In recent years, live videos on social media have become a favorite format among users, and Facebook has led this trend. Its streaming platform, Facebook Live, offers brands a very powerful tool to generate engagement and connect with their audience. In this guide we’ll review what it is, how it works, and how it can boost your social media strategy.
Facebook Live is a Facebook streaming tool that allows you to broadcast live videos, both through your computer and from mobile phones. The video broadcaster can see who is watching the video.
For brands, Facebook Live is a very useful resource to interact with their audience during key moments and events. Users can communicate with the broadcaster through like buttons, emojis, or comments. Since live broadcasts easily capture users' attention, Facebook "rewards" this type of content by enhancing its reach.
In addition to using Facebook Live for commercial purposes, it is interesting to note that live broadcasts on Facebook can also be used for charitable purposes. Pages that meet Facebook's requirements for non-profit organizations can add a "Donate" button to their live videos to raise funds for charitable causes, whether their own or on the behalf of others.
Marketers are aware of the advantages of doing video marketing, but sometimes it is still perceived as a long and expensive process.
Facebook Live takes the pressure off of making perfectly edited and produced videos, as most users expect authenticity first and foremost in live broadcasts. Therefore, there is no need for expensive equipment or hours of editing.
According to Hubspot, videos on Facebook Live generate three times more engagement than traditional videos. The real-time interaction generates a sense of connection, and makes the broadcast an event that users want to be a part of.
In that sense, it is not surprising that live broadcasts are experiencing a boom during 2020: watching live videos and interacting with people behind the scenes makes users feel part of a community, entertained, and like they are taking part in exclusive content.
Facebook Live is a great tool to "pump up" special occasions, at a much lower cost than a non-virtual event. In particular, many brands have successfully used it for product launches.
The magic of live videos is that the viewer does not know what is going to happen next, making the viewer feel anticipation and excitement. By properly promoting your live videos ahead of time, you can generate awareness which will allow your viewers to connect every time you go live and keep them up to date.
The Facebook algorithm likes live videos, and they also are great at generating engagement. Combined, these two factors make them highly visible and serve as a "magnet" to attract users to your Facebook page and thus develop your online community.
Facebook's analysis tool, Page Insights, allows you to get detailed information about the performance of your live broadcasts, so you can understand in depth what is happening and make the necessary adjustments to your video marketing strategy.
In particular, I recommend paying attention to these metrics:
With Facebook Live you can make live broadcasts from a page, group, profile or event through the Facebook application (both Android and iOS versions). Just follow these steps:
If you want to give your live videos a more professional look, you can use Live Producer, a new way to make live broadcasts on Facebook with a camera and streaming software (also called "encoder" or "encoding software").
Depending on the type of content you intend to broadcast, one encoder or another will be more appropriate. You can choose from several programs, including open source software. Here is a list of Facebook Live partners, which include many streaming software solutions.
With Live Producer, you can schedule a live broadcast up to a week in advance. This way, you can keep your audience up to date with future broadcasts and increase engagement.
When you schedule a live broadcast on Facebook Live, these two posts are automatically created:
Once you've started your live broadcast with Live Producer, you'll see user comments in the left column. You'll also see a drop-down menu with different options for moderating them:
You can add guests to your Live Producer broadcast through platforms such as Be.Live, Stage Ten or easylive.io. You can also make a live broadcast on Facebook with multiple participants through video conferencing software such as Zoom or BlueJeans.
Once the live broadcast is over, you can allow the video post to stay on your page, group, profile or event. You can also edit it by trimming the beginning and end or by creating a shorter clip.