Live streaming videos are becoming the top content format on social media. It delivers a level of immediacy and intimacy that you just can’t get with other social media content formats.
But how do you effectively use live streaming videos on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn or other social networks?
In this article, I will walk through some of the ways in which you can “go live,” and share the social media best practices that live-streaming experts use.
The Benefits of Using Live Videos on Social Media
Many of you may wonder if live videos are worth the effort and (possibly) embarrassment of appearing in front of a camera.
Perhaps you’re shy. Or an introvert (like me).
Maybe you’re worried about getting the right equipment for going live.
Guess what? With live streaming becoming so prevalent these days, nobody gives a hoot about your “performance” live-streaming. Its ok to be awkward or to stumble a little—doing so could endear yourself to others. (Of course, you shouldn’t be doing that for entire live video session.)
Here are some other reasons why you should consider going live on social media:
- All you need is a camera phone and a microphone. Most earpieces come with them, and they provide reasonable quality.
- Live videos get instant notifications on the newsfeed of your followers
- Studies have shown that videos are more engaging than other forms of content
- Going live provides you with an instant long-form video content that you can repurpose later
- Makes your company/ brand look more transparent, authentic and trustworthy
- Allows you to engage and interact with your community
- Provides an instant feedback channel as you can poll your audience
- Live videos are easy to consume
Sold on why you should start doing live streaming videos on social media? Great!
Now let’s look at what kind of live shows you can do on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, or YouTube.
Top Content Ideas for Going Live
Curious to know what sort of content formats work well on live-streaming videos on social media? Here are 12 live-streaming content formats to consider.
#1 Regular Educational Show
This is useful for a wide range of industries with virtually limitless possibilities.
Depending on your business, you can…
- Do a cooking show, demonstrating how you can cook a recipe using ingredients from your shop
- Explain the steps needed to install their new television set
- Highlight the best ways to tell if a diamond is real (or fake)
- Illustrate the various content types that you can use on live-streaming videos (hah!)
- Show how you should groom your cat, or bathe your baby
- Demonstrate what it takes to paint on a leather product
A key thing here is to be regular and establish a cadence. I’d say a weekly frequency works best, although this may be too much for some.
Check out these regular live videos from my favourite digital marketing influencer, Social Media Examiner below:
#2 Host a Question & Answer (Q&A) Session
If you have already built an audience on social media, consider doing a live Q&A session.
This could where you address the most commonly asked questions that your fans may have.
A good way to prep for this is to first ask your fans what questions they may have about your specific industry, brand or topic. You can use a question and answer sticker for this on Instagram, conduct a poll on LinkedIn, or tap onto Facebook Groups (related to your business) to source for their questions.
Or you can message and email your customer list to seek their inputs. These may sometimes yield better outcomes and responses.
Here’s a great example from Ben Heath on the almighty Facebook Ads Mastermind Group:
#3 Go Behind-The-Scenes
I’ve seen lots of these types of live videos on Instagram and TikTok. Both social channels are ideal for spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment live streams of people doing what they do on a regular basis.
For instance, you can…
- Show how a new product is being made in your factory, workshop, or laboratory
- Interview your staff
- Do a walk-through of your office
- Keep the camera on as you are making something — a bag, a pasta dish, a machined component, anything!
- Bring your audience along as you shop for fresh ingredients at a market
- Or show them how you choose the right raw materials to make your widget
- Show how you get inspiration for content ideas (like these)
- Visit a customer, and show them what you normally do during such visits (of course ask for permission first)
#4 Stream a Physical Event Live
Yes, physical events like conferences, seminars, workshops, sermons, and concerts are ideal for live-streaming.
However, you need to prepare your equipment so that you capture the right camera angles and the sound is recorded properly too.
HOT TIP: Try to interact with both your physical and online event attendees at the same time. Wave to them on camera, ask them to comment or chat live, and feature their inputs on the screen (more of that later).
My guess is that the annual Apple Event is probably one of the most highly watched live product launch event out there. Here’s the March 2022 edition:
#5 Conduct a Featured Guest Interviews
If you integrate your social media channels with a tool like Streamyard or Zoom, you can easily conduct a live guest interview on your show.
Some of these tools allow you to simultaneously cast your guest interviews across multiple social media platforms, like Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram or others.
Here’s an example from my friends at BottomsUp Perspective. You can catch me in action in one of the episodes below.
#6 Do a Product or Service Demonstration
One of the great advantages of a live streaming video is that you can show how your product works.
This is particularly great for more complex electronic products that require step-by-step instructions. Or the assembling of furniture. Or cooking of a recipe.
