5 Ways to Maximize Your Facebook Live Content

We’ve all heard it by now: video is the future! You know you should be creating more video content for your marketing channels, and especially “going Live” on your Facebook and Instagram channels regularly. But I will be the first to admit that it is time consuming, and downright daunting, to continually keep producing all of that video content. So how do you make it more manageable? You need to be sure that you are maximizing your time AND your content.

Did you happen to see fellow TSC Alum and contributor Katie Weinberger (of King Bean Coffee) and I on The Southern C Facebook Live video last month talking about Holiday Brunch Cocktails?  It’s a perfect example to show how I leveraged one Facebook Live session into a ton of related content for my blog, the Southern C blog, as well as Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram. I’ll use that as an example to show you 5 ways that you can maximize your Facebook Live content.

1. Capture the Video for Facebook, YouTube and Your Website

First and most importantly, you get the actual video from the Facebook Live session. Of course, you definitely want to post this to your business page when you finish the session, and then share it to your personal page. If you really want to be sure it gets seen, boost it to reach even more people. But you should also download the video, and post it to your YouTube channel for even more exposure.

2. Write a Blog Post

To help me prepare for a Facebook Live session, I write up my talking points in a rough outline form in advance of going live. This helps me to organize my thoughts, and practice what I’m going to say to my audience. The added bonus is that after the session, I just have to flush out a few paragraphs and voila! I have a great blog post for my website.

I’m getting extra bonus points on my Holiday Brunch Cocktails video because I posted that blog with the recipes, and now I’m writing this blog about the content process. So I’m stretching this one even further!

I also embed the link to the video directly in the blog, like we did here on tscoterie.wpengine.com website, so readers don’t have to leave the page to watch it. Note that I don’t try to reiterate everything I say during the video in the blog, but use it as a teaser to make my readers want to watch the video.

3. Take Still Photography and Images for Pre-Promotion and Future Content

You will always want to promote your Facebook Live event in advance, or else how will they know when to watch? To do this, I typically create some kind of graphic that states the discussion topic on a branded background (in this case, The Southern C brand). Or if I really have my act together, I will pre-shoot one of my recipes so that I can use that to entice my followers to watch me live to learn.

When you go live, have your camera ready to capture some still photos and images in addition to the video capture. I’ve found that it’s really helpful to have someone else handle this for you while you’re talking live. That way, you can stay focused on keeping the conversation going, and not have to worry about missing a photo opportunity.

As part of my Facebook Live videos, I like to demonstrate how to make something, usually a recipe or cooking technique. So if I’m going to the effort of making the dish during the video anyway, I might as well get some pretty pictures of the finished product that I can post on my various social media channels (see the next point). I also like to get a couple of pictures of me (and my guest, if I have one) in the kitchen too.

4. Create Social Media Posts

At this point, I’ve got a video, a blog (or two!), and a number of images that I can use before, during, and after the live event across all of my social media channels. Yes, it took me about a day and a half to produce all of this content. BUT! In the end, I’m able to use it in so many ways, and can keep refreshing and reusing it going forward. When was the last time you could say that you created that much content in such a short amount of time?

5. Collaborate with Others for More Exposure (and Fun!)

Finally, the last way I like to maximize my Facebook Live content is by collaborating with other people and brands for my sessions. While I certainly like to promote my own brand, I also like to promote others as well in my videos. I will often invite a guest to co-host a video with me (like Katie), or I will try to feature local brands and food products in my recipes. It’s just so much more fun, and we all win! My content gets even more exposure and reach because my collaborators will also share it on their channels, and in turn they get fresh and relevant content they can use for their brand as well as exposure on my channels. As we know, it’s all about #connectcollaboratecreate!

Even though I used Facebook Live as an example here, all of these points would be relevant with just about any video content you produce. So I hope it encourages you to pull out the camera (or your phone), hit the record button, and start creating lots of great content. Be sure to let me know when you do, though, I’d love to watch!

Do you have any tips for getting the most out of your Facebook Live content? Share with us in the comments!