Facebook Live is one of Facebook’s newest technology offerings that allows people, public figures, and pages to share live video with their friends and followers on Facebook. Live is available to all pages and profiles on Facebook and can last up to 90 minutes. After a video is broadcast, it is saved on the presenter’s page for viewing later.
In 2015, The Verge reported that Facebook ad product lead Ted Zagat expected that the social media platform would be mostly video in a year or two. The expansion of Facebook Live seems to confirm that this is the case, which may change the way that service professionals are able to market themselves on Facebook.
How Do I Use Facebook Live?
Live allows users to stream video right from their smartphones or other devices and users following you will have the ability to tune into your broadcast. To start Facebook Live on your smartphone:
- Open your Facebook app and click Status, as if you were posting a regular status.
- Click the Live Video option and allow Facebook to access your camera and microphone.
- Write a short description for your video, the audience you want to share it with (friends, public, friends except for certain people, or only yourself), and start recording!
After your video is complete, it will save on your page just like a normal video would.
How Will People Find My Live Video?
There are a few ways to promote your Live Video and users that follow you or your Business Page will be notified when you go live with a broadcast. The first thing you can do, then, is attract more regular followers to your page. For more on Facebook advertising, check out our blog post on the different kinds of advertising. Your Live Video will also be incorporated in the News Feeds of those that interact with you regularly or are subscribed to get notifications about your posts.
You should also let your users know in advance that you’re planning a broadcast and share why they should tune in. For our Live Video Broadcasts, we send out reminder emails and add a registration link on our website. While users won’t have to register for your broadcast, it never hurts to share an announcement over email or social media.
What Should I Live Stream?
It will differ for every service professional, but some ideas for Live events may include:
- A tour of your firm, especially if you made changes
- An introduction of your team of advisors
- Something outside of work that your clients may be interested in (such as a charity event, a beach clean up, a hike, or a financial conference)
- Sharing a special message about your firm or commentary about changes in the industry
What are the Benefits of Facebook Live?
It’s no secret that video is the future of content marketing and Facebook Live is just another way to capitalize this change in marketing. Another benefit of Facebook Live is that users can comment and react in real time. Because of this, service professionals can see how their videos are performing with their followers, both in-the-moment and after the Live video ends.
On this note, you can also tell how many people are watching at any given time and respond to comments as they come in (compliance determining).
Just remember, a livestream is live. There are no do-overs or rewind buttons. For these reasons, you should consult your broker-dealer to ensure you’re compliant. For Facebook’s explanation of Live video, click here.
