The Future of Sports Broadcasting: Arena’s Exciting Solutions for the Olympics and Beyond

As the world eagerly anticipates the 2024 Olympic Games, the realm of sports broadcasting is undergoing a profound transformation. From its modest beginnings with radio broadcasts in the early 20th century to today’s sophisticated digital platforms, the way we consume sports content has been revolutionized.

If you want to stay on top of your game and ahead of the competition, finding new opportunities to innovate your sports broadcasting is fundamental to keeping audiences entertained. 

Let’s take a look at how far we’ve come with live sports streaming and understand some of the ways you can transform your sports broadcasting and increase audience engagement.

The Evolution of Sports Broadcasting 

The roots of sports broadcasting can be traced back to the early 20th century, when radio emerged as the primary (and only) vehicle equipped for live sports coverage. On April 11, 1921, the first-ever live radio broadcast of a sporting event in the U.S. featured a boxing match, marking the birth of sports commentary and allowing fans to follow the action in real time.

Fast forward to May 17, 1939, when NBC showed a baseball game between Columbia and Princeton, bringing sports into people’s living rooms and setting a precedent for changing the way fans engage with their favorite teams. 

From then on, sports broadcasting has evolved tremendously. The proliferation of cable and satellite TV in the 80s and 90s expanded the sports broadcasting possibilities. Networks like ESPN, Fox Sports, and NBC Sports became industry leaders and well-known for their sports coverage, offering a 24/7 stream of games, analysis, highlights, and athlete interviews.

When looking at the past and the evolution sports media has undergone, from its humble beginnings in radio to the critically acclaimed sports channel coverage, there is no doubt that the sports-watching experience has changed in various ways. But, as technology continues to evolve, so do viewers’ expectations over how they interact with their favorite teams, competitions, and athletes. 

It doesn’t matter if your focus is on smaller and local competitions or global events such as the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, there is always space to innovate in the way you broadcast sports.

In the next section, we will delve into the innovative ways in which technology is changing sports broadcasting. 

Innovative Sports Broadcasting Solutions

With the rise of the internet, so came the beginning of the era of online streaming, allowing users to watch sports on any device, at any time. This shift helped democratize access to sports, with social media playing a significant role in amplifying the reach of sports content. 

Ahead of the opportunity to reach out to larger audiences and secure their spaces in the digital environment, major sports leagues and networks have launched digital platforms that allow fans to watch games and events live or on-demand. 

This approach also allows publishers, leagues, and teams to establish a closer relationship with fans by offering them not only live streaming of the games but also hubs for highlights, interviews, and interactive discussions, fostering a community and driving fan interaction.

The good news is that building a community and keeping up with the latest trends in sports broadcasting doesn’t need to be as complex as it seems. By using no-code tools and integrating content across platforms, editorial teams of every size can increase their productivity, provide comprehensive sports coverage and enhance audience engagement.

Discover over the next section how you can improve your sports media across different platforms and offer 360º coverage for fans. From the 2024 Olympics to the NBA, NFL, and many others, be sure that your sports fans are well-supported when it comes to engaging content.

Learn how the NBA and Globo leverage Arena to offer fresh and real-time sports content.

5 Innovative Ways to Transform Sports Broadcasting

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality 

Virtual reality (VR) transports fans into live games and offers an immersive stadium-like experience. Meanwhile, augmented reality (AR) can enhance broadcasts with real-time updates and visual effects. The integration of VR and AR not only transforms the whole viewing experience but also offers new revenue streams through advertising, sponsorships, and premium content subscriptions.

Interactive Live Streaming

Integrating interactive features such as real-time polls, Q&A sessions, and live chats directly into the broadcast helps enhance community engagement by making them active participants rather than passive viewers. Through a live chat, publishers can gather instant feedback and create a more dynamic and engaging viewing experience.

Multi-Platform Integration 

A multi-platform approach ensures that content reaches a wider audience and caters to the preferences of viewers who consume content on different devices. For this to work without any hiccups, it is important to make sure that your platforms are integrated so you can, for example, post a Tweet update and repost it on your website simultaneously and automatically.

No-code technologies, such as Arena, allow you to create a social stream within your website that centralizes all of your content from different social media platforms, such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and more. 

Data-Driven Personalization

One of the many benefits of bringing your audience to your website is gaining access to first-party data, and collecting information from your own customer base, subscribers, and visitors. 

Using advanced AI and machine learning algorithms, you can leverage data to tailor your content strategy and adapt it according to user’s preferences and behaviors. This ensures that each viewer gets a customized experience, increasing their engagement and retention. 

Community Building 

It is no secret that sports fans are passionate about the teams and competitions they choose to follow. Not only do they constantly post content on their social networks regarding sports, but they also tend to engage with vehicles, influencers and pages that do so. 

Fostering a sense of community among viewers through features like fan club pages, forums, social media integration and a live chat that keeps the conversation going. These tools enable viewers to connect with each other and with the content, creating a loyal and engaged fan base. 

As we gear up for the 2024 Olympic Games, Arena’s innovative broadcasting solutions are set to redefine how sports are experienced by fans worldwide. By offering tools like Live Chat, Live Blog, social media integration, interactive features, and comprehensive analytics you can build your own Arena Community within your website that meets the demands of today’s tech-savvy viewers but also sets new standards for the future of sports broadcasting. 

Learn how Arena Community works and how you can create your own online community in a matter of minutes.

Digital Products: How Publishers Can Increase Sales by Enhancing Engagement and Interactivity

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, publishers face the challenge of standing out amidst a sea of content. One of the most effective ways to sell more digital products is by enhancing audience engagement and interactivity, besides incorporating branded content into your strategy. For this to work, it is necessary to understand and target your audience, offering a rich and engaging experience, and helping your brand to build loyalty with your customers.

So now, let’s uncover some of the secrets to selling digital products that resonate with your audience.

The Importance of Engagement, Interactivity, and Branded Content

Engagement, interactivity, and branded content are crucial for several reasons:

  • Increased Attention: Engaged users spend more time on your site, consuming more content and increasing the likelihood of making a purchase.
  • Higher Conversion Rates: Interactive elements such as quizzes, polls and Q&As, and live chats can lead to higher conversion rates as they make the user experience more dynamic and personalized.
  • Customer Loyalty: An interactive and engaging website fosters a sense of community and loyalty among users, encouraging repeat visits and purchases.
  • Brand Affinity: Branded content helps build a stronger connection with your audience by aligning your digital products with trusted brands, enhancing credibility and appeal.

