5 Tips for Going Live
The Marketing TEA content marketing model is heavily influenced by video. Video is one of the most effective content formats available that allows you to make a strong, immediate connection between your brand and your audience. Social media success lies in your ability to create informative and inspiring content that is concise and holds viewers attention while also leaving them wanting more.
Going one step further, Live videos are a great way to ensure an enhanced relationship with your customers. Facebook is a popular place for Live streaming, but you can go Live on many other platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. When you Live stream, you are building trust and authenticity and showing your community you are there for them. It also allows for easy communication back and forth in real time. Facebook Live videos can experience up to three times the engagement of organic and un-boosted videos shared on social media, so it’s a great area to break into!
Going Live can be nerve-racking and overwhelming at first, but once you start, you’ll realize it’s not as hard as you thought it would be. Here are 5 tips to help make your first Live experience a great one!
Timing is incredibly important if you actually want to see good results. Make sure you think about who your target audience is and when they are most likely going to be on the app. You can Google popular times for people on the app or better yet, take a dive into your analytics to see exactly when YOUR audience is most active. There is no sense in going Live if there is no one there to listen!
You will want to make sure you have carved out some time into your calendar to allow for longer broadcast periods. Facebook prioritizes longer videos because it inspires people to continue watching, which results in an increase of people on their app. The longer you are Live, the more people you are bound to reach.
Before you start, decide if you want your video to be horizontal or vertical. There are a few things that will determine this decision. If you are wanting to save this video afterwards and upload it to a different platform, like YouTube for example, you would want to record horizontally. However, if you wanted to put it onto IGTV afterwards then vertically would be your choice. Another driving force is thinking about what you want to be in the shot. If you are showing off a product, a vertical shot might not let your viewers see as much into your background, whereas a horizontal shot would. Formatting may not always be your first thought, but perhaps it should be!
Live videos are more like an event than a blog post or other piece of content that you may put out, so it’s important to promote when you are going Live before you actually do! This will ensure that more people will be waiting to watch and engage with you; as well as help build anticipation and excitement around whatever you are going to be talking about. You should also cross promote between your different platforms in order to get the biggest turn out.
Last and probably most importantly, engage with your audience. That is the whole point around Live streaming. You want to build trust between you and your audience. Actively responding and commenting to people during your Live broadcast can play an important role in fostering that connection.
While these are some important things to consider before going Live, there are many more to think about too. At Marketing TEA, video and other forms of content marketing are our middle name. So, if you want to know more about how we make video so easy, drop us a line!