Last week, musician Ben Sollee told me that Facebook Live video was now the best way to assure that his Facebook messages were seen by fans. Yesterday, at it’s F8 gathering, CEO Mark Zuckerberg made it clear that live video was a top priority. Thankfully, Bobby Owsinski has created a quick guide to Facebook Live for musicians.
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By Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0
Facebook Live is about to the “next big thing” on the platform, and it seems like it will be a boon for artists and bands wanting to engage with their fans on the service.
Since it’s so new, you may not be sure of exactly what Live is and what it will do. Here are some facts about the service from the FB Live page.
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What is Facebook Live? Live lets people, public figures and Pages share live video with their followers and friends on Facebook.
- Live is available to all Pages and profiles on Facebook for iOS, Android, and Facebook Mentions. There will be a red icon at the top left-hand corner of the video indicating that it is a live video. The word “Live” is written next to the icon, along with the number of current viewers.
- The video will be published to the Page or profile so that fans and friends who missed it can watch at a later time. The broadcaster can remove the video post at any time, just like any other post.
- Videos will appear in News Feed and on the broadcaster’s Page or profile while they are live. Once a broadcast has ended, live videos are eligible to show up everywhere that other videos appear.
- Live videos are more likely to appear higher in News Feed when those videos are actually live, compared to after they are no longer live.
- You can apply control and customization settings to the video on the broadcast after it has ended if you’re a Page.
- Live broadcasts can last up to 90 minutes.
- People can discover live videos right in News Feed. To get notified when certain a broadcaster goes live, tap the “Live Subscribe” button on the top of a live video to get notified when that person or Page goes live again. People who frequently engage with or have recently interacted with a person or Page going Live may receive a notification.
- You need a strong signal before going live. WiFi tends to work best, but if you can’t find a nearby network, you’ll want a 4G connection. To check your internet speed ahead of time, download the Speedtest app from theApp Store or Google Play.
Just like natively uploaded videos, Live videos will rank higher in news feeds and more of your followers will see it, so it’s a very useful tool for engagement.