More Brands Are Loving Facebook Live

More Brands Are Loving Facebook Live

Social media

Facebook Live is picking up steam. According to a recent report from think tank L2, Facebook livestreams are accounting for a larger percentage of brands’ total Facebook video content creation. In August 2016, Facebook Live comprised 1.09 percent of total Facebook videos. That number climbed to 4.4 percent in June 2017.

 

As L2 notes, “[T]he more interesting story here is that brands are adopting a traditional spend strategy for live video, a sign that the relatively new format is maturing.” According to L2,

In June, the promotion rate of live videos surpassed that of overall video posts on Facebook—78% versus 72%—for the first time in the study period of L2’s Video: Live report. Live videos appear to be effective: the live video engagement rate in June was 25% higher than the overall Facebook video engagement rate, according to L2’s study. If live videos continue to generate more engagement than traditional Facebook video posts, brands could find reason to increase their investments in Facebook Live.

Why are brands investing more in Facebook Live? One reason is that Facebook Live gives businesses a way to be more authentic. For brands, one of the promises of social media all along was that businesses and people could have more authentic, organic conversations with each other. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and platforms like them create channels for a more real-time, less perfectly packaged interaction. But many brands have treated social as another channel to promote prepackaged content such as movie trailers, commercials, and music videos. There’s nothing wrong with sharing such content on social so long as it is engaging. But the rising popularity of Facebook Live shows that people want authentic, more organic content, too. For more insight into how to be authentic on Facebook Live, check out my recently published post. Contact us to learn how we can help you build your brand on social.

How Livestreaming Makes a Brand More Authentic

How Livestreaming Makes a Brand More Authentic

Marketing

In an age where establishing a reputable brand means maintaining a tightly controlled online presence, livestreaming offers a more authentic look into a company’s operations.  Livestreaming attracts customers and strengthens customer relationships as well.  A majority of customers say product videos are helpful in the decision-making process, and companies are responding. However, heavily edited photos and videos can sometimes distance a brand from its audience by making content look inauthentic. Livestreaming works best when it is authentic.

A multitude of platforms offer livestreaming, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Periscope (Twitter’s own version).  Given the influence of Facebook and Instagram alone, the potential reach that livestreaming offers is significant.

The Key to Livestreaming Success

Being genuine is the key to livestreaming success. There is a fine balance to be achieved: preparation for a livestream, including rehearsal, is essential. But on the other hand, it is important to shy away from being so over prepared that your livestream looks like a slick sales pitch. No customer will be won with a video of a script-reading salesmen, and so achieving a creative, engaging, and possibly interactive video is paramount.

Livestreamed content offers an exciting range of choices. They include:

  • Behind-the-scenes tours.
  • New product reveals.
  • Company events.

Brands that have used livestreaming video include:

  • Dunkin’ Donuts, who used it to promote its sweets for Valentine’s Day last year. The video included how they use their test kitchen to create new products and showed customers how they created a large donut-shaped wedding cake.

  • EA Sports Madden NFL broadcast live from the NFL draft, which enabled them to connect with their customers watching one of the biggest NFL events of the year.

Perhaps the most outlandish livestreaming stunt (in the works) is Taco Bell’s “Love and Tacos” campaign.  On Valentine’s Day, Taco Bell announced renovations to its flagship Las Vegas location—more specifically, a wedding chapel on the second floor where they will hold ceremonies for those unique couples who opt for the $600 Taco Bell wedding packages.  In celebration of the renovations, Taco Bell also revealed a contest for the most obsessed couples already thinking about getting married.  The couple with the best love story, and most obvious love for Taco Bell won a wedding at the Las Vegas location, all expenses covered.  The wedding will be livestreamed for the world to see in June.

Challenges

Livestreaming presents its share of challenges, such as:

  • Quality. One of the biggest challenges to livestreaming is ensuring a high-quality livestreaming session. As anyone who has ever tuned into a sports game, political debate, or any other popularly shared live event knows, buffering can be an issue. If a video is pausing every other second to load, you can lose viewers quickly and annoy them.
  • Timing. Choosing an effective time to stream is another challenge. The ability to analyze a customer base and when the majority of them are most likely to tune into watch is essential.  However, most platforms have remedied this problem by offering the chance to save livestreams to watch at a different time.  While viewers lose out on that special “in the moment feel” unique to livestreaming, the opportunity to still tune into a unique video is certainly a great feature that can help expand viewership.

An effective livestreamed video allows a company to strengthen the relationship it has with its customers in an authentic way. Livestreaming can offer the feeling of a candid, unscripted look into how well-loved products are made, or give faces to the people who work at a given company.  While some technical issues have yet to be overcome, livestreaming can be a potent way to reach out to a customer base.