In 2016, Facebook ventured into the territory of live video. Facebook Live, allows users and companies to engage their viewers at an even more personal level than just posting videos, images, or text. So with a new medium of communication in one of the world’s biggest social media sites, it only makes sense to take advantage of this and use it to get more followers to join your cause.
Social videos, according to HubSpot, generate 1,200% more shares than posts with images or text. And since your company most probably already has a Facebook account, you can get to creating live videos as soon as possible. But creating a live video is a different beast than from creating content that is static and edited. Here are a couple of ways to make sure that your Facebook live videos are optimized to increase your overall audience views.
1) Promote your live video
Before even starting, make sure that your followers know when and where you will be streaming your video. Whether trough Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook itself, always attach a link to the live video so that people can easily access it and share it with their friends and colleagues.
2) Write a catchy title and description
Entice your viewers with a clear and interesting post on your live video so that more people will check it out. By describing the content, potential followers won’t give a second thought on whether or not to watch you stream your video.
3) Make different kinds of videos
Speaking of videos, it always pays to see just which ones your audience likes the most. Be they Q&As, podcasts, or feature stories, always remember to check just how many people are viewing your live videos so that you can capitalize on the ones with the most views and interactions.
In knowing just what your viewers want, you can further improve your content plan around the audience’s wants and needs.
4) Engage your audience
The best part about Facebook Live is that you can connect with your viewers in real time. Always take the time to greet your audience by name and check the comments section of your videos so that you can respond promptly to comments and inquiries.
Sometimes, your audience will also provide helpful feedback on your streams. Say, for example, that they find your audio quality too low. You can easily find out this problem through the chat and correct it as soon as possible.
This constant back-and-forth is something not usually seen in other forms of media content. Make sure to take advantage of it and let your readers know that they are important factors to the content that you provide. This will make them more inclined to join future live videos that you host.
5) Add a call-to-action at the end of your live videos
Facebook Live has the added feature of letting you add calls-to-action at the end of your videos. Make use of this and link them to appropriate pages that you manage. If your live video is a Q&A about the importance of properly organizing your workplace, then you might want to add a call-to-action that links to an eBook that talks about the advantages of proper workspace management.
In adding a call-to-action after your video ends, you can capitalize on your already interested viewers and show them the steps on how to find more interesting content on your various other pages.
6) Edit your video after the live steam
After your live video ends, it pays to edit out the parts that drag on or are unnecessary. Awkward silences, early video sound checks, these are a few of the things that recurring viewers will not find useful, so it’s best to cut them out entirely.
If you would like to, you can even edit the title and description to better reflect what happened during the live video. More often than not, your live video should be influenced by the interactions you have with your audience. It pays to reflect this in your video and show your viewers the various times where different topics are talked about. This way, both new and recurring viewers will find your videos much easier to watch and navigate through.
7) Check your results
Facebook Live has the added feature of giving you insights on how your videos are doing. Peak views, the number of viewers you have, plus the view duration that kept your readers interested are just some of the metrics that you can find on your Business Manager page.
Use these metrics to see just where you should improve your content. Maybe not too many of your viewers stuck around for a 25-minute long video. One way to get about this is to shorten the length of your next live video or to engage your readers more often.
In keeping your audience within the loop and interacting with you, you will be able to get them hyped for your Facebook Live streams and entice other like-minded viewers to drop in on your video.