Effective Strategies to Boost Engagement and Interactivity

  1. Interactive Content: Integrate interactive content such as quizzes, surveys, and polls. These not only engage your audience but also provide valuable insights into their preferences and behaviors. For instance, a quiz about a topic related to your digital products can lead to personalized product recommendations, increasing the likelihood of sales.
  2. Live Events and Webinars: Host live events, webinars, or Q&A sessions related to your digital products. These events provide an opportunity to showcase your products in action, answer questions in real-time, and build a deeper connection with your audience. Promote these events through your website and social media channels to attract a larger audience.
  3. Personalized Recommendations: Use data and analytics to offer personalized content and product recommendations. When users see products that are tailored to their interests and behaviors, they are more likely to make a purchase. Implementing algorithms that track user behavior and preferences can significantly enhance this personalization. Discover how you can gather first-party data and use it to your advantage. 
  4. Engaging Visuals and Multimedia: Utilize engaging visuals such as infographics, videos, and interactive graphics to make your content more appealing. Videos, in particular, can effectively demonstrate the value of your digital products, provide tutorials, or share customer testimonials.
  5. Gamification: Introduce gamification elements like badges, rewards, and leaderboards. Gamification can motivate users to engage more deeply with your content, participate in challenges, and ultimately make purchases to achieve higher status or rewards.
  6. Community Building: Create a sense of community by incorporating forums, discussion boards, and social media groups. Encourage users to share their experiences, provide feedback, and interact with each other. A strong community can significantly enhance user engagement and loyalty.
  7. Branded Content: Partner with reputable brands to create co-branded content. This can include sponsored articles, branded videos, or collaborative webinars. Branded content not only provides additional revenue through sponsorships but also enhances your credibility and expands your reach by tapping into the brand’s audience.

Leveraging Conversion Cards

One powerful tool to enhance engagement and drive sales is the use of Conversion Cards. Conversion Cards are interactive elements that can be embedded into your website to encourage specific actions from your audience. Here’s how they can help:

  • Donations: If your digital products include free content or you operate on a freemium model, you can use Conversion Cards to request donations. By offering value upfront and then asking for support, you can generate revenue while maintaining user trust and satisfaction.
  • Paid Subscriptions: Use Conversion Cards to promote your paid subscription services. Highlight the benefits and exclusive content available to subscribers, and offer a seamless way for users to sign up directly through the card.
  • Lead Generation: Capture email addresses and other contact information through Conversion Cards by offering something of value, such as an e-book, a discount code, or access to exclusive content. This helps build a database of potential customers who can be nurtured into paying customers.

Example of Effective Use of Conversion Cards

Let’s say you’re a publisher offering a range of digital products including e-books, online courses, and premium articles. You can embed Conversion Cards in your blog posts and product pages. For instance, at the end of a free article, you could have a Conversion Card that invites readers to donate to support more high-quality content. Alternatively, you could offer a discount on your next e-book purchase for users who sign up for your newsletter through a Conversion Card.

The easiest way to increase engagement

In a competitive digital environment, publishers must focus on enhancing engagement, interactivity, and incorporating branded content to sell more digital products. By integrating interactive content, hosting live events, offering personalized recommendations, using engaging visuals, implementing gamification, building a community, and leveraging branded content, publishers can create a more dynamic and appealing user experience.

Conversion Cards, donations and paid subscriptions can further drive revenue and build a loyal customer base. If you want a platform that is easy-to-use and want to increase your website monetization through engaging and interactive content, check out Arena’s Live Blog and Live Chat features and get ready to boost your revenue.

How to live stream the 2024 Olympics

The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics are just around the corner and, at this exact moment,  millions of sports fans are wondering “Where can I watch the Olympics?”. With over 300 events divided into 32 sports categories, it can be hard for viewers to gain full access to the complete schedule and real-time transmission on traditional TV broadcasting. On the other hand, with so many competitions happening simultaneously, it can be hard for media outlets to decide what to cover. 

It is expected that the 2024 Olympics will have a thunderous impact on the U.S. streaming market, with over a quarter of all SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) subscribers signing up for a new streaming service just to watch the games, according to new research conducted by Bango. The vast majority (87%) of those paying for sports VODs are also calling for a content hub that can centralize streaming, blog posts and analysis of the competition, further facilitating access to the Olympic events. 

In this scenario, there’s incredible competition for sports broadcasters and advertisers to attract and hold the attention of their audiences. The average viewer not only wants to watch the event with live professional commentary but also interact in a more meaningful way with other sports fans and delve deeper into the Olympics. After all, it only happens every four years, and they need to make every second count. 

Why build a strategy to stream the 2024 Olympics? 

‍The Olympics is a truly iconic occasion and one of the very few global events that is able to unite and engage different sports fans around the world. Starting July 26, the 2024 Summer Olympics are expected to have a global audience of over 1 billion people during its 18 days of competition, which makes it a perfect opportunity for media companies to invest in their streaming services.

The timing to make this investment couldn’t be better, especially after the great success that companies who have betted in Olympics live streams have shown us over the last few years. 

During the Tokio 2021 Olympics, NBCUniversal used its various platforms to launch a special sports coverage, describing it as the “biggest media event ever”. With this initiative, the company saw outstanding results, amounting to an audience of 15.5 million people, with viewers streaming a record 5.5 billion minutes of events across social media and platforms such as NBCOlympics.com, NBC Sports App and streaming service Peacock. 

As for the 2024 Summer Olympics, the games haven’t even begun and the company is already seeing impressive numbers. Months before the opening ceremonies, NBCUniversal had announced that it had already sold $1.2 billion in advertising space during the Olympics, with $350 million coming from first-time advertisers.

If you are a sports, entertainment, or news broadcaster, you are probably wondering which is the best way to stream the Olympic games in real-time. What if we told you that there is an easy-to-use, no-code tool that can help you enrich your audience experience? 

Keep reading to learn more about Arena Live Blog and why it is your biggest ally in broadcasting the Paris 2024 Olympics in a more engaging way. Make sure to check out how Fox Sports Australia leverages the tool and, boy, will you be amazed.

What Is a Live Blog?

‍A Live Blog is the natural evolution of traditional blogs. Also called live updates, journalists and publishers have been using live blogs to cover events for years. 

By bringing together words, images, audio, and video, you can offer a unique experience to your audience. The result? More interaction, higher viewership, and a loyal audience that keeps coming back to your content over and over again.

How can a Live Blog help you monetize content? 

‍One of the biggest benefits of having a Live Blog set up on your website is the possibility to not only create your own content but also using different sources to enrich your content timeline. What we in Arena call a “Social Stream” allows you to bring your audience from social media to your website, thus having greater control over what they consume, how they interact with your company and each other, as well as choosing the right advertisers that truly connect with your audience. 

