A Look at Facebook Live

What is Facebook Live?

Facebook Live is a way to stream a video of what you are currently doing using Facebook. This would be the equivalent of other similar streaming services like YouTube, Twitch, Azubu, Dailymotion. Hitbox, InstaGib, Mirrativ, Origin, Ustream and Veetle.  Each one of these streaming services also allows people to do what Facebook has been doing, but would then require uploading an already made video. Facebook allows the video to be recording inside of Facebook and sends out notifications to all of your current friends, letting everyone know you are live right now on a video.

Why would You use Facebook Live?

Facebook Live can help get people involved in what you are doing, events that are going on or just to share something special. This of course can be disabled in settings to make sure you don’t get live notifications but it can be used for important events. As it stands now, using Facebook Live should be a way to show fans and friends behind the scenes features at specific venues helping to reignite a following. As most of us know, just because someone has liked your page or followed you does not mean they are seeing your content.

Who can use Facebook Live? At this time, personal users, news, media, entertainment, nonprofits, politics, influencers and sports can go live. Cause, community and business pages cannot yet.

How to Put Together an Effective Facebook Live Video

There is a lot that you can do to get the most out of your videos. Below is a list of 10 tips that will help even some of the most experienced streamers.

1. Space out regular posts and live videos. Make sure to continue to post about regular content and every so often post a new video about an event that is going on. I do not recommend discussing personal topics if you are a business posting as an individual. Keep them light and unbiased to connect with everyone who is tuning it.
2. Continue to reintroduce yourself throughout the video as you see it grow. Facebook live along with all streaming services are meant to engage and pull in new viewers as the video progresses. Even though you may start out with only one or two people joining that may not be the case by the end of the video. Continue to say hello and as you see people join in reintroduce yourself for any new followers.
3. The video should be visually stimulating. It is important that the video shows them something exciting and keeps their attention. Sometimes, just your face is not enough and depending on the content, it can be a little underwhelming for most people. If you have a point you are trying to get across show some pictures or videos that go hand in hand with that. At the same time this does not mean take your live viewers out for a job, constantly moving the camera can be very annoying for most people.
4. Make your live videos spontaneous and eventful. Most live videos will be at a concert, an expo, or maybe even a conference. For you, it is important to get the behind the scenes moments of your life and also be a little spontaneous about it. This pulls in a lot of people that may be interested but have no idea what you have going on. That is the fun in it after all; keep up the banter and have fun with it.
5. Encourage others to like/share the video amongst their friends. You can encourage people to like and share the video by becoming a fan/follower, an advocate, or you can promote it with gift cards or an incentive. An example of this would be, “Hey everyone let’s see if we can get this video to 1,000 likes. If we do, we’ll hand out two $50 Target gift cards at the end of the video to two people who liked it.” Once you receive your followers or likes, comment about it and make sure to thank the followers of your videos.
6. Engagement is everything! Yes, even in the middle of what you are doing, it is extremely important to engage with people who are commenting. If they are asking you a questions respond back to them. It’s important to make sure that you address any questions even if you say, “Let me answer that in a few minutes Mike. Thanks for leaving a comment.” This will acknowledge people that have commented and hopefully even keep them around until you can answer their questions if you are in the middle of something. Commenters can also be pulled into the video by helping to make certain decisions the streaming is trying to make. This could be deciding on a place to eat, a game to play or a gift to buy.
7. Get help from others if the engagement is too much. Having a person on a computer by your side to help answer any comments or draw your attention to certain comments is extremely helpful. Even if you take my advice and say: “I’ll type back a response now,” this can be a great way to have someone else help you not miss anyone’s feedback or questions.
8. For Facebook Live focus on getting subscribers. This can be true with any streaming service, but focus on getting the viewers you have to subscribe to live notifications. This will help to continue to build your following for the next time you go live. For anyone that doesn’t know how, there is a small down arrow in the top right hand corner of the video that says to turn on notifications.
9. Make sure your broadcast is at least 15 minutes long. It makes sense to show live videos when there is an event but if it is not long enough, people may not have enough time to get to the video before it is over. It is a lot more fun when you see the live video and then share it with your friends. Then your friends will have time to engage and comment on the video without missing all the fun.
10. Make sure to say farewell before you close out the video. Before you finish the video it is nice to thank everyone who engaged and came out to hang out with you. Make people feel welcomed and they will want to come back and watch you again.

These tips can really help make your Facebook Live videos a success. Practice makes perfect. Good luck.

By Social Media Manager