5 Best Practices for Using Facebook Live

June 20, 2016

5 Best Practices for Using Facebook Live

It’s no secret that video is where the action is on Facebook. Brand publishers are discovering that they can push their ROI even further by taking advantage of Facebook Live, a real-time, in-the-moment product that allows users (and select brands) to stream live video content in front of their audience. Early adopters are discovering that Facebook Live offers even better engagement than regular video content (and certainly much better engagement than photos and text-based posts).

The Economist is one brand that’s seen great engagement with Facebook Live this month. According to Digiday, “[The Economist’s] videos are averaging around 45,000 views, peaking at 2,000 at any one time and get around 500 comments, 10 times the interactions that links to articles get.”

Not all Pages have access to Facebook Live (yet). If your Page does–or you want to learn how to better use Facebook Live on your personal profile–we’ve got some best practice suggestions for you. (Check out Facebook’s Tips page for more of these suggestions.)

5 Tips for Using Facebook Live

#1 Stay Live a Minimum of 10 Minutes.
The longer you’re live, the more time there is for users to tune in, get hooked, and invite their friends to join. Facebook recommends broadcasting for at least 10 minutes so that your audience can grow.

#2 Be Personal.
Call out commenters by name and address their specific questions and comments. Facebook Live is an incredible tool for building personal, human relationships between your brand and audience.

#3 Be Purposeful.
As with any communications tool, the medium can only be as good as the message. Before going live, seriously consider what kind of value your broadcast will bring to your users and brand. Evaluate your reasoning for choosing Facebook Live over an off-the-cuff prerecorded video or some other non-video format.

#4 Give a Heads Up.
Spontaneity is great. But if you know you’re going to be going live, then tell your audience in advance. Also, you can tell your Fans to tap the Follow button during your stream so they’ll get notifications next time you’re live.

#5 Make That Connection.
Wi-Fi is the best option for streaming. But if Wi-Fi isn’t available, you’ll at least need a 4G connection to use Facebook Live. Nothing’s worse than losing a great session because of a weak connection!

Have you used Facebook Live?
How did you like it? What was your audience’s reaction like?

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