Here are three simple ways you can enhance your content strategy and monetize your 2024 Olympics coverage with Arena Live Blog:

  1. Monetization Strategies: Arena Live Blog leverages AI to maximize ad revenue through optimized ad placements, leading to higher click-through rates. Additionally, publishers can implement subscription models offering premium. By collaborating with brands, Arena enables the creation of AI-generated sponsored articles and videos, providing new revenue streams through branded content.

  1. AI-Driven Content Creation: Utilizing AI, Arena Live Blog automates the generation of real-time highlights and event summaries, keeping audiences engaged with high-quality live content. Predictive content features allow publishers to deliver insights and updates on upcoming events, while personalized content enhances user experience by catering to individual preferences and interests.

  1. Multi-Channel Integration: Arena’s AI tools seamlessly integrate with publisher websites and mobile apps, offering real-time coverage and interactive features. Publishers can not only pull content from their social media accounts but also share AI-generated content from Live Blog on their social platforms like Twitter, driving traffic back to their sites. Additionally, the platform allows you to connect your YouTube live transmissions with your Live Blog live streams, providing an opportunity to double your monetization for each piece of content. By using social media as a top-of-funnel tool, this strategy attracts and retains a broader audience, ultimately boosting website engagement and overall monetization.

Using Arena Live Blog In Your 2024 Paris Olympics Coverage: Step By Step

‍Getting started with Arena Live Blog is easy. In the following steps, you will see a few ways to use the app to make your coverage more engaging for fans.‍

Step 1: Create an event in Arena Live Blog

‍The first step is to create an event using the Arena Dashboard.

Choose your sport from the list and get started. If you don’t see a certain sport listed (e.g. Track & Field), click the “Other Sports” option.

To stay organized, give your event a name (e.g. 2024 Olympics Coverage – Basketball Game 1), enter the date and time, and description. You can also add tags and images to the event to make it even more visually appealing.

Tip: Is your event starting in just a few minutes? Choose the “Live” event status to start your event right away. If you are planning your Olympics coverage in advance, choose the “Upcoming” option in Event Status.

To keep sports fans engaged in your coverage, there are two critical features you should turn on: Enable Comments and Chat Room. 

In some cases – like a high-stakes final event – you might want to turn on the profanity filter to keep inappropriate comments out of the chat.

Adding Advertising Revenue To Your Coverage

‍If you have a paid account, you can add advertising to your Live Blog easily.

Simply add sponsored ads during the post flow.

 

Step 2: Add Social Media Directly To Your Coverage with Social Stream

Live Blog Arena allows you to add channels and social media profiles to further enhance your Paris 2024 Olympics broadcast.

You can enrich your Live Blog with content from: 

  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Reddit
  • Web content
  • Other (RSS)

Important Note: Some content may be protected by copyright. Arena is not responsible for any copyright violations. To reduce the chance of copyright problems and complaints, contact social media users in advance of adding them to your coverage and ask for permission to include them in your Live Blog. 

To learn how to set up and customize your Social Stream, click here and access the complete walkthrough.

Step 3: Plan Ahead For Surprises With Publication Planning

‍When you cover a global event like the Olympic Games, it is important to be ready for surprises and major accomplishments. For example, a country might win its first gold medal. In the Rio Olympics in 2016, Joseph Schooling won the first-ever gold medal for Singapore.

It’s not just medals. Athletes can suddenly suffer a surprising injury or break a world record that changes the outcome of a competition.

Anyone covering the 2024 Paris Olympics needs to be very well prepared for surprises. That’s why Arena’s Live Blog lets you create content in advance. 

In essence, you can create a “reserve” of content to use when you need. For example, you might ask your assistant to write profiles on the top 10 tennis players at the 2024 Olympics because some of the most famous tennis players like Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem are not competing in Paris. By having short profiles on potential winners prepared in advance, you can impress your audience who may not be familiar with less well known players.

By enriching your live blog coverage in this way, you will not be at a loss when a sudden surprise happens. That means your audience will stay glued to your coverage and keep returning to your coverage over and over again

Step 4: Keep Your Audience Coming Back To Your Coverage

‍It’s a fact that sports fans have many different options to watch the Olympics. Even if a sports fan likes your coverage, they might get distracted and start watching a different broadcast. Offering high quality coverage is one way to keep fans coming back. But that’s not your only option.

You can also send reminders to your audience to invite them back to your sports coverage each day. Use the Conversion Cards feature in Live Blog Arena to invite fans to stay engaged with your Olympics coverage.

‍To activate and configure Conversion Cards, click Engagement in the left menu.‍

Step 5: Set Up Real Time Tracking‍

Besides sports knowledge, there is one more way sports broadcasters can get ahead: showing their numbers. When you can show your executives and advertisers that your audience is highly engaged, you can get promoted and assigned to more coverage.

The best part? You don’t have to wait for the event to end to get stats. With the Arena Dashboard, you can easily follow your streaming statistics in real time.

By clicking on Analytics in the left menu, you can see your audience engagement through metrics such as Page Views and Online Users. You can also track these metrics throughout your session.

By using analytics, you will never have to guess what fans are most interested in. Instead, you can look at the analytics data to improve your coverage.

For example, you might see that engagement spikes up when you respond to comments from sports fans. In that case, you might set a reminder to yourself to glance at the comments every few minutes.

And just like that, you have created a personalized event for your audiences, using only a no-code tool and embedding the code to your website!

Prepare to hit the ground running

‍As we write this, many of the world’s leading sports broadcasters are arriving in Paris to prepare their Olympics media coverage. To compete with their reporting, use Live Blog Arena to make your Paris 2024 Olympics news broadcasting an unforgettable experience for your audience.

If you need any help to start planning your Live Blog, make sure to schedule a free demo with your sales teams to understand how Arena can help your company reach the next level. 

2024 Olympics: Maximizing Audience Engagement with Live Blog

As we approach the 2024 Olympics, it’s clear that live blogging will be a critical tool for engaging audiences and providing real-time updates on the games. With advancements in digital technology and increased demand for instant information, news publishers and media outlets must prepare to deliver comprehensive, engaging, and up-to-the-minute coverage of this global event.

Why Live Blog the Sporting Events Like the Paris 2024 Olympics?

  • Comprehensive Coverage: Live blogging multiple sports events simultaneously can be challenging. Live blogs offer a streamlined way to manage and deliver diverse content, from breaking news and scores to personal stories and highlights.
  • Real-Time Engagement: Live blogging allows you to provide real-time updates, ensuring your audience is always in the loop. This keeps readers on your site longer, boosting engagement and driving traffic.
  • Interactive Features: Use polls, Q&A sessions, and comment sections to interact with your audience, making them feel part of the event. This two-way communication is crucial for building a loyal community.
  • Building Community: Live blogs create a sense of community among your readers. By enabling comments and discussions, you allow your audience to share their thoughts and emotions in real-time, fostering a stronger connection with your brand.

