In 2016, having a Facebook page for your business is Marketing 101. With over 1 billion Facebook users, it’s easy exposure to any demographic you can think of. But the platform has been in a state of constant evolution over the last decade, so there are many features that can assist your online marketing. Today, we’ll be looking at Facebook Live.
Facebook Live is a feature on the social media site that allows you stream live videos to all of your followers. It’s becoming increasingly popular among various brands and artists as a way to interact with their fans.
What can it do for you?
Live streaming is one of the most exciting mediums for engaging your customers. When you see a live stream playing on your Facebook page, it’s hard not to stop for a moment and see what’s going on – we’re only human, after all! We even see what livestreams our friends are watching through our newsfeed. These live videos immediately catch the attention of current and potential customers alike, while also giving brands a chance to innovate and interact with their followers. And with livestreaming still in its infancy, there are so many ways it could potentially grow and evolve when it comes to marketing.
Success stories
If you need some inspiration for how to effectively use Facebook Live, let’s look at other brands that have used the feature brilliantly:
Sky Sports: Before the Carl Froch vs. George Groves rematch, the sports broadcasters held a live Facebook Q&A with the two boxers. The stream was watched by tens of thousands of people live, with many more watching the videos after the live stream was over. The campaign ended with over 400,000 Facebook users engaging with the video content.
[fbvideo link=”https://www.facebook.com/SkySports/videos/10152322192998762/” width=”500″ height=”400″ onlyvideo=”1″]
CNTV: CNTV, a China-based news organisation, live-streamed its Spring Festival Gala on Facebook. The live video had 314,000 viewers. The video also remained on their page after the event was over, garnering a further 9 million views.
[fbvideo link=”https://www.facebook.com/cctvcom/videos/10153930098729759/” width=”500″ height=”400″ onlyvideo=”1″]
Biffy Clyro: Facebook live has also become a very popular method of gaining attention in the creative industries. Prior to the release of their latest album Ellipsis, Biffy Clyro streamed a live Q&A followed by an acoustic session on their Facebook page. The stream was viewed live by 10,000 fans, and went on to gain over 700,000 views once it was over. With the strong marketing platform that Facebook provided, it helped bring the new album to the top of the charts.
[fbvideo link=”https://www.facebook.com/biffyclyro/videos/10154250749545030/” width=”500″ height=”400″ onlyvideo=”1″]
How can you use Facebook Live?
Before you can start streaming, you’ll need your brand page to be verified by Facebook. This is easy to do; you can request verification from Facebook through your page under the settings by clicking Verify this Page. You’ll need to follow a few steps to prove your ownership of the page and the brand it represents, but it shouldn’t take long. And once your brand is verified, you can start receiving stream keys to stream your live videos on Facebook.
Luckily, Facebook have a detailed outline of the live setup process on their website right here: https://www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/get-started/live
So what are you waiting for? Give it a go, and give your followers something to talk about!