How to Use Facebook Live: A Step by Step Guide – 13 Steps

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From its unveiling in 2016, Facebook Live has witnessed spectacular growth with millions currently using the service. It allows users to share live videos with followers or group members. It is fun and easy to use, and it actualizes up to 3 times the engagement of traditional record-and-post videos. For these reasons, it is a particularly potent tool for marketers and those seeking to build thriving brands. Here are 13 steps to help you get up and running with Facebook Live.

1. Getting started

On your smartphone, download the Facebook app from the relevant app store. Log into your account on the app and on your news feed you will see an icon with a red video camera and the word “live” beside it. Select the icon.

For an alternative method of going live, tap on “what’s on your mind.” A menu with a text box and several options below it will surface. Choose the second option below “photo/Video” which is “live video.”

2. Give the requisite permissions

For your protection, every app must request authorization to use your microphone or camera. Once you tap on “live video,” you will be prompted to allow the Facebook app to access both these resources. Choose okay. You will only have to do this the first time.

3. Determine your privacy setting

Choose your privacy setting based on the goal driving your live post. If you want to further your brand, opt for the “public” option; otherwise, limit the post to followers and friends.

You can also limit viewership to yourself only by setting privacy to “only me.” It is a handy option for conducting test drives if you have never used Facebook live before. You can get the setting by tapping on “more” and navigating to the very bottom.

4. Develop a captivating caption

To let your audience know what the video is all about, generate a fancy caption that will rouse interest to drive views. The description you fashion will show at the top of the video, and it will essentially introduce the video. Make it thoughtful, exciting and attention grabbing.

5. Personalize your video

Facebook Live offers various personalization features that you should utilize to enrich the video stream. First, tag a few friends who will fancy the live feed and kick start engagement; ideally, tag other persons appearing in the feed.

Add a location to aid discoverability and include what you are doing in the video depending on your post strategy. These minor touches, though seemingly insignificant, will nudge more people to tune in.

6. Camera setup

Next, ensure that the camera is capturing precisely what you want it to. Confirm camera orientation and settings by leveraging the setup background screen which shows what the camera sees.

If you want to use the selfie camera instead, tap on the icon on the top right with two looped arrows pointing at each other. For more options, such as changing video brightness, click on the ellipsis icon at the bottom of the screen.

7. Beautify your video

At the top right side of the screen beside the icon with two arrows depicted circularly, you will see a wand button. Click on it to get the options of adding filters, lenses, wording or drawings to your live feed.

Adopt an exploratory mindset and try out several of the alternatives to see how they work out. You can roll back the changes you do not like provided you have not yet clicked on the “go live” button.

8. Go live

Tap on go live, and Facebook will effect a 3-second countdown after which your video will go live. Once live, it will show up on your newsfeed as well as other’s newsfeeds as per your privacy settings. At this point, there is not much you can do to alter video specifics.

9. Broadcast time

Facebook Live supports up to 90-minute long streams. The longer the live stream, the higher the likelihood that more people will tune in. Keep in mind that long feeds also pose the risk of performance dips and plateaus through monotony.

10. Manage engagement

Once the video gains some momentum, engage with followers and encourage interaction through call-to-actions to bump up rankings. Since you will be focusing on the task at hand, get an extra pair of hands to reply to the comments. Otherwise, you can deal with them later.

11. Block viewers

If you wish, you can block haters who comment negatively on your live stream by tapping on their profile pictures on the comment section and selecting the “block” option. You can reverse the blocking anytime by following the same procedure and choosing “unblock” instead.

12. Conclude the broadcast

When broadcasting, the stream’s duration will show on the top left side of the screen together with the size of your audience. When you have broadcasted enough, tap on “finish” to end the live transmission. The video will remain on your timeline.

13. Upload the video

You can upload the video to give others a chance to watch it when they log into the social site. Once posted, you get normal status update options such as delete, change privacy settings, edit the description, etc. Do not forget to download the video to obtain a personal copy of the broadcast.

In conclusion, remember to analyze the performance of your live streams through views, likes, and comments. You can also obtain other analytic metrics, but that is a story for another day.