What is Facebook Live?
Facebook Live is a live video streaming service allows any Facebook user to broadcast live videos from their mobile devices directly to their Facebook News Feed. This Facebook feature lets you share your life in real time with your Facebook friends and followers. They released it this feature in August 2015 exclusively for verified public figures, and have now been steadily rolling it out to other profiles ever since.
How does Facebook Live work?
In order to begin streaming, follow these simple steps:
- Open up the Facebook App on your phone and open up the status bar by clicking as you would normally to write a new post
- Click the “Live” icon button which looks like a silhouette wth 2 circles around it
- Allow Facebook access to your microphone and camera when prompted
- Press “Continue” on the introductory page
- Choose with whom you’d like to share your live video with. You will have the option to share Publicly, with your Friends, Friends except Acquaintances or Friends except specific people you choose.
- You will want to describe your live video with a description and click the “Go Live” button begin broadcasting
At the bottom half of the screen notifications of comments and new viewers will show up. During a live stream, you have the option to add filter effects to the video, switch between front and back cameras or enter comments in the text field below.
What are three benefits of using Facebook Live
Facebook is putting a great deal of emphasis on this feature right now and very view people are utilizing it. For businesses, three major benefits of Facebook Live include:
- Top of News Feeds – Facebook is trying to gain traction for this feature and in doing so, Facebook displays your live video at the top of users news feeds. Those that like or follow your business page will see your live video before other items in their news feed, thus providing more exposure.
- Notifications – As the event is happening live, Facebook will also send notifications to your followers that you’re “live” and to check it out. This provides yet one more option for users to see your business again.
- Did We Mention Exposure? – Followers may “react” to your live video in the form of “like”, “love”, “haha”, etc. Each time a post gets a reaction, it gives the post a little more traction to stay current and at the top of the results. Thus providing yet more exposure for your business.
Conclusion
Facebook Live is a fun interactive way to share experiences with your followers. If used correctly, it can be a great tool to work into your overall marketing strategy and social media outreach. Facebook Live has the ability to expand your outreach and give more exposure for your business. With few people using this feature, you are not having to compete with as many users for exposure. Now is a good time to take advantage of Facebook Live and become familiar with it before it becomes over populated.