Getting Started With Amazon Live

The Basics of Using Amazon Live Creator

Below are the main points to understand and plan for to ensure successful livestreams with Amazon Live Creator:

1. Follow the Amazon Live Creator app guidelines. Download the app and ensure you have the most updated version.

2. Confirm strong Internet connectivity to support the livestream and avoid any technical issues. The app requires a minimum Internet connection upload speed of at least 5 megabits per second if using an iPhone, so you should stream where 5G or Wi-Fi is available.

3. Practice your livestream content and make sure you have the proper equipment in place to allow for high-quality sound and video. With “Practice Mode,” you can rehearse your livestream and test all of the Amazon Live features without being discovered by Amazon shoppers. This feature can also be used to practice using an external camera through a video encoder, which is recommended for the first time you use an external camera to stream.

4. Educate yourself on Amazon’s livestream best practices at its in-depth learning center. The learning center offers webinars, short videos, Q&A sessions, and live office hours to help you learn how to confidently and effectively livestream on Amazon.

5. Livestream from a location with good lighting and a way to stabilize the video, whether through a gimbal device or tripod for your iPhone.

Amazon Live Creator Best Practices

1. Make sure your phone is set to “do not disturb” to avoid interruption during your livestream. It should also be fully charged to avoid losing battery life before the livestream is over.

2. Once you are live, do not exit Amazon Live Creator, as that will cause your video to end abruptly.

3. Carefully choose the content you are going to discuss and the products you are going to showcase. Amazon moderates all livestreams in real time and if you receive a flag from the moderation team during your broadcast, your livestream will be terminated.

4. Amazon recommends posting an initial chat message in the interactive messenger when the livestream begins so that consumers know that you are engaged and available for questions.

5. Leverage the custom promotions feature to populate text of your choice — such as a promotional code to drive incremental sales — which will be displayed in the lower overlay of your video. Call it out during your livestream by saying something like, “Be sure to check out our promo code, which is available today only.” 

6. Be strategic about when you livestream. Amazon has seen slightly stronger traffic later in the day and into the evening as well as on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Those recommendations are based on past performance and, while Amazon cannot make any guarantees as to the volume of traffic at a given time, you should do some experimentation to see which days and times generate the most brand engagement.

7. Livestreaming on Amazon can be beneficial for more complex products that require in-depth explanations, as well as products with higher list prices. If you have any of these products in your catalog, they may be beneficial to include in your product roundup.

8. Promote your livestreams to your email lists and on your social media platforms to help boost engagement.

9. At the end of each livestream, give a summary of key takeaways and points discussed so consumers that may have joined halfway through will be caught up to speed.

Final Thoughts

Amazon’s Live Creator App also provides you with a channel analytics dashboard so you can see a snapshot of live views, unmuted views, and product clicks for your channel in the prior 28 days, with more granular metrics at the individual stream level. 

Together, this data allows you to understand how your various livestreams perform against one another. By experimenting with live video and measuring results, you will be able to deduce if livestreaming is effectively helping your brand get in front of new, diverse audiences.