Best Practices for Live Blogging

1. Prepare to handle the unexpected

Before the event, outline your live blog strategy. Prepare templates, set up multimedia resources, and ensure your technical setup is robust enough to handle high traffic.

2. Timely and Accurate Updates

Consistency is crucial. Ensure your updates are timely and accurate to maintain credibility and keep your audience informed. 

3. Engage with Your Audience

Encourage comments and feedback. Make sure you designate a knowledgeable team member to monitor and respond with posts and comments to your readers to build a rapport and make them feel valued.

4. Use Multimedia Effectively

Visual content can significantly enhance the reader’s experience. Use high-quality images, videos, and infographics to complement your text updates. Bring in perspectives from high-value sources like industry leaders and expert commentary. 

5. Optimize for SEO

To take advantage of what’s on screen, prepare to incorporate relevant keywords and trending topics to improve your search engine ranking. Use clear and concise headlines to capture attention.

Upcoming Events to Consider Live Blogging

1. Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (July 26 – August 11, 2024)

The pinnacle of athletic competition, the Paris Olympics will feature new sports like surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing, alongside traditional favorites. Highlighting these events can attract a diverse audience.

2. UEFA Euro 2024 (June 14 – July 14, 2024)

With football being one of the most popular sports worldwide, covering the UEFA Euro 2024 can draw significant attention. Live blogging key matches and providing in-depth analysis can keep football fans engaged.

3. ICC Cricket World Cup 2024 (October – November 2024)

Cricket enthusiasts will be eagerly following the World Cup. Live blogging matches, player stats, and expert commentary can cater to this dedicated audience.

4. 2024 U.S. Presidential Election (November 5, 2024)

Politics deeply influence global dynamics. Covering the U.S. Presidential Election with live updates, expert opinions, and real-time results can attract a broad spectrum of readers.

5. 2025 Rugby World Cup (September – October 2025)

Rugby fans are passionate and loyal. Providing live updates, match insights, and fan interactions can enhance engagement during this event.

Conclusion

The Paris 2024 Olympics present an incredible opportunity to build a Live Blog to engage and grow your audience. By providing real-time updates, interactive content, and fostering a sense of community, you can enhance the viewer experience and boost your digital presence. Prepare now, and get ready to capture the world’s attention in 2024 and beyond.

Learn more about some of Arena’s solutions for sports publishers and discover how you can elevate fan experience this Olympic season. 

The ABCs of Building Thriving Online Communities

Whether you’re a marketer, media brand, or digital publisher, there’s a paradigm shift occurring in the way we think about audience engagement. With growing concerns around data privacy and the inevitable algorithm changes that impact organic reach, the old cadence of relying solely on social media is being supplanted by a more robust, sustainable strategy: cultivating vibrant online communities outside the uncertain walls of social platforms. This in-depth discourse is a strategic roadmap for you to understand the intricate nuances and compelling benefits of online communities.

Jump aboard as we analyze the intentions behind this seismic shunt of digital strategy, and expose the first steps you need to take to achieve long-term engagement, fortify customer loyalty, and enhance your brand’s online presence in an era where connection and trust are the ultimate currency.

What is an online community?

An online community is a specific digital space that brings together people who share interests, goals, problems, or other concerns. The desire to build an online community is one of the key drivers for the growth of the Internet and related technologies.

A (Very) Short History of Online Communities

Online communities have existed for decades, long before social media and smartphones. The following examples show how different communities have gathered together using digital technologies.

  • Early Scientific Online Communities

The earliest online communities brought together scientists, engineers, and researchers to share ideas. ARPANET (active from 1969 to 1989) brought together scientific researchers in the United States.  In Europe, Tim Berners-Lee invented the modern web while working at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in 1989 to support a global community of scientific researchers. These early types of community (and the technologies they created) paved the way for later technologies.

  • Bulletin Board System (BBS)

The arrival of BBS technology opened the door for many more people to participate in online communities. The first BBS was launched in 1978, and these communities grew in popularity until the early 1990s. These communities typically relied on dial-up modem technology and telephone lines.

  • Usenet

Launched in 1980, Usenet had millions of users interacting across thousands of discussion groups at its height. Usenet remains active for discussions, and it has some filesharing capabilities.

  • Internet Service Provider Online Communities

Compuserve and America Online (AOL) offered community chat rooms and other spaces for online engagement. At its height, Compuserve had thousands of moderated discussion groups.

  • Publisher Based Communities

A variety of publishers have created online communities. For example, Salon purchased The WELL (an early online community) 1999. Other publishers took a different approach to online communities by allowing comments on their articles and other media.

  • Blogs

In the 2000s, new technologies like WordPress and Blogger made creating and running blogs easier. Blogs included social and community features like comments, blog rolls (i.e., links to related blogs and websites), and guest posts (i.e., contributions from others besides the blog owner).

  • Social Media

Online communities are a key driver for the success of today’s social media platforms. For example, Facebook found early success by focusing on specific communities at US colleges. Other social platforms, like Discord, have succeeded by making it easier for people to connect through shared interests.

What Do Successful Online Communities Have In Common?

Every online community has different dynamics, levels of participation, and goals. Despite those variations, a few common characteristics underpin most successful online communities. We’ll expand on each of these concepts throughout this ebook.

A Specific Focus

To attract an audience, an online community usually does best when it is focused. Generally, a focus (i.e., NCAA basketball) is better than a broad focus (i.e., sports).

Content

In many cases, content provides the spark for discussion and interaction in a community. The content may be contributed by professionals (i.e., journalists) or engaged community members. High-quality content, especially when publicly available, attracts new community members and starts new discussions.

Community Leaders

Online communities, like any community, face threats and challenges. It is easier to respond to these challenges when a community has strong leadership. There are various types of community leaders, such as the founder(s) of an online community, volunteer moderators (often called “mods”), and professional community moderators. Community leaders are essential in starting discussions, responding to inappropriate actions, and guiding the community.

Online Community Technology

An online community, such as a technology platform, needs a specific place to operate. Social media websites are popular since they are designed to be easy to use, but creating a thriving online community right on your website is also possible. By bringing online communities to your website, you gain a much deeper understanding of your audience.

Arena Community represents a significant leap forward in audience engagement and interaction. With its comprehensive feature set, such as Arena’s Live Blog and Live Chat, and user-centric design, it offers an unparalleled experience for both users and brands alike. 

