Tips for using Facebook Live

1. Go live with a strong connection

Ensure that your broadcast is as clear, high resolution and stable as possible.

• If you are shooting on a phone:
  • Stream quality varies based on your connection speed. Go live when you have a strong connection (use Wi-Fi instead of your phone’s mobile data whenever possible).
  • Use a tripod or steadicam for a more stable stream.
• If you are using video encoding (streaming) software or hardware:
  • Use a dedicated wired connection with backups whenever possible. If you must use Wi-Fi, make sure that it’s secured and dedicated for the broadcast, and have contingency plans in place.
  • Broadcasting from an event? We recommend setting up a private connection – satellite or fibre backhaul – rather than relying on a venue’s connection.
  • Run a speed test in order to determine your upload bitrate.
  • Follow our specifications and send us the highest bit rate stream your connection speed and encoder will tolerate reliably (within our maximum specs).

2. Engage with your audience

We prioritise content that sparks conversations and meaningful interactions between real people. Videos that inspire friend-to-friend or person-to-person interactions tend to get more distribution. Actively responding to and moderating comments during your live broadcast can play an important role in fostering such conversations and interactions.

Some techniques to drive healthy engagement include:

• Say hello to commenters by name and reply to their comments.
• When possible, bring audience questions or comments into the broadcast itself by answering questions on air.
• Pin great comments to the top of the chat.
• Going live from an event? Encourage event participants to engage with the audience via the live comments.

3. Broadcast for longer periods of time to reach more people

Facebook prioritises longer videos (3 min +) that inspire people to continue watching. For live broadcasts, the longer you are live, the more likely people are to discover and invite their friends on Facebook to watch the video. You can stay live for up to eight hours when broadcasting over the live API with an encoder!

4. Tell people ahead of time when you’re going to broadcast

Build anticipation by letting people know when you’ll be broadcasting live. If you are using streaming software or an encoder to go live, you should consider scheduling your broadcast.

5. Be creative and go live often!

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15 Mar 2017

1. Go live with a strong connection

Ensure that your broadcast is as clear, high resolution and stable as possible.

• If you are shooting on a phone:
  • Stream quality varies based on your connection speed. Go live when you have a strong connection (use Wi-Fi instead of your phone’s mobile data whenever possible).
  • Use a tripod or steadicam for a more stable stream.
• If you are using video encoding (streaming) software or hardware:
  • Use a dedicated wired connection with backups whenever possible. If you must use Wi-Fi, make sure that it’s secured and dedicated for the broadcast, and have contingency plans in place.
  • Broadcasting from an event? We recommend setting up a private connection – satellite or fibre backhaul – rather than relying on a venue’s connection.
  • Run a speed test in order to determine your upload bitrate.
  • Follow our specifications and send us the highest bit rate stream your connection speed and encoder will tolerate reliably (within our maximum specs).

2. Engage with your audience

We prioritise content that sparks conversations and meaningful interactions between real people. Videos that inspire friend-to-friend or person-to-person interactions tend to get more distribution. Actively responding to and moderating comments during your live broadcast can play an important role in fostering such conversations and interactions.

Some techniques to drive healthy engagement include:

• Say hello to commenters by name and reply to their comments.
• When possible, bring audience questions or comments into the broadcast itself by answering questions on air.
• Pin great comments to the top of the chat.
• Going live from an event? Encourage event participants to engage with the audience via the live comments.

3. Broadcast for longer periods of time to reach more people

Facebook prioritises longer videos (3 min +) that inspire people to continue watching. For live broadcasts, the longer you are live, the more likely people are to discover and invite their friends on Facebook to watch the video. You can stay live for up to eight hours when broadcasting over the live API with an encoder!

4. Tell people ahead of time when you’re going to broadcast

Build anticipation by letting people know when you’ll be broadcasting live. If you are using streaming software or an encoder to go live, you should consider scheduling your broadcast.

5. Be creative and go live often!

Try different types of broadcasts – and go live frequently – to keep your audience engaged. Try different phone or camera orientations, broadcast durations and formats to see what works best for you. Use insights available in creator studio to evaluate different approaches.