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Facebook Live is a feature that allows users, public figures, and Pages share live video with their followers and friends on Facebook. It’s authentic because it’s not edited. It’s inherently social because users can watch and interact in real time. When a Live broadcast is over, the video persists and can be viewed from the beginning as the comments replay as if you had seen the video live.
Users can invite their friends to the broadcast to increase conversation and engagement in the moment. You can also drive awareness of an upcoming live broadcast using a Schedule Live post.
Facebook Live can be used in the following ways to meet your marketing objectives:
A live experience is putting the brand out in the open so it’s important to be somewhat cautious. There are a wide variety of formats available through a Facebook Live broadcast so it’s important to find the right format that fits your brand. An unboxing Live is a common format for brands and is relatively low risk since the outcome is known in advance. While an interactive stunt may engage the audience more, it also comes with additional risk where the outcome is less known.
Consider how your audience will respond to different types of content. In this chart, you’ll see that there are more controlled formats, like a talk show, where your audience is passive, or a question and answer format, where they are more interactive. There are also formats that are more entertaining, like a contest, and those that provide utility like a ‘how-to’ video.
It’s good to consider the following before going live on Facebook:
When experimenting with Live video, there are other important things to consider:
Scheduling a Live video makes it easier to build anticipation and buzz with your audience before your broadcast begins, so you can start strong with an audience already assembled. When you schedule a Live video, an announcement post will be published to News Feed letting your fans on Facebook know when your broadcast is happening and allowing them to opt-in to receive a reminder. Pages can also promote their Live video while the broadcast is happening, to increase distribution and engagement.
The following are key metrics you should analyze to determine how successful your Live stream was, in order to optimize and improve upon it the next time:
Dave Morrissey is a Client Solutions Manager in the Retail and eCommerce division at Facebook. A seasoned digital marketer who specializes in social media, Dave now helps his clients achieve their marketing objectives through identity-based, data-driven marketing that's grounded in measurable business results.
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ABOUT THIS DIGITAL MARKETING MODULE
This module focuses on Facebook and how the platform’s features can be leveraged by digital marketers to develop a successful marketing strategy. It begins by describing how Facebook works as a platform and outlines the Facebook terminology marketers need to be familiar with. It then provides best practices for setting up a Facebook Page and creating Facebook Page Posts. It goes on to cover the different platform features on Facebook and explains how to use the Facebook Ads platform effectively. Finally, it provides you with the knowledge to plan and deliver a Facebook advertising strategy, and to analyze its performance.