Facebook Live is the social media company’s new video platform. With it, you can broadcast videos from anywhere at any time or view others’ videos. According to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, the company is paying big money to high-profile celebrities and media organizations to create content.
Facebook is shelling out more than $50 million to celebrities including Kevin Hart, NFL quarterback Russell Wilson, Deepak Chopra, and chef Gordon Ramsay for their use of Facebook Live.
Media companies such as The New York Times and Huffington Post are also partnering with Facebook to create video.
In April, two BuzzFeed employees streamed a Facebook Live video showing them placing rubber bands around a watermelon until it exploded. That video received over 10 million views.
How Entrepreneurs Can Gain Advantage
While Facebook is likely not paying you millions to broadcast, as an entrepreneur, you can still leverage the platform to make your business flourish with:
- Better interaction with customers and/or your audience:Â With features such as Live reactions, comment replay while live, and filters, your audience can express their feelings about your broadcast in real time.
- Better engagement: Facebook Live lets you engage with commentators and answer their questions. Facebook claims that people comment 10 times more on Facebook Live videos than on text posts and other videos.
- Expanding your reach: People in more than 60 countries can access Facebook Live video. That means you can reach customers and an audience across the globe. The Facebook Live Map feature also provides a window into what’s happening in the world. You can stay on top of critical business information.
- Better understanding of your customers/audience:Â There are two new video metrics for Facebook Live: peak live viewers during a broadcast, and a new chart showing the number of concurrent live viewers over time during a broadcast. These give Facebook Page owners a better understanding of when people are watching their videos.