on October 17 | in Featured | by SocialDiva

By Peg Samuel, Social Diva Media

Back in the day, the buzz and excitement that was live television translated to large viewership and highly engaged audiences. In today’s multimedia landscape, Facebook Live can be considered the new live television network with Facebook Watch being a new distribution source. Think about the billions of people logging into Facebook daily – this is a real opportunity to get noticed past their own digital followings.

The Facebook Live format creates immense value and opportunity for storytelling. Real-time broadcasts are carving new ground in the way we communicate, document and engage with our audiences. Facebook Watch is Facebook’s new “Netflix’ disruptor a channeled distribution platform for Facebook Live on a regular programming basis as well as scripted series in episode format.

Facebook Live has the following benefits:

1.     Algorithm: Facebook functions on algorithms. Based on probabilities, there is an elaborate back-end data crunch that ranks posts to determine how many people (including followers) might potentially see any given post. According to the algorithm, the more people that interact with a post the more people will see it. Facebook weights video content and live video content heavier so more people will see these types of content than any other. Insider Tip: The latency of viewers can be up to 5x – 10x tune in!

2.     Authentic content: One of the main reasons the algorithm favors the Facebook Live format is that it is authentic content that is shared instantly. It has the advantage of real-time two-way conversation, which is the heartbeat of social media.

3.     Video streaming: Video streaming is one of the biggest disruptors in the media landscape today. Facebook Watch is the new distribution channel and broadcasting instantaneously within its own “network” of billions of people.

4.     Connecting with fans & audience: It’s a one to many connection, seamlessly taking out the publication as a middleman and giving control of how the message is shared. This transparency and authenticity are what audiences crave and you never know – could cause a broadcast to go viral!

5.     Testing concepts, ideas or Q&A:  the Facebook Live format presents an instant two-way conversation that can be a great place to create conversation, test out new ideas, answer fan questions, or promote the latest business offerings.

I’ve seen major results for our customers in people viewing Facebook Live. I’ve said many times Facebook is pushing this product. Take advantage!

The best content on social media is authentic content but remember to be conscious of how you are providing value to your followers.

A great example of this is The New York Times: Times Talks, about once to twice a week. The New York Times hosts a studio event with noteworthy people interview style with a journalist and a guest or panel, similar to a Jimmy Fallon couch interview. Tickets are sold to an in-studio audience and this talk is broadcast out via Facebook Live to New York Times 14 million followers. The broadcast generally takes this format: They journalist and guest have a discussion, they take questions from the studio audience and then they take questions from Facebook Live.

Final Takeaways

1.     Think about Facebook Live as a publishing platform
2.     Host regular Facebook Lives to build audience and be familiar with the format
3.     Always engage with followers asking Q&A even if it’s after the fact. It is social media.

Want to hear me speak on this topic? Join me at the Social Fresh Conference, December 8th & 9th in Orlando, Florida 10% off with my the code speaker10

Peg Samuel (@socialdiva) Founder of Social Diva Media, Adj. Professor at NYU, Author of Facebook Marketing Like I’m 5. 

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