What happens when you gather 3,000 social media marketers for three days of sessions and networking? You get a front-row seat to the latest tools, tips, and trends for social media marketing. I recently attended Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing World conference in San Diego, and the topic that dominated the conference this year was video. Here are the best video tips I learned from the top social media marketing influencers:  

Move livestream viewers to your email list

Kim Garst, CEO and Co-Founder of Boom! Social, said that live video provides an opportunity to connect with your viewers, customers, and prospects in a real way. Once you’ve established how to use livestreaming in your marketing, the next step is to drive them to your email list. The real relationship and business growth come from your email list. You can drive viewers to your list by offering them something free like talking points from your live video, checklists, worksheets, or a discount for signing up. Share your signup link in the description and comments of your livestream and call attention to it during your broadcast. Create an autoresponder email that sends new subscribers the free content when they opt in.

Tip: Is your business new to email marketing? Try email marketing free for 60-days!  

Try different tools

Facebook marketing expert Mari Smith said that we can’t do business as usual on Facebook. You need to create content that Facebook and your followers prefer. Right now that content is recorded and live video. Mari shared a list of free or low-cost tools that small businesses can use to make their recorded and live videos look professional and stand out in the Facebook news feed:

• Animoto – includes commercially licensed music, storyboards, voice-over features, text overlays, collages and layouts, and a square video for social networks like Instagram.
• Adobe Express Video – offers visual themes, text overlays, free music, and a mobile app to create videos on the go.
• Animatron Wave – choose from 2.5 million royalty-free video clips, photos, and audio clips; add your logo or text overlays; and resize your video for Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.
• Be Live – add text in the lower third of the screen, show audience questions, and host a live interview with a remote guest through Facebook Live
• Flipagram – create video and photo slideshows and add free popular music.
• Flixel – add motion to photographs and create timelapse videos.
• Lumyer – this app allows you to turn still images into animations by adding effects and animations
• OBS Studio – free and open source software to stream from your laptop and show slides or software demos on your desktop
• PicPlayPost – combine photos and video into a collage that you can share on social media.
• Ripl – create video by using a design catalog of more than 150 designs, adding your logo, adding royalty free music, and choosing from hundreds of fonts for text overlays.

 

Build anticipation for your Facebook Live broadcasts

To be successful with Facebook Live, you need to build an audience. Social media strategist Amy Porterfield shared a plan for increasing your viewership.

• Create a promotion calendar of at least 10 days before your broadcast
• Choose your Facebook Live topic
• Create a lead magnet, like a cheat sheet, checklist, plan, or resource guide that viewers can receive after they opt in to your email list
• Create an autoresponder series to provide viewers with the lead magnet
• Create images and copy to use in your social post to drive people to your livestream
• Post your social promotions based on your calendar
• The day of your broadcast, share your social posts, create an Instagram Story to remind viewers, and send your email list a reminder 10 minutes before the broadcast starts
• Broadcast live on your page for at least 30 minutes. Facebook will share longer, quality videos in the news feed more often
• Share links to your email signup form during the broadcast
• Use Facebook ads to promote your Facebook Live and boost video views

Don’t overthink it

Jennifer Watson, Social Media Strategist for The Weather Channel, said sometimes simple videos can be effective if they share something your audience is interested in. The Weather Channel broadcast a livestream of Cedar Key, Florida, as Hurricane Hermine approached. They had planned to broadcast for 15 minutes but extended it to two hours as 2.9 million people tuned in to watch. A livestream of Manhattanhenge in New York City — which occurs in July when the sun is aligned with the east-west streets of Manhattan, generated half a million video views. Jennifer said that you can generate more live viewers by using Facebook Live’s prescheduling feature — users who RSVP will get a reminder. Or create a screenshot that shows users how to opt-in through Facebook to receive live video notifications by going to Settings> Notifications> On Facebook > Edit > Live Videos.

Use the right equipment and tools to create a quality livestream

Luria Petrucci, of Live Streaming Pros, said that executing a studio quality livestream helps to put your brand’s best foot forward and makes you look like an instant authority. There are four levels of live video:

• Level 1 is using your phone and creating a “selfie stream.”
• Level 2 is using your phone plus gear like a microphone.
• Level 3 is livestreaming from a computer and using software like Wirecast that allows an overlay with your logo on the screen and titles as well as side by side interviews.
• Level 4 is a TV-quality livestream that uses a studio, Wirecast, graphics that include your branding on the lower third of the screen, professional lighting, and professional audio.

If you want to try livestreaming, use these guidelines to work your way up. When you put in the time and effort and use the right equipment and tools, you can create a professional Facebook Live broadcast.

Use these tips to try video for your business!

If you haven’t been using Facebook Live or recorded video, now is a good time to add it to your marketing plan. People spend 3 times more time viewing a Facebook Live video than content that’s no longer live. And video, in general, has 4 times the engagement of static content. These tools and tips should give you a good place to start.

Looking for a place to start? Use these 10 Lessons We Learned From Our First Facebook Live.

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