Have you tried using Facebook Live Video to communicate with your audience?
If not – you might like to give it a go, because right now it’s a pretty hot medium that I’m seeing quite a few bloggers use with great benefits.
This week I want to explore Facebook Live in a little more depth than I’ve done before. Here’s what to expect.
- Today (below) I’m going to share 10 benefits of giving Facebook Live Videos a go.
- Tomorrow I will share 12 types of Facebook Live Videos that You Could Create.
- Wednesday I will share 25 tips on how to use Facebook Live Video most effectively.
To get the first part simply read on. To make sure you catch all the following posts, please subscribe to ProBloggerPLUS from the following button and we’ll shoot you an email with links so you don’t miss out.
10 Reasons You Should Give Facebook Live Video a Go
There are lots of reasons to use Facebook Live. Here are the main ones that come to mind out of my own experience.
1. It helps your readers to get to know you better
One of the biggest benefits of using live video as part of my social media strategy is that I feel like it allows my blog readers to get to know me in a deeper way and helps them to understand who I really am.
I received this email last Friday night after doing an ‘Ask me Anything’ live video where I sat on the couch for an hour and a half taking questions:
“Thanks for your Q&A session today and for answering my questions. I’ve been reading ProBlogger for 5 years but tonight for the first time realised a few things. Firstly, you’re an Australian! I’m not sure how I missed this! Secondly, you don’t only know about blogging but you’re funny and kind. I saw a whole new side of you in that video. I hope you do more of them.”
I’ve had this kind of feedback quite a bit – live video gives people a glimpse at who you really are and can really humanise a brand.
2. It can lead to higher Engagement
Facebook Live is by nature an engaging type medium if you allow it to be. One of the things I’ve noticed about it is that the people who interact live with me often start appearing in the comments section of other Facebook posts, blog posts and on Twitter in the days after a live interaction.
I guess there’s something about having had a conversation with someone that triggers an ongoing engagement.
3. It can lead to leads and sales
I’ve not really done too much selling in my Facebook Lives to this point, but despite this I know that even passing mentions of products that I sell has generated sales.
I’ve also used it a couple of times to promote my ProBloggerPLUS newsletter and have seen spikes in new subscribers as a result.
4. It will help you generate ideas for future content
Every time I open up for Q&A on a Facebook Live video I get asked questions that stimulate all kinds of content ideas.
For example – this recent post on updating your blog archives came about because of a question I was asked on FB Live. Similarly many of my recent podcasts have started as questions from or hearing the needs of viewers of videos.
I guess this is partly the flip side to point #1 above – Facebook Live allows you to get to know your readers and their needs a lot better too.
Of course the more you know about your readers the better position you’re in to create great content for them.
5. You’ll create content you could repurpose
If you read tomorrow’s post with tips on how to use FB Live, you’ll see that the ideas I give you below on how to do a successful Facebook Live video were previously presented as a Facebook Live video (very meta I know).
You’ll also see the actual video replay of that Facebook Live that I’ll embed into that post.
This is gold – being able to create a piece of content that not only serves those joining live, not only those who watch the replay on Facebook but being able to embed it onto your blog and even to download the video to then put onto Youtube opens up all kinds of possibilities.
6. Facebook is prioritising and promoting live video right now
Last Friday night I did a live video to my ProBlogger Facebook Page. My page has around 80,000 people following it, and a typical update on the page gets between 2,000 to 10,000 reach.
The live video that I did last Friday night had 147,000+ reach. The Friday night before I had 133,000 reach.
This is not unusual. I’ve spoken to Facebook page owners who have both bigger followings than me and smaller followings than me and they’re reporting reach on their live videos that goes beyond what they normally get for a post and in some cases significantly bigger than their total page followers.
This shows how much Facebook is promoting FB Live videos right now into news feeds. When you go live that chances are that anyone on Facebook at that moment will see it at the top of their newsfeed.
Add to this that even in the last week Facebook have made live video even more findable with their new Live Maps that promotes Live videos happening around the world. This makes our live videos even more findable by people beyond those who like our Facebook pages which is one of the advantages that Periscope used to hold over Facebook.
Facebook are also investing heavily into this space so you can bet that they’ll continue to work to make sure these videos are seen – particularly in the short term. So now is a very good time to jump on.
7. This could have flow on impact with the rest of your reach
Facebook page owners will know that when they get good engagement on one particular Facebook update that this can help your next updates to get better reach. This is one of many factors in Facebook’s algorithm and so there could be some flow on impacts from using FB live in helping the rest of your updates get seen a little more.
Note: It is worth saying though that I’m seeing mixed evidence of this and it’s only a bit of a guess at this point.
8. It’s new so its standing out
When I do a Facebook live video on the ProBlogger Facebook page I find many of my followers are familiar with the idea of live video. But when I do one on my Digital Photography School Facebook page I’m getting a lot more people who have a WOW! reaction.
Many people comment that they’ve not seen a FB Live before and as a result I think that in many niches these would really cut through, stand out and get curiosity engagements from those who are following your pages.
This won’t last but at least in the short term if you have a Facebook page with an audience who perhaps is not bloggers/tech savvy early adopters – you might find FB Live gets some good cut through and you might be seen as something of an innovator in your niche for using it.
9. Helps you to test new ideas and get immediate feedback
I remember one of the things I loved about Twitter in the early days of starting to use that was that it enabled me to test ideas and get quick feedback from my readers. I would test blog post ideas, ask readers for feedback/quotes for articles, test product ideas and a lot more.
Twitter is good for this – but live video takes it to a whole new level.
If you can get a few people live on a video and feeling comfortable to interact with you then FB live puts you into a close to real time (there is a small lag) conversation with readers.
You’ll not only get ideas like I mentioned above but you can test new ideas with it.
10. Private Live Videos – in a Group
Many bloggers own and operate Facebook Groups and/or Events. Facebook Live video can now be broadcast into Groups and Event pages.
I’m really excited by this possibility as it means you can do private videos to closed groups – creating content and conversations that are a bit more intimate and exclusive.
I’ve seen a number of bloggers doing this already. One is doing daily tips every morning with his group and getting an amazing response. Another is running a mastermind type experience in a group and members are given opportunity to jump into the Live hottest and talk about what they’ve learned during the week. Another is running week long challenges in a group and delivering some of those challenges via live video.
The possibilities are endless!
Have you tried Facebook Live Video yet? If so – what do you see as the main benefits? I’d love to get your opinion in comments below.
Subscribe to Get The Rest of This Series on How to Use Facebook Live Video
Don’t forget that in the coming days I’m going to share a lot more information on using Facebook Live.
Tomorrow I’ll share 12 different types of Facebook Live videos (including quite a few examples from my own use of them and others) and the following day I’ll share with you 25 practical tips on how to create the best Facebook Live Videos you possibly can.
Subscribe to ProBloggerPLUS with the button below and you’ll get notified of these future posts as well as all other new tips, tutorials and updates each week from ProBlogger (it’s completely free).