Strategies To Build Safer Online Communities

Bringing together a large group of people online who share common interests is critical to starting a community. However, achieving true community success in the long term requires more. Specifically, online community managers and community moderation tools play an essential role.

What Is Online Community Moderation?

Online communities are like gardens. They thrive when well taken care of, including removing weeds and receiving the key ingredients to grow, like sunlight, water, and nutrients.

Online community moderation is the art and science of guiding a community to align with specific values. Many communities have a list of formal rules. For example, Reddit community rules often discourage self-promotion. Other online communities – particularly those aimed at younger people – have rules discouraging inappropriate language (e.g., profanity).

There are two broad categories of online community moderation: software and manual. Software-based moderation (included in Arena Live Chat) is an excellent way to filter profanity and other objectionable words. Manual moderation has a role to play in other scenarios. For instance, you might be hosting a celebrity for a Q&A event and want to keep questions on-topic — both manual and software moderation can help you run a successful event.

Ways To Streamline Community Moderation

You can use a few strategies to make online community moderation easier.

Community Rules

Posting a community code of conduct or rules is an effective way to set expectations when new people join. If you host live community online events, it is wise to repeat rules that apply to those interactions so that everybody is on the same page. For example, the r/science community – which has 31 million members – on Reddit enforces multiple rules, including:

  • Must be peer-reviewed research
  • No abusive or offensive comments
  • Non-professional personal anecdotes will be removed
  • No medical advice
  • Comments dismissing established findings and fields of science must provide evidence

Manage Access To The Community

As communities grow larger, it becomes more difficult to maintain standards. Therefore, you should curate your community deliberately. For instance, a publisher can offer several online communities. One community – open to all registered users – may have limited moderation. In contrast, the same publisher might also have a second online community limited to paying subscribers.

For example, a publisher that offers “subscriber only” content and community limits access to people with an active subscription. By the way, a single organization can host multiple communities, including an open community where anybody can join and a more exclusive community for paying members.

Recruit and Retain Volunteer Moderators

Scaling up to a larger community with tens of thousands or more members is tough if you have a single moderator. Fortunately, you can recruit volunteer moderators (often called “mods”) to help maintain community standards. Usually, extending an invitation to a community moderator is best based on the person’s track record. For example, a person who encourages positive dialogue and gently reminds others of the community rules might be a good candidate for a volunteer moderator.

To retain your community moderators, offer them exclusive benefits. For example, content moderators might be invited to ask the first question when you have question-and-answer events. Publishers can also reward moderators with gifts like apparel or subscription discounts.

Build Safe Online Communities with Arena

Although social media can be a good place to start, bringing your online communities can bring numerous advantages for your brand. You can engage with your customers through Live Chat, Live Blog, and other Customer Engagement ideas. Arena is easy to integrate, perfect for conversations, community chat, as well as ratings and reviews.

Arena Community represents a significant leap forward in audience engagement and interaction. With its comprehensive feature set and user-centric design, Arena Community counts with moderation features that guarantee your virtual community stays safe and enjoyable for your audience.

How To Create A Social Media-Like Experience

Engaging audiences and keeping them on your website has become increasingly challenging. Social media platforms, however, have mastered the art of user engagement by creating immersive, social media-like experiences that captivate their audience. The good news? You can leverage these same strategies to boost user engagement on your site.

Explore our exclusive infographic to learn how!

 

14 Live Blog Benefits For Digital News Publishers

Keeping your news audience engaged is increasingly challenging. The Washington Post recently appointed a new CEO, highlighting concerns as its digital audience has declined by 28% since 2021, with digital subscriptions also falling by 15%. The struggle to maintain audience engagement is not unique to the Washington Post; many digital news publishers face similar challenges.

To address these issues, experimenting with innovative content experiences is crucial. For example, the New York Times has heavily invested in sports and games to boost engagement.

One effective strategy to enhance engagement is integrating a live blog into your website. The live blog benefits are substantial, as it offers a dynamic content mix, including videos, brief Twitter-style posts, articles, audio clips, and more. This diverse content approach can significantly extend the time your audience spends on your site and improve overall engagement.

14 Live Blog Benefits To Grow Digital News Audiences

With the right execution, retaining and growing your digital audience today is more than possible. Here are some ways a live blog can keep your audience returning for more.

1. Deepen audience engagement multiple times a day

A person who visits your website for minutes is much more valuable than someone who reads a few headlines and disappears in seconds. Live blogging solves this problem by giving your audience a reason to keep coming back for more.

Imagine there is a breaking news story like an election. You can cover that event with a live blog and provide hourly updates. Those frequent updates give your audience a reason to visit in the morning, at lunch, and later in the day to get the latest developments.

2. Grow search traffic

In July 2023, many news publishers noticed a drop in Google traffic. The drop was later attributed to a bug in Google’s software. That disheartening experience reminds us that keeping a close eye on the latest search trends is vital.

It’s been established that providing up-to-date content is a proven way to attract search traffic. A live blog is one of the best ways to provide a steady stream of new content like analysis, new facts, commentary, video, and more. Feeding the search engines with new content – especially on trending news items – is one of the best SEO (search engine optimization) search strategies.

3. Grow the bond with your audience with a human touch

The rise of AI and misinformation makes it harder for your audiences to know who to trust. In 2022, the Pew Research Center reported, “ Adults under 30 are now almost as likely to trust information from social media sites as they are to trust information from national news outlets.”

Rebuilding trust with your audience takes several strategies, including recommitting to high standards of journalistic behavior. You likely have one or more highly trusted news personalities within your current team. Those trusted individuals can help you to grow audience trust.

Invite one of your top trusted journalists to use a live blog to cover a breaking news story. Shaping the live blog around a specific journalist’s reputation and expertise can deepen audience engagement and trust.

4. Increase referrals with viral content

Receiving content from a friend is one of the best ways to grow your audience. This is another area where a live blog can help. For example, you and a few friends might eagerly follow the new NBA drafts each year. A live blog that follows all draft announcements is tailor-made for audiences to share.

You can supercharge this viral effect by using Arena’s interaction elements like polls, responding to comments on your page, and hosting chat experiences.

5. Provide exclusive content for paying subscribers

Paying subscribers are the coin of the realm. Keeping them happy and engaged is crucial for the future of a publishing business. A live blog can help you to win here by offering an exclusive experience.

For example, invite a few experts to share their thoughts on a breaking news story to make contributions alongside your in-house staff. Sharing a broader perspective on the news makes the experience more valuable for your subscribers and keeps them returning for more.

