You may have seen our new Facebook Live broadcasts on the Ranch House Designs Facebook page. And you may be wondering…
“What is Facebook Live?”
“How do I use it?”
“Why would I want to use it?”
At RHD we try to stay on the cutting edge of all the latest social media trends and today we are going to divulge why Facebook Live is a part of our Facebook strategy, and how you can leverage it to be a part of yours!
What is facebook live?
Facebook Live is a brand new Facebook feature that allows you to live stream video from your iPhone to your Facebook followers. Previously only available to celebrities, and then only verified Facebook Fan pages (meaning you have a fancy blue checkmark!), Facebook recently made it available to everyone’s personal page and all Facebook Fan Pages. So if you have a Facebook page for your business, farm or ranch, then you should be able to live stream from your page. (If you can’t seem to figure it out or find the feature, try logging in and out of the Pages app on your phone).
So how do I use it?
Well on your personal page, how ever you want! I’ve seen my own Facebook friends use it to live stream a child’s choir concert or 4-H speech (that way grandma can watch back at home!). I bet in the future, we’ll see people live broadcast pregnancy announcements and maybe even engagements. This feature can be used to share any moment of your life with Facebook friends LIVE, so they get to share the experience in the same moment you are.
Want a step by step instructions on how to go live? Check out this article from Social Media Examiner.
Why would i want to use this for my ranch or business page?
Have you been seeing a decline in organic reach on your Facebook Page? That’s a rhetorical question. We KNOW you have. That nasty Facebook algorithm only lets your Facebook followers see 1-2% of the content you post. That means if you have a page with 500 likes Facebook is probably only going to show your content organically to about 5 people. Yes you read that right, just 5. However, Facebook Live broad casts are the ONE exception to this rule. When Facebook released the Facebook Live feature, they updated the algorithm to give preference to posts of people and pages that are live broadcasting. That means that while you are live, your content has a much better chance of being placed higher in the newsfeed. It’s like you “boosted” your post, except you didn’t have to pay anything for it! How great is that?
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Also, research has shown that video does much better than any other type of Facebook post and LIVE video content performs the best. For example, if you produce a video to share on Facebook people are going to spend an average of 30 seconds watching that video. Right now, people are watching LIVE videos an average of 3 minutes or more! You get their attention for a much longer period of time!
So how can this be used to promote my ag business?
The opportunities are unlimited! It could be used to advocate for agriculture, by sharing your experience doing morning chores or the birth of a baby calf. (Can someone please do this? I want to see a live baby calf born on the internet!). Monsanto recently did their first live broadcast from the inside of a tractor, talking to their followers about the seed that the farmer was planting. Ranches can share live videos of cattle for sale or how their family is prepping for the annual production sale. For a business, Facebook Live allows you to give followers a “behind the scenes” look at your business or your product. The uses are truly limitless.
Wait… how is this different than periscope?
Great question! Periscope is another social media platform that revolutionized live video. Launched just about a year ago, Periscope has been used to do live broadcasts all over the world. The catch? The videos delete after a certain period of time and while you can save them, if your followers don’t watch them within the 24 hour time frame, they miss your content.
Facebook Live videos stay on your Facebook page and followers can go back and watch them any time they want! Also, once the video has ended, you can add a boost to your video to get even MORE views. Since Periscope is a completely different platform you or your business may not have a large following on the app. For us at RHD, we’ve spent years cultivating and growing our Facebook audience so it just makes sense to do live broadcasts where the majority of our followers exist and like to hang out!
Have questions about Facebook Live? Ask us in the comments!
This article only touched the surface of Facebook Live, why to use it and ideas for implementation for your business. If you want to learn more about Facebook Live, RHD’s social media strategy and more, we invite you to attend The Gathering: Livestock World Conference. Late registration is still open!