This article was contributed by Chris Flores.

Videos have seen a huge growth on social media since 2015 and they are on their way to total domination.

Mark Zuckerberg in his recent Q&A session said that “…now, as our internet and networks are getting better, we can start to support more video – we can upload videos, we can do this live like we’re doing here, and that is making this experience richer and richer and you’re getting a better sense of what people are experiencing and feeling, which is really powerful”.

And Facebook is actually leading the process of “making this experience richer and richer” by launching live video sharing in the end of 2015. And they know what they are doing.

Abel Sparks, a senior marketing specialist at Chicago SEO Company says that “In 2016, the digital world is moving to producing high-quality experience as fast as never before. Those companies who want to reach success will have to tap into interests and needs of their audiences and tailor their marketing strategies in order to satisfy those needs in the best way possible”.

A recent research conducted by Facebook reveals that people spend 3 times longer time watching a live video compared to a pre-recorded one and by the way, since 2015 Facebook has doubled the number of videos watched per day and the figures are close to a staggering 8 billion views per day.

Pretty awesome stats, ha?

By the way, live videos’ organic reach is much higher than of regular content as Facebook has been boosting those through their ranking algorithm.

Do you want to jump on the bandwagon and maximize your benefits from Facebook marketing?

Here are several ideas of what you can do.

1) Educate your audience.

In the recent years, content marketing has been focusing on identifying your audience’s problems and needs, and then addressing them in the form of an awesome piece of content which everyone would love and share.

A win-win strategy which tons of brands and bloggers have been using lately is to create an interesting free e-book or run an awesome webinar with a bunch of experts in order to drive more traffic, increase credibility and eventually make users love you.

Knowledge is an amazingly valuable product these days and spreading it through Facebook live videos has never been easier.

Just take a look at this simple yet unbelievably engaging and cute Tiny Kitchen video by Tastemade. By going live, they’ve been able to generate 3.7 million views!

Think of creative ways you can share something valuable over a live video and you’ll boost your audience engagement in no time.

2) Make your audience’s experience fun.

Facebook is the place where a lot of people come to hang out, talk to their friends and watch funny cat videos.

You don’t have to do live cat videos per se, but entertaining your audience is something for you to seriously consider if want to win on Facebook.

Buzzfeed, for example, hosted a brilliant Dance Craze Battle where viewers could vote for each participant and, what is even more fun, suggest different dance moves which later they saw used by participants of the battle.

The interactiveness and the chance for the audience to determine ways the show would turn out generated more than 200K views.

3) Humanize your brand.

Brands which look more human tend to win more trust from their prospects and clients.

Facebook live videos can help you to achieve exactly that.

Simply showing around your office or broadcasting live interviews with your employees or industry experts will instantly boost your popularity on the web.

Authenticity is the key to people’s hearts. Show them your real face, without fancy visual effects, cuts or captions and you will surely win trust which is the most important thing in any relationship.

See here for some more Facebook Live best practices.

4) Broadcast live events.

If you are at an event, which can be interesting to most people in your niche, why not help them to be present, too?

You can stream from an industry conference, behind-the-scenes party, a concert or any other event your audience would love to attend. They will highly appreciate it if they could know what was going on first-hand from you, instead of waiting for some formal report/news piece a day after.

Just walk around with your phone, talk to people you meet, share your thoughts and respond to questions you’re getting – it can’t be easier.

And again, this ameteur-like broadcast from a phone with personal comments will take you a long way in terms of humanizing your brand and becoming closer to your audience.

5) Broadcast when most people can watch you.

If you’re not tied to a specific event you want to stream from, it will be very thoughtful to start your broadcast at a time when most people hang out on The Social Network.

There has been an ongoing debate when is the best time to post on Facebook. Most studies agree that Thursday and Friday, 1:00-4:00 pm, is the best time frame if you want to get highest reach, most shares and likes.

Of course, the case for your audience might be different, as they might come from different time zones or lead a different lifestyle.

Always experiment in order to find the best time when most people can watch you, because no matter how fantastic your event is, probably not many people will come to attend it if it starts at 3:45 am.

Choose your time wisely.

In Summary

As you can see, there are amazing benefits opening up for you from embarking on a journey of Facebook live video streaming.

It’s better to get on board as fast as possible while Facebook is still exploring all the opportunities live videos are providing and the organic reach for these videos is the highest compared to other types of content.

Get creative, take relationships with your audience to a new level and enjoy the trip along the way. Unforgettable experiences starts now!

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Chris is a marketing specialist and a blogger from California. When not eating hot dogs and rooting for Lakers, he loves exploring the Digital World and helping others to embark on their own digital adventures. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.