Facebook Live – What You Need to Know to Get Started

If you’ve read the full Facebook Live Authority ebook, then you should now
have a full understanding of what live video is and why it’s such a fantastic
opportunity for marketers. Likewise, you should recognize the key
importance of Facebook and why this is so likely to be the platform that
ends up succeeding.
What’s left to do is to get started and actually get started with your
Facebook Live marketing masterplan! But you won’t be alone as you step
out into this brave new frontier. Read on and you’ll find a ton of great
resources that can help you to find your way around and make a real
splash…

Introductions to Facebook Live
There is no official website for Facebook Live other than facebook.com.
This is because you post your live videos directly from Facebook mobile
itself. But if you want to learn all the basics regarding the platform, you can
find that here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2016/04/26/facebook-liveeverything-
you-need-to-know/#7030be487a82. This is a great guide to
‘everything you need to know’ about Facebook Live from the alwaysreliable
Forbes.com.
For something more official and actionable though, you should also check
out this resource: https://www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/bestpractices/
live. This is a guide to Facebook Live by Facebook and provides
all of the best practices and tips to help you. Some of the top tips include:
• Tell people when you’re going live
• Have a strong connection
• Tell people when you’re going live
• Ask people to follow you
The page also has some great examples of videos created by celebrities
and popular personalities.

Finally, take a gander at this page: http://www.techinsider.io/facebook-livevideo-
2016-3. This discusses not only the impact of Facebook Live and
Mark Zuckerberg’s excitement for it but also some of the more original and
unique ways that the platform is being used.
Of course the very best place to get started with Facebook Live is over at
the Facebook Live Map, which will let you watch other people’s streams
and see what they look like to the users first hand. You’ll find that here:
https://www.facebook.com/livemap
Live Channels
Facebook live is only one channel you can use to stream live video. There
are actually many more similar platforms which include some well-known
ones and some much lesser known ones.
These include:
Periscope
http://www.periscope.tv/
This is the main website for the Periscope App – arguably the most popular
and biggest dedicated live video platform. It’s a very powerful platform
available for iOS and Android but the website is somewhat empty other
than for an inspiring video!
Meerkatapp.co
https://meerkatapp.co
Meerkat is similar to Periscope with some key differences. Meerkat lacks
the very handy map feature found on Periscope and Facebook Live and it
also doesn’t let you save your videos. But it’s still a big and popular
platform, especially among dedicated marketers like Tai Lopez. Again,
there’s not all that much to be found on the site itself.
Blab
http://blab.im
This is a great platform that allows you to create live videos and also invite
your viewers to get involved! This means that they can tune in and take
part in seminars for instance and it means you can use the platform for
some very effective influencer marketing.
YouNow
http://www.younow.com
YouNow has been around longer than Meerkat or Periscope according to
the site. What also makes it interesting is that it actually pays its content
creators. While it doesn’t have huge traction just yet, it’s an interesting
concept and one to watch.
YouTube Live Events
https://www.youtube.com/my_live_events
Here’s where you can learn how to stream your live events on YouTube.
This has a lot of potential for the future, so again keep it on your radar!
Hangouts
https://hangouts.google.com/
In some ways, Hangouts can also be compared to Blab and used in a
similar way to run seminars, interviews and AMAs.
Tools and Tips
Mevo
http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddkenreck/2016/05/02/meet-mevo-the-bestcamera-
for-facebook-live/#7d676bffe87c
Mevo is a wide angle, 4k camera that could change the way we create live
content very soon. This camera allows live streaming through your phone
but what’s even more impressive is that it can zoom in to different areas on
the fly, thereby allowing you to feature whoever is talking or to focus on
particular elements of your scene. It’s a great idea that claims to be an
entire ‘studio’ in one little camera.
Too bad you’re going to have to wait a while until you can try it!
For growing your Facebook page meanwhile, consider using some of the
following tools and services:
Buzzsumo – www.buzzsumo.com
Buzzsumo provides viral content that you can find and easily share to your
own social media pages. This is a great way to provide value and quickly
grow your following.
LikeAlyzer - http://likealyzer.com/
LikeAlyzer is a tool that helps you to analyze your Facebook content in
terms of performance. Now you can see what's performing best for you and
pledge to 'do more of that'! The more you grow your Facebook page, the
more you’ll be able to get people to see your live video!
Fanpage Karma – www.fanpagekarma.com
This lets you see a lot more in terms of advanced stats and feedback for
the performance of your Facebook page. You can see which posts are
getting the most engagement and also learn a bit more about your site.
HootSuite - www.hootsuite.com
HootSuite is useful for automating and syncing a variety of different social
accounts and lets you stack posts up for later.
IFTTT – www.ifttt.com
This stands for ‘If This, Then That’ and is basically a service that allows you
to create lots of connections between your different social sites. For
example, you can get all your Tweets to also get shared to Facebook.
Resources
Stuck for ideas regarding the best types of content to create? Then head
over to either of these sites:
Meerkat Streams
http://www.meerkatstreams.com/
OnPeriscope
http://onperiscope.com/
These provide live streams from the two big streaming sites right on your
desktop. What this means is that you can watch the best content from
those alternative platforms in order to get ideas for your own content. See
what works and what doesn’t and bring it to Facebook Live!

