By now, you’ve heard a lot of buzz around live video. Live video has taken the marketing world by storm in the last 12 months. First, there was Periscope, then Facebook Live, now Instagram Live with rumors of Snapchat Live coming next! Why go live? Just on Facebook alone, people spend 3x longer watching video which is live compared to video which is not live!
So, with so many options, and with so many people creating live video – how do you find your place? And, how can you integrate your live video into your overall strategy? Here are a few steps to consider.
Step 1: Think about your overall content strategy. First, I think it’s important to take a step back and think about your overall content strategy. As we outlined in this post, it’s important to think about your overall 12-month content strategy. What types of ‘pillar’ content will you be creating in 2017 that will help to tell the story of your brand and what it feels like to work with you?
Pillar content may include things like: blog posts, recorded video, live video, podcast, eBooks or printed books.
Step 2: Evaluate how live video will function in your business. Once you have your pillar content strategy in place – I’d recommend you think about how live video will function for you in your business.
A few questions to ask yourself: “Will live video be a place for you to…”:
- Answer client questions?
- Drive traffic back to your website?
- Drive traffic to your other social media channels?
- Build your email list?
- Showcase the culture of your brand?
- Showcase a behind-the-scenes look into your company?
- Share your expertise?
- Entertain people?
- All of the above?
- Some of the above?
Not sure? That’s ok! But, this is an important starting point – to think about your reason behind using live video. I recommend to start, picking one or two reasons behind why you do your live video and then you can always expand from there. By picking something – for example, a weekly Q/A live video show, it is going to do two things: 1. It will bring more people to your live broadcast because you are being consistent with format and timing and 2. You will get better and better doing live video because you are consistently creating the same type of content.
Step 3: Patience is key when it comes to success with live video. For us, live video is a great way to drive traffic to our website, to extend the life of our pillar content (our blog content), and it’s a great way to connect with our audience. For us, very little “selling” goes into our live video; after creating live video content for more than a year – I can tell you that the business I have received from live video has been because I was patient and I consistently created helpful meaningful content over the course of time.
In addition – I made time to invest in the live video community by supporting other live streamers by sharing and supporting their broadcasts and in turn strengthening our relationship.
Step 4: Decide which platforms to create live video on. There are many options and many pros and cons. I love Periscope because it is owned by Twitter and it has an incredible strong community. Periscope is my first live streaming love! If you enjoy Twitter more than Facebook, than Periscope may be a great option for you. Also, if you are new to your business or looking to expand your sphere than Periscope is also a great option because it will connect you with people literally all over the world. Facebook Live is a great platform because you can broadcast on your personal profile, business page, group or event.
If you have a strong presence on Facebook, then Facebook Live may be the way for you to go! We’ve had a lot of success broadcasting on our business page and then boosting that post, and then creating ads based on the audiences who watched our live broadcasts. We also love live video in our private Facebook groups – it’s a great way to bring value to our community.
Lastly – Instagram Live just launched and Snapchat Live is on it’s heels. If you already have strong presences on either platform – either one of these may be great options for you to investigate. At the end of the day – there is no “right” answer. Try all the live video platforms and see which ones you like or don’t like. You’ll find your spot! And as I always say – you don’t have to be everywhere. You don’t have to be on every live video platform – pick one and go for it!
Step 5: Add it to your calendar. Just like any content you are going to create – you need to have it be on your calendar to make it happen. Consistency breeds consistency so pick a consistent day and time and try to stick to that week in and week out.
Now that you’ve created your strategy, here are 10 bonus tips for making the most out of each live broadcast:
- Promote your live broadcast in advance on your other social media channels the day of and the day before and promote your recording the day after on your other social media channels.
- For Facebook Live, consider boosting the recording to receive more comments and reach.
- Create additional Facebook ads using your Video audience as your audience. You can create a custom audience using Facebook’s Ad Manager to target just people who have watched your live broadcasts and other videos.
- Promote your live broadcasts and/or recordings to your email database. We like to include these links in our weekly email newsletter.
- In Facebook Live, edit your video! After you are finished recording, you can go back and edit the thumbnail (YAH!) as well as the title and add tags.
- Respond to all comments live and within the 24-48 hours after your recording is finished. Make sure to go back to your live broadcast and answer as many questions as you can.
- Reach out to a few people one-to-one who were particularly engaging with you on your broadcast and thank them.
- Remember, as of this publish date – Instagram Live is truly live and in the moment – there is no recording available so think about that when you are planning your live video strategy.
- Consider using unique links or unique calls to action within your live broadcast to track the effectiveness of just that platform.
- Bring others into your live video to create a fun two-way conversation. OBS, Wirecast and BeLive are just a few options that will allow you to do this.
Are you ready to start? If you are like me, you may be a little nervous and start to think, “Who is going to watch this?” or “I hate how I sound!” I can tell you personally, that the more you create live video – the better you will get. It’s like a muscle! I encourage you as you work on your live video plan to not let the planning, hold you up. Start now. Don’t suffer from analysis paralysis – the time is now!
Looking for a little inspiration? Download our free Facebook Live cheat-sheet for real estate with 30 ideas of what to broadcast about! I’d love your feedback on this post and would love to hear how you are using live video in your business. Leave me a comment below or join our Social Media Forum Facebook Group!
