“Live is like having a TV camera in your pocket. Anyone with a phone now has the power to broadcast to anyone in the world,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on his Facebook page. Ever since Facebook live was introduced, it has been dominating the digital marketing scenes in all kinds of businesses – big and small – getting ahead of Instagram and Periscope that made major inroads in live video space.
The internet is flooded with statistics to show the massive transformation Facebook’s live videos have brought in for businesses .
- One out of five Facebook videos is live
- 100 Million hours Of Facebook videos are watched every day
- “Facebook live stream” search popularity has risen over 330% since its rollout
- Between January and May 2016, Facebook saw a 300% increase in live videos from media organisations
Let’s take a look at some of the best practices to make full use of the Facebook live streaming:
Incorporate Facebook live in your digital strategy
The statistics are enough to show the potential of Facebook live to build your brand. Rather than being passive about it, it is wise to actively involve Facebook live as a part of your digital marketing strategy.
Make use of Facebook Live to engage users
The idea is not to simply talk about your brand. The first thing to keep in mind is that the real purpose of Facebook Live is to get users to engage in dialogue, build familiarity and trust. Providing them the scope to speak real time about their concerns, complains, appreciation or curiosity of your brand and address it one by one. Face to face communication has its own perks. Make the best use of Live 360 or Live Audio features as well.
Choose youth-centric topics
70% of the trial group for Facebook Live was made up of high school or college-aged users. Age groups between 18 to 35 are most likely to engage in live videos.
Take note of your users
Facebook Live is a quick and handy alternative to normal video. There is no need to edit content or create a perfect video. It is quick and candid and shows the real picture. The best part is you can see users viewing and commenting. You can filter and figure out who are your best influencers, who is frequenting your digital pages and who are genuinely interested in your brand.
Make Use of Facebook Live video share
Facebook Live allows you to save the live session once it is over. To all those influencers and people who missed out on the video, it is a great opportunity to go back to the session at their own convenience. Do not miss out on sharing or embedding the session in other digital spaces, like Twitter, and also on your website and blog. Since Facebook Live allows no edit, it can be a great medium to show authenticity enabling viewers to see things as they are.
Use a catchy description
Your video description is the most important part at the start of a live session. To reach out and ignite curiosity, add a description that is fun and yet informative and compelling.
Personalise your Facebook Live
Are you working towards celebrating a year of completing of your startup, a major milestone or a conducting a major conference? What are your in-house discussions, your work culture and the fun things you do? Here are some of the best Facebook Live video ideas
Host a series of live discussions
Facebook Live can be used as a series to build user anticipation and build ‘family and friends’ network just as it happens for a TV show. This is the best way to get them into a habit of waiting for and watching your Facebook Live.
Use influencers and celebrities: Using influencers and celebrities to talk about your brand live provides an easy access to their followers. As far are popularity of this is concerned, the stats says it all
- Facebook paid publishers and celebrities $50 million to use Facebook Live
- Facebook paid $2.2 million to influencers to use Facebook Live
Talk things outside of your brand
This helps your users relate to your brand on a personal level. Share relevant information, industry updates, have a Q&A or discussion around your user interests, helping them build a trust with your brand.
Regularly assess live video impact and improve
Facebook analytics helps you understand how your videos performed in terms of numbers, views, comments, likes. To access these stats, click on insights and select videos
Facebook Live also features in our prediction of the types of visual content that will rue 2018.