The History of Facebook and Live Streaming

As mentioned in the introduction, live streaming is very big news for the

web and is something that many speculators are watching very closely right
now. But where did live streaming come from? What precisely is it? And
why is Facebook getting involved?
Before we dive into the nitty gritty and discuss how to get started and how
to create content, let’s rewind a little and go over some of the history of live
streaming and of Facebook so that you can get to grips with the lay of the
land…

What is Live Streaming and Why Does it Matter?
As the name suggests, ‘live streaming’ means that you’re filming videos
and streaming them live. So instead of creating content using a camera,
editing it and then uploading it to YouTube, you are instead filming and 
streaming directly. This is raw footage, broadcast live and it’s incredibly
exciting.

Normally, live streaming will take place via an app. To do this, you simply
need to install the specific app on your smartphone (which will normally be
either Meerkat or Periscope) and then you’ll hit the stream button. You may
also set up some details about the nature of the video – giving it a name, a
picture and/or a simple description.
From there, you then record with the camera in your phone and anyone
can watch from around the world who is signed in, or who sees you Tweet
that you’re going live. There are also plugins for your website (if you use
WordPress) that allow people to see if you’re live and then tune in to watch
if they so desire.

So what is it about this type of content that makes it so unique and so
effective?
Well many people have described it as the closest thing to teleporting. If
you load up Periscope for instance, then you can view a map showing
where all the feeds are coming from and then simply select which one you
would like to view. This is quite a surreal experience, as you will then be
transported into a person’s room, or even to a concert. You can now see
the world through their eyes, as it is happening. Imagine being able to
watch concerts live, comedy acts or parties that you were unable to attend!
And imagine how this could impact world events once this form of content
really takes off! Imagine if there was a tsunami or a hurricane and if you
could then view the events unfold from multiple points of view all around
the world all at once. It would almost be like being omnipresent during that
event!

For marketers this is also huge. There is something that viewers find
remarkably exciting about watching something live and this also gives them
the ability to ask questions, have discussion and get feedback live.
Imagine reviewing a product that you created during a live feed. You could
build a huge audience and at the same time answer questions that show up
and even show off other aspects of the product that you might otherwise
have glossed over.
Many marketers are also doing regular live streams: having live
discussions with their viewers over their morning cup of coffee. This allows
an unprecedented level of intimacy that can help you to build a much closer
relationship with your audience and create much more engagement.
These are the reasons that people are excited about live content online –
and there are many other potential applications and uses for this type of
content. Imagine being able to view a restaurant live, right in that moment
before you book a table. Or imagine being able to see behind the scenes
while your favorite TV show is being filmed.

The History of Live Streaming So Far
Before Facebook’s involvement, most people thought of Periscope as
being the major player in the live streaming stakes. Actually though, it was
Meerkat that was the very first to market and that really kicked things off.
And back then, no one had heard of Periscope, which make Meerkat
definitely a very exciting piece of news for pundits.
Meerkat was drawing a lot of attention very quickly then when it was first
announced in March 2015. From then, it managed to create an increasing
amount of buzz and gather a flurry of media attention. Ironically, Meerkat
also worked very closely alongside Twitter, which really helped to give it a
boost. Back then, Meerkat was known as ‘AIR’ and later on ‘Yevvo’.