6. Use team reporting for more stories

When a big story breaks, it’s tough for anyone to research and cover it thoroughly. Bringing together a team – even a small two-person team – with a live blog is a great solution. Each team member can submit updates and keep your audience engaged.

7. Accelerate your urgent news coverage

When an urgent story breaks, the digital news publisher with the fastest and best coverage is positioned to win. A live blog is a good option for rapidly developing stories. You can share updates every minute, every hour, or however, you often make sense for your audience.

8. Distribute your online content faster

High-quality content is the foundation of online success as a digital news publisher. Yet, the best content in the world isn’t worth much if your audience can’t find it in their preferred format.

A live blog is flexible: it can be updated on a desktop browser or a mobile device. That means you can keep your reporters in the field engaged.

9. Enrich traditional written articles

Today’s digital audiences are conditioned to expect engaging images and videos. You will struggle to keep your audience if your online content doesn’t meet those social media expectations.

Enhancing your written content with comments, videos, GIFS, and social reactions helps your content to compete effectively with the big social media sites. Think of it this way. One way or another, your audience will want to discuss your content. If you make it easy for your audience to connect and discuss with you on your website, they’ll have a reason to stay there longer.

10. Innovate faster than your competitors

Live blogs – sometimes known as live updates – have been around for years. However, many digital news publishers have yet to use them. Adding a live blog to your website will make you one step ahead of other news publishers.

11. Get closer to your audience’s real interests

Traditional digital analytics only tell you so much about your audience’s interests. You can get basic demographic information and see what content gets likes and views. That information helps, but it doesn’t go very deep.

Offering a live blog where your audience can comment deepens your understanding of your audience. Instead of guessing which kinds of content your audience wants, you can check the comments section and see which updates are driving engagement.

12. Offer a branded experience to your audience

Your audience should have a consistent experience when interacting with your content. Arena Live Blog is designed to be customized. Creating your live blog theme and customizing icons will give your blog the same look and feel as the rest of your website.

13. Connect your coverage to the social media conversation

You may have mixed feelings about social media as a digital news publisher. On the one hand, you love how much traffic social media sites can send you. On the other hand, you don’t like how social media sites compete against publishers for your audience’s attention.

A live blog can offer your audience the best of both worlds. Start by creating your content and updates. Then, track the social media conversation (e.g., tracking specific hashtags and keywords) and curate the best content for your audience.

14. Make the news helpful for your audience

A live blog is an interactive and flexible way to share your content. Rather than simply posting a static article, a live blog invites conversation.

In Brazil, Arena delivered a live blog to keep readers updated about the COVID-19 pandemic. It contained daily statistics about the virus and other sources of information to give a broad perspective on the situation.

Even more importantly, as health measures decreased social interaction, the live chat provided a much-needed social outlook for people to interact with each other.

Discover the Live Blog Benefits for your Website

The best way to find out if Arena Live Blog is suitable for your audience is to try it out. Try our live blog tool for free!

How To Improve Audience Retention

Audience retention is one of the most important signs of a healthy digital publisher (or almost any other business that depends on its website for growth). When retention is high, there’s less stress to replenish your audience constantly. In other words, your audience-building efforts start to compound like money in a savings account!

Declining or low retention of users on a website is an early warning indicator that your business is in serious trouble. To find out the state of your retention, open Google Analytics (or your preferred analytics solution) and dig into the data.

Defining Audience Retention Success: 4 Measures

Like many other success factors, determining audience retention success is best viewed through multiple metrics over time. Start with these four metrics.

1. Audience Composition: Returning vs New

Look at your website analytics for the past month (or better, the last 90 days) and see how your audience breaks down between new vs returning users. You always want a combination of both types of users. However, the critical measurement is the percentage of returning users over time. If returning users are falling as a share of your total audience, it means your audience is losing interest.

This data point can only be understood if you consider your broader strategy and the other measures below. For example, building your sports audience may take some time if you recently changed your strategy to emphasize sports coverage over politics. Your returning audience share will fall during that phase, and your new visitors will increase.

2. Audience Retention By Segment

Viewing your online audience as a single aggregate has its limitations. That’s why we recommend applying segmentation. For example, Google Analytics lets you track “Audience by Cohort” on a time basis. For example, you can compare the behavior of people who first discovered your website in January vs those who discovered your website in July.

Analyzing audience cohorts by start date is helpful because it can tell you which marketing strategies work best. In one month, you might offer a series of live chat experiences with special guests and pull in a large audience of new visitors. Cohort analysis makes it possible to track the subsequent behavior of those new people. You might find that this live chat-related audience is most interested in live events on your website, so you’ll need to keep offering those experiences to keep them engaged.

3. Engagement

Engagement measures like – time on page, bounce rate, and number of pages viewed per user – also contribute to retention. Keeping a close eye on these engagement metrics matters because they signal a good match between your content and audience interests. Let’s consider each of these engagement metrics in greater detail.

Bounce Rate

Bounce rate is the percentage of users who immediately leave your website after arriving. Generally, a high bounce rate is a cause for concern. For example, you might have used aggressive search engine optimization techniques to get a specific page ranking high in Google. However, if that page fails to satisfy users and many leave in seconds – you have a high bounce rate. In that case, search engines will likely view that page negatively, and your traffic will likely suffer.

Time on Page

Attention lies at the heart of online success whether you are a digital news publisher looking to generate leads for a business or make sales. If time on the page is very short (i.e., under 30-60 seconds), that is an early warning sign that your website needs to make a better first impression.

Improving time-on-page performance requires both technical and editorial improvements. From a technical point of view, use tools like PageSpeed Insights to evaluate your website. Using a content delivery network (CDN) may help improve speed. Evaluating the speed of applications and services running on your website is vital. Arena Live Chat, for example, is designed to be a lightweight application that runs fast. Editorial improvements may include writing more SEO-friendly headlines and making your content more accessible to scan.

Number of Pages Viewed Per User

Users who view multiple pages are highly likely to be engaged. Since these users are seeing more of your content, there is a higher chance that they will convert to paying subscribers, join your email list, or convert in another valuable way.

Arena Live Blog is a powerful way to lift your page views per user because of the way it presents content. In publishing, a live blog often provides breaking news updates on a new story. For example, post updates at the end of each inning of a baseball game. Once someone reads your updates for the first or second inning, they’ll likely keep returning to your website as the game progresses.

4. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

Increased customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is one of the ultimate measures of successful retention. Unlike the other measures reviewed above, CLV is a lagging indicator. That means your efforts to improve retention may take weeks or months to translate into higher customer lifetime value.

