I’ve had the opportunity to do all kinds of live streams on Facebook over the last year – events, sit-down interviews, small panel discussions, Facebook page takeovers – and I’ve determined that as long as you follow a few basic principles, your broadcast can be highly engaging and provide great value to your audience.
Promote
Take advantage of other marketing channels to get the word out about your broadcast. Create a Facebook event page, then add that link to your website. Put it in a newsletter. Post about it on your other social channels. Facebook event pages are a great way for your audience to get reminders about your event and ask questions ahead of time.
Use a Strong Internet Connection
Ensure you have a strong WiFi connection, or even better, use a hardwired ethernet connection. Streaming requires high upload speeds and lots of bandwidth, and you’re not getting that on a poor connection. If you have to stream using cell signal or Wi-Fi, use a third party software like Switcher Studio to make sure your broadcast quality is slightly downgraded to make up for lack of connection.
Make Sure We Can Hear You
Some would argue that audio is more important than video. Because this is streaming video over the internet, people can be forgiving of slightly grainy video or a little lag time. They won’t be forgiving if they can’t hear or understand what you’re saying. Film your broadcast in an area with minimal noise. You can also invest in a lavaliere microphone or mini boom microphone, like the Rode VideoMicro, that plugs directly into your mobile device. The audio quality will be drastically improved. It’s worth the small investment.
Take Questions
If you can help it, take advantage of the opportunity to connect directly with your audience and take their questions. Often, I’ve run into folks that want to go live on Facebook, but don’t want to answer questions from the audience either because their uncomfortable or the information is too sensitive. If the information is too sensitive, you probably shouldn’t be going live in the first place. And if you have a true subject matter expert speaking, they should absolutely feel comfortable communicating to viewers. The beauty of Facebook Live is that if you don’t like a particular question that comes in, you can skip right over it.
Re-introduce
Continue to remind the audience who you are and what you’re talking about. Also, if someone asked a great question early in the broadcast, consider re-answering it for new audience members. Viewers are constantly coming and going from Facebook Live broadcasts, so make sure you’re taking into account the new folks.
Promote again
Even though the live broadcast has ended, you can still continue sharing it! In my experience, I typically see more engagement in the 24 hours after the video ends than during the broadcast itself. Be ready for commenters that may have just missed the live event or simply still think the video is live. It also can’t hurt to put a little money behind the video once it’s over. Again, be ready to answer questions. The audience won’t care that the live video has ended. There’s most likely a lot of great information they can still find useful regardless of when they get it.
The great thing about Facebook Live is the direct engagement with your audience coupled with the authenticity of it all. Follow these few simple guidelines and I promise your broadcast will be successful.