the host's rhythm.

Depending on the type of product, additional props may also be required. For example, clothing products require hangers and mannequins/real models; beauty and skin care products require special makeup mirrors.

(3) Lighting arrangement

Lights usually include main light, auxiliary light, contour light, ambient light, etc. The main light can increase the brightness of the character's face; the auxiliary light can supplement the character's shadow and dark areas; the contour light can outline the character's lines and highlight the host; the ambient light can evenly cover the entire environment to make the picture clearer.

Principles for using lighting : The live broadcast lighting should match the background color and should not be fancy. White walls are prone to exposure, so do not shine light directly on the walls. It is recommended to use dark gray or light brown as the background color to highlight the anchor.

Choose the lighting color according to different types of products. For example, beauty and skin care products are mostly displayed in white cold light to ensure the best display of cosmetics; food products use warm-colored lights to highlight the color of the food and make the audience more appetizing.

(4) Props preparation

You can prepare some additional props to enhance the atmosphere of the live broadcast room. For example:

• Display board/small blackboard: Display size/color number to reduce customer service pressure; display the day's welfare products; write clearly the delivery status and special instructions.
• Calculator/Stopwatch: Do the math for fans; create a sense of urgency when buying.

2. Live Test

Some steps to test:

• Test your account before live streaming to see if you can see the live streaming screen normally;
• Test whether the live broadcast network speed meets the standard and whether the picture is stuck;
• Test the functions needed in the live broadcast room to see if they can be used normally;
• Test the host's speaking volume and whether the background music is normal;
• Test whether the live broadcast room barrage can be displayed and replied normally;
• Test whether the products in the live broadcast room can be put on and taken off the shelves and their prices can be changed normally;
• If the live broadcast process requires a microphone connection, test whether the two parties can communicate normally and whether the picture and volume of both parties are normal.

4. Live Streaming Script and Process

1. Live broadcast script preparation

There are three important links in script planning.

The first is the live broadcast script design. Including the time, theme, product selling points and spoken language of the live broadcast.

You also need to think about the following questions: What is the process of a live broadcast, and what are its highlights and positioning? How to create sales scenarios or attract users to buy, and how to set the transaction path? How to continuously catch users' attention and attract their attention throughout the entire live broadcast?

The second is the rehearsal test of the live broadcast script.

This link is very important. Even the best script needs to be practiced carefully before going on stage. Everyone in the live broadcast team must have a clear division of labor, control the script time, rehearse the entire process, and check product materials. Rehearsal tests should be calculated precisely to ensure that the live broadcast is as foolproof as possible.

The third is the internal trial broadcast of the live broadcast and re-testing of key points.

This entire process requires simulated drills in a real environment to identify problems and train the team's coordination and tacit understanding. Once this is complete, adjustments can be made based on feedback.

2. Live broadcast process arrangement

The length of corporate live broadcasts varies, and the specific arrangements and content of the live broadcasts are also different. Take the one-hour clothing live broadcast schedule from 8 to 9 p.m. as an example:

It can be seen that a live broadcast is mainly divided into the following parts: warm-up, lottery, product introduction, order guidance, and preview of the next issue. If the time is longer, you can add some product explanations and interactive sessions to keep the audience's attention and activity. I have summarized the main means and contents of activities into the following five categories:

5. Dimensions of Live Broadcast Review

It is important to keep reviewing. By analyzing various data, you can find and improve problems in the live broadcast, and then find corresponding methods to better complete the next live broadcast.

When it comes to live streaming sales, data can be analyzed mainly from two dimensions: live streaming data and e-commerce data.

1. Live data

The live broadcast data includes the session number, date, live broadcast duration/hours, on-site PV and UV, fan traffic share, comment share, peak number of online users, average number of online users, average fan viewing time per person, number of new fans, and conversion rate.

Among them, the key data are:

• Average number of online users: This data directly determines whether the account has the monetization capability of live streaming and selling goods. Usually, when the average number of users reaches several hundred, the basic conditions for selling goods are met.
• Number of viewers: The size of the number of viewers determines the level of the traffic pool your live broadcast room is in, and is a key indicator to measure the popularity of the live broadcast room.
• Average dwell time: reflects whether the live broadcast content is attractive, which generally depends on the anchor's ability to retain viewers and select products. Generally, an average dwell time of more than 2 minutes is considered an excellent level.
• Interaction rate: reflects the interaction with users and is related to some live broadcast skills. For example, welcome messages for new fans, interactive games, and introductions to product selling points.
• Conversion rate: reflects the live broadcast room’s ability to attract new users. A good anchor can achieve more than 5%, which is related to the anchor's personal ability, product, and scene.

2. E-commerce data

E-commerce data includes the number of transactions, sales, conversion rate, proportion of fans’ orders, UV value, and average order value.

Among them, the key data are:

• Average order value: Average order value reflects the purchasing level of customers in the live broadcast room. Product pricing, sales policy, product selection mix, etc. will all affect the average order value.
• Number of transactions: can be used to evaluate the traffic value of the live broadcast room and the conversion of potential customers.
• Conversion rate: It is used to evaluate the sales efficiency of live broadcasts. Usually the industry average is around 1%, and good anchors can achieve more than 3%.

Review of common violations

In addition to some points that need to be paid attention to in data analysis, you should also pay attention to some common violations in live broadcasts to avoid pitfalls:

• Place a QR code in the live broadcast room or promote the WeChat account verbally;
• The live broadcast camera is empty for a long time;
• Some swear words and sensitive words were used during the live broadcast;
• Attacking other platforms during live broadcasts;
• The attire during the live broadcast does not meet the requirements.

Only by discovering the problems that exist in yourself and your team during the live broadcast process and correcting them, making each live broadcast gradually perfect, taking small steps and iterating quickly, can you go further and faster.

Final Thoughts

Although the benefits of live streaming e-commerce are gradually weakening and many top anchors have failed, it has also provided opportunities for many small and medium-sized anchors. I believe that the live streaming e-commerce industry will by no means be a flash in the pan. With the development of video platforms and the increasing standardization of the industry, 2022 will still be the year of explosive growth in live streaming e-commerce.