FacebookLive is the second-most popular live stream video platform in the U.S., and it's a valuable tool for forging an authentic and valuable connection with audiences. In this post, we'll walk through:
Facebook Live is a Facebook feature used to broadcast real-time video to Facebook. Live broadcasters can use this content to engage their audience during moments and events that are important to them. Going live provides real-time engagement and can help increase exposure and build relationships with your audience.
Facebook Live is a feature of Facebook that lets users livestream directly to the social network platform. Viewers can react, share, and comment during the stream. A recording of the video is also published to the page or profile so it can be watched again later.
However, for such a simple concept, Facebook Live has a lot of little nuances that marketers will need to learn if they want to get the most out of the platform. This guide will help you learn the best tricks that can make a big difference in how many people see your live broadcast, how they engage with it, and how it performs.
Facebook Live started as a mobile-only broadcasting feature, but now, Facebook Pages can broadcast from either mobile devices or desktop computers. We'll go over how to broadcast from mobile and desktop devices in the sections below.
You go live from a web browser using Live Producer, where you have the option to stream live with your computer's built-in camera, or use an external camera and streaming software (also called an encoder). ;
Facebook offers a lot of features for you to further connect with your audience during your broadcast. Utilizing these tools will help boost engagement and create the best possible experience for your viewers. You can mix and match them to serve your stream in the best way for your business.
Step 4: Dive deeper into your insights by selecting filters and scrolling down the page. (Note: We didn't have any videos posted to the page we used in this example. If you do have videos, you'll see them appear here.)
Step 5: To view insights for a specific video, click on the video title in your content list. You can click into each metric to see how it changed over time when the video was live. For example, if we click into Peak Live Viewers, we'll see this interactive graph of video viewers over time:
In our detailed Marketer's Guide to Facebook Live, we cover essential best practices on how to plan, run, and analyze the results of a business-run Facebook Live. Download the ebook to brush up on these best practices.
The art of the organic reach on Facebook has changed over time, but you can still take advantage of it. A big way to accomplish this is to maintain a mixture of regular Facebook posts and Facebook Live videos. The live videos are the major pull, as they tend to garner more engagement. So, spacing them out will maximize the organic reach of all of your posts.
What makes a live video special? The spontaneous, interactive nature of it. People love the ability to interact, and they love the novelty of viewing someone in a live moment when anything could happen. In many ways, it's the new reality TV.
These moments are what make live video special, and they're exactly what differentiates it from scripted, edited, or otherwise pre-recorded videos. Embrace the platform. Banter is always, always good.
The good news? These things help keep your broadcast human and real. If you wobble your phone while filming, laugh and call it out. If you forget what you were saying, make a joke. The key is to keep the broadcast like a fun conversation, so if mistakes happen, keep it light and keep the lines of communication open with your viewers.
One of the primary ways Facebook's algorithm ranks a post is by how many people Like and share it. The more people who Like and share your live broadcast, the more it'll show up in people's News Feeds.
But when people are watching a video, they may be more distracted from Liking and sharing it than they would a text or photo post. (That's something the folks at Facebook noticed about video content early on, which is why they began monitoring other video engagement signals as well, like turning on the volume.)
The number of comments on your broadcast is another way to get Facebook to give it a higher relevancy score, making it more likely to show up on people's News Feeds. So encourage your viewers to comment, and engage with people who are commenting by answering their questions and calling them out by name. Not only will it get more people to comment, but it's also a fun way to include your viewers in the live experience, which could make them stick around longer.
When you're the one holding the camera for a Facebook Live video, it's really hard to see the comments popping up on the mobile screen. If the comments are coming in fast, it's especially easy to lose sight of them as they disappear below the fold. Plus, you're probably occupied by recording and entertaining viewers.
Because of this, it's always a good idea to have an additional person logged into the primary account to monitor the comments on a desktop computer. That way, they can take care of responding so the person recording the video can concentrate on creating a great experience.
Your viewers may be tuning in and out to watch your video during the work day, or they might simply be watching your video without sound. Either way, periodically subtitling the video in the comments section is a great way to keep people engaged. This also allows people who are tuning in late to catch up on what's going on.
In addition to asking for Likes, shares, and comments, ask viewers to subscribe to live notifications. To do that, all viewers have to do is click the small, downward-facing arrow in the top right-hand corner of the live video post, and choose "Turn On Notifications."
Because timing is such an important factor for engagement in these live videos, Facebook suggests going live for at least 30 minutes, although you can stay live for up to 4 hours using the Facebook mobile app and 8 hours using Live Producer/desktop.
You can add a trackable link to the description in the post, which can direct future viewers to your live video series page, the site of whatever campaign you're using the video to promote, or somewhere else.
To maximize the reach of your streams, you can save your videos and then upload them to your profile. You can also repurpose the videos by sharing clips as profile highlights and creating short videos to share on other channels like Instagram Stories or even TikTok videos. ;
You can stream a Zoom meeting or webinar live on Facebook to your Facebook timeline, group page, or page that you are an admin for. This allows your participants to join via Zoom or viewers to watch and comment on Facebook Live.
You can quickly stream a Zoom meeting or webinar directly to your Facebook timeline or page, or schedule and configure a custom live stream to live stream your Zoom meeting or webinar to a Facebook group that you're an admin of.
If you have the Facebook window open on your computer, you will hear your audio play back to you approximately 20 seconds delayed. If you need to keep the Facebook window open to view and reply to comments, click the speaker icon at the bottom right of the live stream on the Facebook page to mute the video.
When screen sharing, the shared content appears in the large video window, and the speaker's video appears as a thumbnail if their video is on. If the speaker's video is off, only the shared content can be viewed by participants on Facebook.
You can stream to your Facebook timeline or to a Facebook group or page, if you have appropriate permissions. Additionally, if you're a business page, ensure that your Facebook account meets the requirements for live streaming.
Verify that you're the admin of the Facebook group, and make sure the group you want to live stream to allows the live video feature. Learn more about Facebook groups and live streaming to Facebook groups.
Facebook is one of the largest websites in the world and one of the most popular live video platforms. When you broadcast live videos on Facebook, you have the potential to reach thousands of people. To get that many eyeballs on your Facebook Live stream, however, you need to produce exceptional content.
Facebook Live videos have several features you can use to engage with your audience. You can run a poll, give top fans a shoutout with the front row feature, pin comments to the top of the live chat, and invite guests to go live with you.
A good webcam is important too, but lighting is what really makes a difference. Positioning a few cheap lights at the right angles can drastically improve the image quality of your stream, even if you have a lower-quality webcam. You can check out our guide to video lighting for more tips and tricks. We also have a full guide to live streaming equipment, including what you need for a basic setup.
If you have a lot of people tuning in, trying to do the stream while also moderating the chat can be tough. You want to be sure nobody in the chat says anything obscene or trolls any of the other viewers.
Download the recording of your stream and edit it so you can post it as a video-on-demand (VOD) on another platform, like YouTube. You can also make a highlight reel or short clips to post on social media and YouTube.
While you can go live on personal profiles and in groups, Facebook limits the features you can use. If you go live on a page, you can crosspost on other pages, restrict your stream to a certain age group or geographic area and access more detailed insights on your audience.
Make sure you have the rights to broadcast all the content that appears in your stream. One issue a lot of broadcasters have trouble with is music. They want to play popular songs as background or transition music, but then get flagged by Facebook because the songs are copyrighted material.
Facebook has a sound collection that lets you add free music to your stream. You can also use royalty-free music libraries. Read our guide to live streaming with royalty-free music to learn how to add music to your stream without getting in trouble.
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