7 Tips for Taking Your House of Worship Coverage to the Next Level

LiveU recently posted their 7 tips for taking your house of worship coverage to the next level. The pandemic accelerated the need for the house of worship industry to embrace live streaming to connect with the congregation, relay news, and updates, spread its message to the congregation, and expand its reach. HOW leaders worked with technical teams or individuals to quickly get online – streaming to social media outlets and Over the Top (OTT) platforms like Facebook and YouTube to maintain continuity. Some turned to cell phones, and others invested in larger production setups to get the job done.

What happened because of this rush to go live turned into an opportunity to grow and expand thanks to cutting-edge technology and the power of video. Live streaming helps the HOW market share moments to build community and deliver content in a way that drives engagement.

Now HOW is leveraging live on a regular basis and for special events beyond the walls of the building. Here are 7 tips for taking HOW coverage to the next level:

1. Confirm your Goals
What are your streaming goals? Is it once a week, once a month, or for special events? How will you measure your success? Do you want to only stream your weekly service or multiple events in and outside your church? What about special events in the community, or outreach activities? What is most important to your congregation and reaching out to your community?

2. Devise a Plan
Outline your goals for the production, take inventory of current products and solutions you are using and reach out to a local audio visual integrator to devise a plan to suit your individual goals. Identify the most relevant social media sites and other digital platforms for your audiences.

3. Communicate!
Don’t assume everyone knows what they should be doing. Communicating with your team and potential new volunteers will ensure your production stays top notch.

4. Getting the Gear
We all struggle with the endless amounts of technology out there. With tight budgets, think about what you want to do and how you can accomplish it? There may be a few tech components you need to get started and as you get more comfortable with producing live content, you can enhance and upgrade your setup. But first, consult with an expert in production. We recommend reaching out to an audio visual integrator or product reseller. Have a bigger budget or want to do a special collection to fund the technology infrastructure overhaul? Think about cellular bonded technology. This will boost your live streams with high-quality, reliability streaming from anywhere – inside your church and beyond! Affordable solutions are at your fingertips.

5. Look for Ways to Grow and Improve
Now that you are streaming, what kind of viewership are you experiencing? Is your content engaging? How can you get home viewers as engaged as the in person crowd? Features like graphics, surveys, donation buttons, live Q&A, streamed sermons just for the homebound, community outreach events and much more can enhance your production, attract new members, and increase engagement.

6. Invest in the Future
Technology changes so quickly these days that it’s tough to keep up with it. If your budget allows, you should consider future-proofing whenever possible. For example, if you can invest in technology with 5G, do it now. Even if it’s not available this minute in your location today, it soon will be, and you’ll be glad you have it when it is. The same goes for getting the best cameras you can afford. High-definition is the norm now. HD quality is necessary. And 4K and HDR are growing in popularity. Most cameras can produce an HD signal, and it looks great even when compressed and sent to a site like YouTube or Facebook. Also, remember audio is as just as important as video. High quality microphones and speakers are a must to capture audio with the best quality so your congregation online and in the church pews can understand clearly what you are saying.

7. Final Thoughts
Now that you’ve streamed your house of worship services or special events, there’s no turning back. There will always be a need to communicate to a large audience online. And there are a host of benefits. LiveU, the leader in live video transmissions and remote production solutions makes it possible to deliver the highest quality video content – wherever you are – to engage your audiences. Contact us to find the right solution to best fit your production needs and budget.