Ever since Twitter acquired Periscope back in 2015, livestreaming via social media has become increasingly popular, especially for businesses. This comes as no surprise considering the exceptional branding opportunity live video provides. However, not all social media livestreaming tools are created equal. Facebook Live is far superior to the rest (in our opinion).
Why is Facebook Live the Best Choice?
Notifies your Followers
Once you press the “Go Live” button, your Facebook followers will receive a notification prompting them to tune in. This helps increase viewership of your video as it streams.
Note that YouTube Live and Instagram Live also notify your subscribers/followers once you’re live. For YouTube, this is great if you already have a large, engaged following. The issue is that brands tend to have larger audiences on Facebook. As for Instagram, our next point is where it falls short.
Permanence
After you complete a livestream on Facebook, you have the option to post the video to your page. If it didn’t go too well (which is to be expected, especially if you’re new to livestreaming), delete it. If you’re satisfied with the results, post it for the world to see! Now, when people click your page, they’ll be able to find the video and re-watch it.
Instagram doesn’t allow for this type of permanence. Once your Instagram Live video is completed, you have the option to either let it vanish or post it to your Instagram Story—a piece of temporary content that expires after 24 hours.
Newsfeed Priority
Due to changes in Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm, the organic reach of many brands has severely declined over the last few years. Livestreaming is a way to combat that phenomenon.
The algorithm actually gives slight preference to live video over other types of content, like links and photos, so users are more likely to see it in their newsfeeds. At the moment, Facebook Live is undoubtedly the quickest way for brands to improve their organic engagement rates.
Paid Reach
Since a live video can be posted to your page after you’re done broadcasting, Facebook categorizes it as a regular video post, which can be boosted.
For those who are unfamiliar, boosting a Facebook post is basically like turning it into a paid advertisement. You choose targeting information based on demographics, location and more, then set a budget. It’s an effective technique to expand your reach and engagement while attracting new audience members.
Advanced Analytics
The best way to improve your social media marketing skills is to consult past data and make informed decisions based on the results. Facebook Live makes that easy.
Post-broadcast, you can return to your video to see how well it performed. See the screenshot below for an example of analytics:
Consulting these metrics will allow you to tailor your next video appropriately. For example, maybe your average watch time was low because the video was filmed from a poor angle. Adjust, analyze and repeat.
As you can see, we’re firm believers that Facebook Live is better than Instagram Live, YouTube Live and Periscope. Your business may find success with some of the latter, but make sure you don’t sleep on Facebook.