But soon Twitter would decide that simply supporting Meerkat wasn’t
enough. The hype surrounding live streaming was clear and so the
company needed its own offering. Thus they bought the smaller and much
lesser known Periscope for a nice sum of $100 million. Very quickly,
Periscope rose to prominence with Twitter behind it.
Periscope very quickly proved that there is a huge audience and massive
potential for this type of content and that’s no doubt what piqued the
interest of Facebook – the ‘other’ massive social media network.
The History of Facebook so Far
That’s the history of live streaming up to the point of Facebook’s
involvement. But how about the history of Facebook itself?
Most people know a little about the history of Facebook thanks to the
successful movie The Social Network. Despite being a good film though,
many of the facts presented are inaccurate and the story is only loosely
based on the real events.
As shown in the film, Facebook was the brain child of Mark Zuckerberg
who was studying at Harvard at the time. Also as shown in the film, Mark
had previously experienced some success and controversy after creating
‘Face Mash’.
In the film, Mark is shown as being socially awkward and as using
Facebook as a means to try and enter college clubs and attract women. In
fact though, Mark was already dating his now-wife Priscilla Chan at the
time he came up with the social network! Also somewhat accurate is the
depiction of Mark’s partnership with roommate and colleague Eduardo
Saverin. It’s also true that Mark faced legal charges from the Winklevoss
twins and their friend Divya Narenda.

However, it’s also very unlikely that Mark really took inspiration from the trio
when creating Facebook. In fact, it was public knowledge at the time that
Harvard was working on their own social network but that they were taking
a long time to complete the project. Mark discussed this openly with the
Harvard Crimson and it appears more likely that this was the competition
he was more focussed on:
“It is clear that the technology needed to create a centralized Website is readily
available … the benefits are many.
“Everyone’s been talking a lot about a universal face book within Harvard. I
think it’s kind of silly that it would take the University a couple of years to get
around to it as I can do it better than they can, and I can do it in a week.”
After creating ‘The Facebook’ in blue (owing to Mark’s color-blindness) he
put it on the Kirkland House online mailing list, which had 300 subscribers.
By the end of the first night, the site already had between 1,200-1,500 new
members.
Initially, Facebook was only available to Harvard students but gradually it
would be rolled out across other colleges and then eventually certain
businesses and schools before being opened to the public. This gradually
roll-out really helped the site to pick up steam in those early days. In 2004,
Facebook expanded to include Stanford, Columbia and Yale and from
there it continued to grow.
Over the years that followed, Facebook would go on to add many new
additional features that today are considered a core part of the platform.
For instance, it wasn’t until 2006 that the company introduced its ‘News
Feed’ that initially received some backlash.
And it wasn’t until 2010 that we saw the introduction of a ‘Like’ button. This
was also the year that Facebook Messages were introduced.

Today, Facebook has more active users than the population of any given
country in the world. In fact, as of September 2015, 1.01 billion people were
logging into the site daily. There are over 1.39 billion users on Facebook
mobile alone, while the like and share buttons get over 10 million views a
day on other websites. There are over 300 million photographs uploaded
every single day and the average American will spend 40 minutes a day on
the site!
But the impact of Facebook can’t even be accurately captured by these
admittedly impressive numbers. Facebook has become much more than
just a social network and today can be considered an integral part of
modern life. Many terms such as ‘friend me’ and ‘like’ have been added to
the global lexicon and Facebook has even arguably had an impact on the
way we socialize and on our psychology more broadly. This isn’t just a tool
– it’s something that is fundamentally changing human interaction.
Acquisitions, Development and Live Streaming
It’s in this context that we need to view Facebook’s interest in live
streaming and its move into this area. For a tool that has genuinely altered
the way we communicate and the way we stay in touch, live streaming
makes all the sense in the world.
Facebook allows us to share our experiences with people around the world
by uploading photos and writing comments. But now it is going a step
further than that by letting us share those moments and memories live with
people.
And considering the billions of daily users, there is no company in the world
that is quite as well poised to really corner this market. Periscope and
Meerkat are no doubt concerned!