The great thing about such demonstrations is that you can re-use the video later on and put it up as a permanent piece of content!
#7 Sell and Promote Your Product or Service using Live Streaming
Ah, this is probably one of the most common reasons for companies and individuals to “go live” on Facebook.
Unfortunately, many people do not do this right, resulting in lacklustre results.
Lian Huat Seafood is probably one of the top players in this space. They use Facebook Live to sell seafood items direct from the fishery port, employing a mixture of humour, irresistible deals, product demonstrations and an easy to order system to facilitate live selling.
Notice that the orders are usually done with specific codes, and messaging is used to take orders, secure payments and do delivery. The company also promotes their live streaming events before hand, and taps on their existing community of fans to get the word out.
#8 Hire a Live Streaming Influencer
If you’d like more “firepower” for your live-streams, consider working with a live streaming influencer.
Be prepared to pay, however. I read that they can charge anything from $500 an hour to $2,000 an hour or more!
Of course, working with a live-streaming influencer allows you to tap onto their networks, and gain some temporary fame. What you need to do to leverage on that engagement is to find a way to capture a database (maybe get them to sign up for a mailing list in return for some goodies) so that you can nurture them in your marketing funnel later on.
Yes, there are quite a few of them around these days, and they include this famous Hokkien vulgarity spewing uncle in Singapore called Wang Lei.
If you need a power-packed multi live streaming partner, consider engaging television artistes Michelle Chia, Pornsak and Addy Lee in this company called Mdada.
#9 Talk about a Tool (Digital or Physical)
If you’re in a more technical industry (eg IT software-as-a-service, digital marketing, consulting, or engineering), you may wish to use your live-streaming video to talk about the tools of your trade.
Use the multi-screen switching capability of live-streaming tools like Streamyard or Zoom to show yourself actually demonstrating it “live”.
This is perfect for walk-throughs as viewers can instantly see the UI of the tool being mentioned.
#10 Troubleshoot and Solve Customer Problems
This can be an extension of the Ask Me Anything type of live-stream, where a specific customer challenge is highlighted and solved using a live-stream video.
It can involve showing how you’d do it complete with screen shares, or if you use a mobile phone, you can just bring it along with you, mount it on a tripod and show yourself in action.
These are perfect for “fix something broken” kind of situations, eg changing a flat tire, troubleshooting a gas stove that doesn’t work, or debugging a computer programme!
#11 Tap on Newsjacking or Trendjacking
Use newsjacking to do a quick live video commenting on something that has just emerged in your space. Do this to demonstrate your expertise and thought leadership in the space, or just ride onto something that you know many of your customers and followers may be curious about.
Mari Smith (aka Queen of Facebook) has done this several times on her live videos, whenever a new update or announcement comes from the hallowed halls of the Meta-verse. Here are some of her recent live videos and the topics that they cover.
PS — you should also follow her for great value and spot on advice!
#12 Conduct a Quiz or Game Show (with Prizes)
Finally, consider using your live-streams to run contests or play quiz games with your audience.
This will work particularly well if you’ve got a mini-prize for the winner. The great thing about gamifying your live-stream videos is that you can nudge your audience not only to comment or DM your account with their answers, but also to share your live-stream videos on their social network!
Check out how the famous (or infamous) S Hook Girl Lerine Yeo does it on her Facebook Page.
How to Engage with Your Live Streaming Audience
Finally, do remember to engage with your live-streaming audience by adopting the following best practices:
- Give some time at the start to banter with your audience. See who has joined the session and encourage them to interact and comment on your live-stream.
- Ask them questions — it shouldn’t just be a one-way show — and make it a point to respond to their questions if any.
- With certain apps (eg Streamyard), you can pin their comments on your live-stream video itself. This makes it really cool for participants.
- Inject some humour — or lots of it — and use your live-streams to share more about yourself. For instance, you can walk them around your home, show them your cat/dog/baby, or even film yourself working out and speaking to them.
- In short, be as human and conversational as possible. Imagine that your audience is with you in the same room (even though you can’t really see them), and banter as if you’re chatting with an old friend.
- Do also remember to pin the specifics of your offer (lead magnet, promo code) somewhere on your comments, or show it on your screen itself as a banner or backdrop.
- Sometimes, you can even do live phone calls with your audience and stream this two-way. It gives immense benefits as others can also see the audience that you’ve engaged live with.
(Of course, it helps if you’re a celebrity, but even popular live-streamers do a lot of audience engagement.)
Conclusion
Live-streaming videos on social media isn’t going away soon. If anything, they are likely to take greater prominence in your social media marketing mix in the years ahead.
Have you done any live-streaming videos yet? What are the greatest challenges that you find doing so?
