10 Facebook Live Best Practices to Boost Engagement and Reach
If Facebook Live is part of your video marketing strategy, you should know what our friends at Wowza have put together. They've just released "The Wowza Ultimate Guide to Facebook Live Streaming," a smart and sharply written 42-page resource that teaches you how to stream with quality, measure results, and learn from other people's mistakes.
Below is a small sample of what it contains. If you like what you see click over to Wowza to get the full PDF for free (registration required).
Top 10 Facebook Live Best Practices to Boost Engagement and Reach
- If there isn't a good reason to go live, don't do it
Before you start streaming, think creatively about why you're doing it. It may be tempting at first to use Facebook Live for everything—but if there isn't a compelling reason to go live, then don't do it.
- Keep things moving
Every minute you're live, you should be doing something to keep viewers watching for the next minute. If you can't keep things moving, see point number one.
- Embrace imperfection
Authenticity and unpredictability are the name of the game on Facebook Live. Things will inevitably go wrong—and as long as they don't shut down your broadcast, that's OK. Embracing imperfection can actually make your video more compelling.
- Plan your failure scenarios
Again, unexpected situations, off-the-cuff audience reactions and even things going wrong can all be part of the Facebook Live fun—unless the thing that breaks is your live stream. When we say to embrace imperfection, we don't mean in terms of failed connections and poor quality; that's where "unpredictable" turns "unprofessional."
- Regularly schedule your programming
Scheduling regular Facebook Live broadcasts can help you capture this platform's massive user base and build a loyal following. Among our survey respondents, the largest proportion stream weekly (41 percent), while 25 percent each stream daily and monthly.
- Break the fourth wall
Forget what you learned in film school. Effective social video is all about "breaking the fourth wall"—speaking directly to viewers, looking into the camera and addressing them by name.
- Let your followers drive the action
It takes a superior user experience to engage today's media-saturated audiences. Facebook Live recognizes this by offering real-time comments and Live Reaction emojis. With the introduction of these engagement-oriented features, daily watch time for Facebook Live broadcasts has grown by more than four times.
- Show them something they haven't seen
Nothing entices people like exclusive content. Stream something followers normally wouldn't get to see, or that's only available for a limited time. This personalizes the connection between you and your viewers, and makes Facebook a uniquely compelling destination.
- Team up with an influencer or partner
One easy way to grow your reach is to stream a joint Facebook Live broadcast with a partner, influencer or brand your followers will know and love. Not only does this double your audience, but many of these viewers are also likely to follow you, provided they like what they see.
- Promote your productions
Of course, you can have the most relevant, interesting content in the world—but if none of your followers see it, it might as well not exist. To
make sure they tune in, build buzz before you broadcast, leverage Facebook features while you're live, and share the recorded video on other platforms after the live event is over.
Troy Dreier's article first appeared on OnlineVideo.net
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