Social live streaming has skyrocketed in the last few months with the launch of Facebook Live. It’s the new kid on the block rivalling YouTube, Snapchat and Twitter’s Periscope, and it’s quickly proving to be a powerful platform for social marketers.
From exploding watermelons to mums in Chewbacca masks, the potential to win a whopping huge number of viewers, comments and shares in a short amount of time is staggering!
And Facebook users now get to hang out live with celebrities. We’ve also seen journalists broadcast from location and star athletes say hi from their locker rooms.
While Facebook isn’t yet sharing in-depth analytics other than video views and other more basic metrics, it has recently reported that people comment more than 10 times more on Facebook Live videos than on regular videos. The platform also generates 8 billion videos a day to more than 1.5 billion users worldwide.
With this in mind, it’s TIME to start carving out a strategy for Facebook Live!
You’re probably thinking what if something goes wrong? Yes live video can be daunting. But while you’re taking a wait-and-see approach, a ton of brands have begun playing with the Live offering and are experiencing more engagement and interaction with Facebook users than ever before.
To inspire you, here’s some examples of what brands have been doing so far:
- Dunkin’ Donuts was one of the first brands to use the Facebook Live platform with their first session in February 2016. They shot a live tour of the Dunkin’ Donuts test kitchen giving viewers a behind the scenes look into what is truly unique to them. The culinary team then constructed heart shaped donuts. It was personal, exciting, and within 13 minutes they had 21,000 viewers.
- Buzzfeed is among a group of Facebook Live paid media partners that are doing wonderful and wacky things with the platform. It was the Buzzfeed team who live streamed the exploding watermelons, stretching rubber bands over the watermelons until they eventually burst. It was so weirdly engaging that people tuned into the video for a whole 40 minutes. It also attracted more than 10 million views.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t0KxlWP4z1s
- Live video streaming is becoming the new TV, and popular cosmetics brand Benefit is demonstrating just that with its mini Facebook Live video series, ‘Tipsy tricks with Benefit’. Every Thursday, in TV talk show style, the weekly live stream features a host and a guest choosing a beauty topic and dishing out advice while sipping wine and fielding viewer questions live. The first stream had 42,000 live viewers and on average there are 2,000 people watching them at any given time. ‘Tipsy Tricks’ is so very clever because it brings to life Benefit’s quirky feel-good personality while showcasing its product range. It also re-affirms them as an expert in the field.
- Between 13-17 June, the UK edition of Italian magazine Grazia teamed up with Facebook to create its first ever community issue, live from Facebook’s London HQ. In an industry first, the event saw fans help shape and edit the issue in real time over a five-day period, via the Grazia Facebook page. Readers were allowed to participate in their editorial meeting and cover shoot, using the hashtag #Graziaxfb to submit their ideas. They were also able to attend exclusive events and interact with celebrity guests. The Grazia videos generated an overall 600,000 views and enormously strengthened the magazine’s relationship with its readers.
http://lifestyle.one/grazia/news-real-life/in-the-news/grazia-live-facebook-issue/
Ready to get started with Facebook Live? For tips and tricks on how to master the platform give us a buzz on (02) 9211 1954.
