I’ve received a lot of questions and comments about how to do Facebook Live videos. This was a goal I set myself during our 2018 Goal Setting for Business program; every week, I wanted to do a Facebook Live video, so I’ve learned a few tricks pretty quickly.
Now I can share them with you!
Facebook Live is increasingly important as the recent changes to the platform’s algorithm have basically shut down the appearance of brands’ Facebook Page content in people’s Newsfeeds.
However, videos are still favoured under the new algorithm, and live videos are even more important. So, we would all do well to prioritise it. Here are some tips and tricks for getting started with Facebook Live for your brand…
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How To Use Facebook For Business
Don’t stress, it’s not all doom and gloom. Posts that continue to prompt conversation between friends are being penalised less by the new algorithm. Users will be more likely to see your Facebook posts if their friends and family are commenting on it.
In his announcement about the 2018 Facebook algorithm update, Zuckerberg wrote that “live videos often lead to discussion among viewers on Facebook—in fact, live videos on average get six times as many interactions as regular videos.”
Since the whole point of the 2018 updates is to prioritise “meaningful interactions between people”, we can see why video continues to be favoured by the algorithm.
If your page already has a Facebook Group attached to it, now’s the time to invest in it if you haven’t been already. Since Groups already operate on the basis of audience engagement, they should serve you well under the new algorithm.
Finally, if you’re able to, allocate a budget to Facebook advertising. The social media giant is an advertising platform with sophisticated audience targeting capabilities, so paying for important posts to be seen could be a good investment.
Tips for Facebook Live
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Give fans the heads up.
Build anticipation by letting your audience know when you’ll be going live with a written post. We’ve found one day’s notice gives people the right amount of time to tune in.
Extra Tip: Facebook Offers the ability to create a scheduled Live Facebook broadcast – we don’t recommend this for beginners but have included additional information IN THIS DOWNLOAD if you want to give it a try!
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Make sure your connection is strong.
Check the app to make sure that you have a strong signal before going live. WiFi tends to work best, but if you can’t find a nearby network, you’ll want a 4G connection.
Extra Tip: To broadcast from a business page, not your personal account, download the “Facebook Pages Manager” App and access your page through this app to create your live broadcast.
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Nail your description before going live.
A great description will capture people’s attention and help them understand what your broadcast is about.
Extra Tip: Take your time with this, your broadcast does not start until you hit the blue “Go Live” button.
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Get viewers to use Live notifications.
Remind your audience that they can tap on the Follow button on live videos and videos that were live so that they can get notifications the next time you go live.
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Respond to commenters live in your video.
Your audience will be thrilled to hear you mention their name + answer their questions to camera as you go.
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Stay live for a long period.
The longer you broadcast, the more likely people are to discover and share your video with their friends on Facebook. We recommend that you go live for at least 10 minutes, although you can stay live for up to 90 minutes at a time.
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Wrap up your broadcast.
Be sure to finish with a closing line, like “Thanks for watching!” or “I’ll be going live again soon.” After you’ve wrapped up, wait a few seconds until you hear the “ping” indicating your broadcast is complete.
And also… Pin A Post!
During a live broadcast you have the ability to “Pin A Post” to the top of the comments field. This is super handy if you want to include key information or links to everyone as they join the broadcast. Currently, Facebook only allows you to pin a post once the stream is live and during the live broadcast.
To Pin A Post:
- You must be logged in as a page administrator (ideally you will have a second person to assist with this as you will be busy presenting the broadcast)
- Post the comment
- Where it usually says ‘Like’ etc it will also include the option ‘Pin comment’ – click this button to pin
If you need some more hands on help with your videos or would like to produce something more professional, contact us today for details of our video packages.
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