Blueprints

FB Livestreaming for Campaigns

Brendan Finucane

May 17, 2017

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5 min read

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Interested in learning about Facebook streaming, how it will help your campaign and how simple it is to use? Keep reading!

Benefits of becoming a Facebook Live User

Facebook Live continues to explode, with the social network sharing breaking news, press conferences and Q & A’s. Never conceived as a political tool, the focus and importance on video just seem to fit for candidates. Many people always refer to 'video' being the future but 'video' is now! Facebook live streaming has catapulted in 2017 thanks to improved features and functionality.

We have worked with many candidates who have used Facebook Live at the center of their social media aspect of their campaigning strategy and here are the benefits that became to clear to us.

Helps people get to know you better

Note how we said, 'people'. This is the group of people who have no connection to you yet, candidates don’t automatically start with “voters”, you must work hard to obtain voters. That starts with opening up and building relationships. The easiest way we see this happening is through live Q & A sessions. Get people to ask questions about your background, policies, education and a clearer picture of you as a person and then a candidate will be obvious.

It leads to higher engagement

People need to be visually stimulated in 2017, we prefer to listen and see rather than read. It allows us to spot things that we can critique and as voters, we need to be able to critique. All this leads to greater engagement and as political operatives that are what you want. Embracing live streaming may seem risky but it pays off.

It can lead to team recruitment

If word spreads that you live streams are informative and if they prove to be convincing, you get in turn experience a boost in active supporters. Campaigns are always looking for new volunteers and people who engage with you through live streaming may be the individuals who can take your campaign to the next level.

It helps you think of new ideas for your campaign

It is only by talking into a camera that you can truly understand what works and what doesn’t. It will be hard for some to talk to an audience who aren’t physically present but it is during this time that you will find yourself being most creative. The idea can hit you at any time and new ways of promoting your campaign may be produced as a result of this.

You can reuse the Live videos as promotional tools

Your video will automatically be saved in your timeline, so even if your group can’t watch it live, you don’t have to worry about your video being deleted immediately after 24 hours like with Periscope. This means you can save your video for a newsletter, a blog post or even upload it to YouTube without having to use a third-party service!

Facebook will prioritize you

Thankfully Facebook wised up and noticed that people were much more inclined to watch live videos than ones that weren’t, they worked their magic and changed their algorithms and now Live Stream will take priority on the newsfeed. This means get your camera ready and start streaming.

It will have an impact as you continue to campaign

Again, just like anything, if you keep doing something, you can work on it. Long-term campaigns are lucky in such that they can change and evolve as the weeks go by. Facebook live is a great asset to any candidate who wants to continue to change the wheel, it offers you a platform that you can update regularly and have a conversation.

It's still relatively new

People are still only waking up to how useful live streaming can be so at any one time, you will be the seen as the candidate who is doing something innovative and doing something that people haven’t seen before. Be the trendsetter even if at the time it seems like you're only following.

Helps you test campaign messaging

Amateur video is more personal and raw, compared to what you see in a newscast or edited video, where you're prepared for what you're going to see. This allows you to test your campaign messaging and get the unfiltered thoughts of anyone watching, they won’t delay in telling you if they like something or not. The only tip we offer here is be able to identify a troll. Do not engage in an argument if you feel someone is only there to bait you.

You can use Private live video

Following up from our last point, sometimes as a candidate, you only want to engage with your “friends/supporters” on Facebook. It’s simple. Just follow these steps. Open the Facebook app on your Android or iPhone, and above your name, you should see an area showing who will be able to see your posts. Tap that, and a menu will pop up and provide you with a list showing Public, Friends, Only Me or More. If you want everybody on earth to see your posts, tap Public. To ensure only your friends see them, choose Friends. And if you only want your Live Video available for yourself, tap Only Me. You can further customize who you want to share your Live videos with by tapping More. Now go forth, and stream safely.