6 Updates to Facebook Live that Marketers Should Know About

Facebook is going all in with video, and live video is an essential part of this vision.

Based off of the feedback from brands, businesses, and other broadcasters that have gone live on Facebook over the past few months, the format and feature is getting some new tools and improvements for more control and customization.

Facebook wants both people and businesses to go live, and marketers should be aware of some of the changes Facebook is making to the live video experience:

1. Desktop, Web-based Live Video

Facebook Pages will be able to go live from a web browser. This makes it easier for creators or businesses to create live video content with a steady camera in a daily vlog style. Now you don’t need a smartphone to go live since it’s possible from laptops and desktop computers.

2. Allow Individuals to go Live from your Page

Until now, broadcasting from a Page required a Page admin to take the driver’s seat. Many publishers and businesses used the Facebook Live API to have multiple feeds of cameras and b-roll, but now Facebook is introducing a “Live Contributor for Pages” feature which allows Page admins to hand over the keys to specific individuals.

Imagine a news outlet with a field reporter stationed across the country. This new feature now allows that reporter to go live from the news outlet’s Facebook page via his or her mobile device, such as a reporter out in the field.

3. Video Insights for 5,000+ Follower Profiles

For individual profiles with 5,000 or more followers (these are different than a Facebook Page), new insights will be available for live video content. The insights are aimed to help these individuals (typically influencers, celebrities, and other well-known creators) to better understand how their video content (both live and regular) performs.

The metrics for eligible profiles include: total minutes viewed, total number of views, and total engagement (reactions, comments and shares). They’ll also be able to see “aggregated insights for all the videos they post on their profile over 7, 30, and 60-day periods, including the total number of video posts, engagement, total views and minutes viewed, and total number of Profile followers,” (via Facebook Newsroom).

4. Pinned Comments

Broadcasters will have the option to pin comments to the bottom of a live video broadcast. Live videos from well-followed Pages usually get flooded with comments, often they move so quick that it distracts viewers from the actual broadcast. Now, publishers have the option to pin a specific comment that stays there for the entire video.

5. Updated Video Permalink for Pages

If your Facebook Page publishes video content, you can see all of your videos with the permalink: “facebook.com/pagename/videos”… This makes it easy to send a simple link specifically for your video content on Facebook, and if you’re broadcasting live when someone clicks the link, they’ll instantly see your live video. It’s an easier way to navigate video (live and regular) content from specific Pages.

6. Post Live Videos Across Multiple Pages

Publishers currently have the ability to “cross-post” videos. This means if you manage multiple Facebook pages, you’re allowed to post the same video that was originally published on Page A, almost instantly to Page B. This feature is now available for Live Videos once a broadcast has ended.

If you’re not familiar with Facebook Live, we covered some of its earlier updates here, such as Live Video in Facebook Groups and Events, new types of reactions, special filters, and best practices straight from Facebook’s Live Video team.

In September of 2016 at Social Media Week London, BuzzFeed hosted an event exploring the current state of social news and live video. You can read a recap of that event here.

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