Your customer lifetime value will likely hold steady or improve if built on a solid engagement foundation. That said, drawing a straight line between a specific page and a purchase can be difficult. After all, many people may not be ready to buy a subscription after they land on your website. It may take multiple visits over weeks before a person fully appreciates your brand and decides to buy.

If Your Online Retention Is In Trouble, Try This

Improving user retention – which ultimately contributed to higher customer lifetime value – takes several strategies. Put the following options into action, and you’ll quickly turn around your retention numbers.

Find Out What’s Working And Do More Of It

There’s almost always something that is working well on a website. Start by looking at your top pages – those URLs that have received the highest number of pageviews and highest average time on site. Identify the patterns in those pages and do more of what’s working!

Interview Your Super Fans

Staring at analytics data will give you some helpful clues, but there’s a danger with relying too much on numbers. You may lose focus on the fact that your online efforts are ultimately aimed at connecting with people! On the other hand, life is short, so it’s not practical to reach out and talk to everyone.

The compromise solution is to contact your super fans. It’s easy to find these fans. Check your social media and email marketing service to find people who have engaged the most with your content over the past month or two. Set up a call with 5 of these super fans. Ask them what they like most about your website (get specifics!) and what they would change.

Offer New Interactive Experiences To Your Audience.

Presenting content in a novel way is an underrated way to lift audience engagement. For example, create an online event where you discuss current affairs with a few panelists. This could include offering in-depth coverage of a war or election with experts. Arena Live Chat makes it easy to create a live chat experience on your website quickly.

Increase Online Retention With Arena

Arena is the secret weapon major online publishers like Globo, Fox Sports, and the Japan Times use to lift engagement. Discover Arena’s solutions for media and publishers.

11 Most Popular Instant Messaging & Chat Protocols

Offering an online chat service to your audience is a powerful way to increase engagement. Chat protocols play a crucial role in enabling real-time communication by providing a safe space that allows messages to be transmitted instantly between users. These protocols also define the specific rules and formats for these exhanges, ensuring that messages are sent and received efficiently and securely.

Staying updated with the most popular chat protocols is essential for both developers and businesses to ensure compatibility, security, and optimal performance. By keeping up with these advancements, businesses can provide more reliable and efficient communication tools, meet the growing demands of users, and stay competitive in the market.

Learn more about different instant messaging systems and find out which one suits your needs best.

Three Ready-to-Use Chat Apps

There are significant disadvantages to using an open messaging protocol (i.e., an open standard for messaging). This kind of technology often requires significant development effort and testing, and that’s fine if you’re interested in developing your software, but isn’t very practical when you have a tight deadline.

What if you need to offer a real-time chat experience by tomorrow? That’s where these three chat apps come to play.

1. Arena Live Chat 

  • Advantages: robust message interface for groups, Chat API, and moderation features. Arena is one of the first chat services to offer AI functionality!
  • Disadvantages: in July 2023, there is no iOS or Android app for Arena’s Dashboard. Fortunately, Arena is lightweight and fast, so it works beautifully in a mobile browsers.

Arena Live Chat is a chat client designed for groups and events. It is designed to be lightweight and easy to install and configure. If you are running hybrid events or online events to engage your employees or customers, Arena Live Chat is a great choice.

With features such as polls, Q&As, GIF reactions and moderation capabilities, Arena Live Chat is a powerful community chat software for brands and publishers looking to grow their audiences.

2. Facebook Messenger

  • Advantages: integrated with Facebook, so there is no need to set up additional accounts, supports video chats and payments between users.
  • Disadvantages: some features, such as payments, are only available in certain countries, some users are skeptical about Facebook’s privacy track record, and may drain mobile device batteries fast. It is not an open messaging protocol, so it has development limitations.

Facebook Messenger is one of the most popular live chat platforms in the world. According to one estimate, there are over one billion Facebook Messenger users today. Since it offers so many features, it is no surprise that Messenger is a relatively large app – it takes over 100 MB in storage in most cases.

From a marketing perspective, Facebook Messenger is interesting because there are third-party services that make it easy to create chatbots. This business approach to Facebook Messenger can boost your lead generation and improve basic customer service. For brands with a large Facebook following, Facebook Messenger has much to offer.

3. Google Messages

  • Advantages: the chat client supports private messages, group chats, payments, and searching for information on businesses (e.g., restaurants)
  • Disadvantages: some users have complained about a poor search experience and glitches with video calls.

Initially launched in 2014, Google Messages has gradually become one of the most popular messaging apps. Also known as Messages by Google, the app has an estimated 1 billion installs. In 2021, instant messenger added support for an end to end encryption.

Google Messages added support for rich communication services (RCS) in 2019. This enhancement means that the app no longer relies on the cellular network. Google Messages does not require a mobile app – the chat client is available through a browser. Adding support for RCS makes Google Messages more competitive with Apple iMessage.

What if you want to use an open standard for messaging? The following real time chat protocol section introduces you to some of the best options on the market.

Popular Instant Messaging and Chat Protocols

These protocols and services offer different capabilities and require different levels of effort to implement. Some, like IRC, are relatively easy to set up. Most of the other protocols take more effort.

1. WebRTC – Web Real-Time Communication

  • Advantages: WebRTC is open source (initially developed by Google), the protocol has relatively sophisticated sound capabilities, and third-party apps can be developed using the protocol.
  • Disadvantages: it is a relatively new protocol, and there are relatively few online services based on it.

Launched in 2011 by Google, WebRTC is a communication protocol built for web browsers. The protocol supports video calls, but this functionality requires a separate server. The protocol has significant appeal for software companies looking to build their online services.

2. WebSocket

  • Advantages: allows two-way communication faster than the HTTP protocol. It is a lightweight protocol with a 2-byte cost (much less than HTTP), so it is an excellent choice for users concerned about speed and performance.
  • Disadvantages: the reliability of WebSocket is limited by the user’s Internet connection.

Among today’s communication protocols, WebSocket is relatively well established. It was launched in 2008 and started to attain widespread adoption in 2010. WebSocket relies on a TCP connection.

3. IRC – Internet Relay Chat

  • Advantages: long considered one of the oldest and most reliable messaging services in the market, some support for file sharing.
  • Disadvantages: no support for video calls, voice calls, or other advanced features, a declining number of active users.

IRC is often considered the chat platform that made the rise of messaging platforms platform. Established in 1988, IRC is one of the oldest Internet services. According to one estimate, IRC once had over a million users in the early 2000s. While IRC still has some niche uses and specialized communities, it is much closer to email in spirit than a true chat platform.

IRC’s long-term success as a real-time text messaging platform is nonetheless remarkable. If you are building a chat app (or online community) from scratch, studying the longevity of Internet Relay Chat may be worth the time. Remember that the platform was initially developed before broadband Internet access was widely available, so it is not an excellent match for today’s network capabilities.

4. XMPP: Extensible Messaging and Present Protocol

  • Advantages: XMPP is an open, flexible protocol and offers a decentralized architecture. Setting up XMPP on corporate networks (instead of the Internet) is also possible for added security.
  • Disadvantages: it lacks QoS (quality of service) support, so voice and video call performance is not the same as top-of-the-line VoIP services. In addition, there is no single official client you can use to access the protocol.

XMPP is a modern instant messaging protocol that supports popular chat functionalities like voice calls, video calls, and file transfers. You can build a chat application or instant messengers based on XMPP.  Depending on your goals, you could build consumer software or a corporate chat app based on this protocol.

As a form of communication, XMPP can support various uses and optional features. Since it is much less well-known than apps like Google Talk or Facebook Chat, you may have to plan for additional training time to help your users adopt the platform.

5. MQTT – Message Queuing Telemetry Transport

  • Advantages: this messaging protocol is excellent for battery-powered mobile devices. MQTT also has high reliability in delivering messages. The lightweight protocol requires minimal CPU resources, best suited for small, low-power applications.
  • Disadvantages: no support for video calls, minimal security support, and relatively low speed and latency.

Unlike the other messaging protocols covered above, MQTT is best suited for a specific type of device. MQTT is best used for Internet of Things (IoT) devices and applications. For example, an industrial device at a factory might need the ability to send messages about the temperature or pressure of a specific piece of equipment. MQTT is an excellent choice for that use case. MQTT is not a good choice for consumers.

The relatively weak out-of-box security features are another drawback. Fortunately, this problem can be mitigated by working with security providers. If this drawback is neglected in your implementation, you may introduce more risk into your environment.

6. SIP/SIMPLE

  • Advantages: SIP is an open standard compatible with several vendors, it is relatively flexible with the option to support text and video messages, professional oversight by the Internet Engineering Task Force.
  • Disadvantages: it is a basic protocol rather than an instant messaging app, so users cannot download it and immediately start using it.

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a well-established messaging protocol that has been around for several decades. SIMPLE is a specific implementation of SIP called “Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions.”

The SIMPLE protocol approach to instant messaging offers both session mode and non-session (i.e., page mode) approaches to messaging. In addition, the SIP SIMPLE protocol also supports presence which means you can detect when users are online. The protocol doesn’t offer built-in support for features like buddy lists (also known as contact lists) or message histories. Therefore, it might be a good option for consumers.

7. AMQP – Advanced Message Queuing Protocol‍

  • Advantages: supports secured connections with SSL, supports QoS for message delivery, and simple peer-to-peer delivery.
  • Disadvantages: higher bandwidth requirements than other protocols; it is also not backward compatible with older protocol versions.

Announced in 2003, AMQP has an unusual origin: a developer at JPMorgan Chase created it. Other companies, including Microsoft, Progress Software, and Bank of America, became involved in the protocol. Like the MQTT protocol, AMQP runs on the TCP layer of the network.

AMQP’s corporate background means it offers a good foundation for sophisticated applications. AMQP may be a good choice for communication between machines in business communications. The AMQP approach to instant message delivery emphasizes delivery and reliability. As a result, it is a good choice for enterprise instant messaging where accuracy is paramount, like financial use cases.

8. RCS – Rich Communication Services

Offering an online chat service to your audience is a powerful way to increase engagement. Chat protocols play a crucial role in enabling real-time communication by providing a safe space that allows messages to be transmitted instantly between users. These protocols also define the specific rules and formats for these exchanges, ensuring that messages are sent and received efficiently and securely.

Staying updated with the most popular chat protocols is essential for both developers and businesses to ensure compatibility, security, and optimal performance. By keeping up with these advancements, businesses can provide more reliable and efficient communication tools, meet the growing demands of users, and stay competitive in the market.

Learn more about different instant messaging systems and find out which one suits your needs best.

Choosing the Right Chat Service: Factors to Consider

Choosing the right instant messaging system for your business is an important decision. No single chat protocol or app is suitable for every purpose.

Use the assessment criteria below to help you discover the best choice for your needs. For additional insights on deciding whether to buy or build a chat service, see Arena’s article Chat Protocols and Apps: Should You Build or Buy? for additional insights.

Does the Chat Service Have AI Capabilities? 

Since ChatGPT arrived in late 2022, AI has become a revolutionary capability. In a chat service, AI can be used in several ways. You can use it to develop questions and encourage discussions. You can also train AI using chat content if permitted by your policies. We’re still in the early days of the generative AI revolution, so make sure your chat service supports this exciting new technology!

Chat Emphasis: Private Messaging or Group Events?

When you compare different chat programs, a key difference quickly becomes apparent. Many chat apps emphasize private conversations between two users. Like Arena Live Chat, other chat services focus more on chat windows for events. That’s not all. Arena Live Chat also offers one on one messages between users.

How Easy Is Installation And Setup?

Few users (or companies!) have the patience to learn a complex chat protocol. Given your other technology projects, asking an IT department to spend weeks or even months learning how to use WebRTC or MQTT may not be realistic.

Instead, choosing an easy chat solution for companies and end-users to access is best. Arena Live Chat is explicitly designed for fast installation. Most companies install it on their website in less than 10 minutes.

What Is The User Experience Like?

The user experience is vital in chat services. Your customers will spend a lot of time interacting with friends (and your employees) through chat. Therefore, investing time upfront in testing the chat app is crucial.

Specifically, we recommend asking non-technical employees to test the chat app. If they have significant difficulties using the chat app, try something else! If your customers have problems using your chat app, they will simply give up and use a different method – like email or phone – to contact your business.

How Does The App Ensure Security?

Security risks are ever-present in the online world, including chat apps. When you give your users a chat window, some people may view that option as an effective attack opportunity. There are a few ways to mitigate this threat to avoid endless security investigations.

A common way to enhance security and privacy concerns is to rely on end-to-end encryption. In addition, you can apply controls to your user IDs. By requiring users to register before joining a chat experience. Finally, don’t rely on the chat window to do all the work. It is also essential to provide security training to your employees to provide a security-conscious experience to end-users.

How To Add a Live Chat To Your Website Today

Now that you know about the most popular chat protocols and chat clients on the market, you have a choice. The first option is to choose a messaging protocol, select a client and spend time customizing the chat app. This option is a good choice if your company has significant technology development resources and the desire to create highly customized solutions.

The second option is to select a fast chat service that is easy to install and requires minimal setup. Find out more about how Arena helps brands and publishers grow their audience.