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Facebook Live Video Tips

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Did you know that since it debuted in 2016, Facebook Live has streamed 3.5 billion broadcasts?  

The role of video in social marketing, especially live video, continues to become more and more important. The live video experience is social at its core, and on average, they generate six times more interactions than regular video, and daily average broadcasts from verified publisher Pages have increased 1.5 times over the past year due to Facebook Live use (source).

Marketers, publishers and consumers of media ALL want to break through the clutter, and Facebook Live is a great vehicle to help achieve that: Facebook Live videos continue to show up in the news feed since they encourage engagement.

Have you gone live yet? Below, we share some tips on how to make the most of your Facebook Live broadcasts.

When and why should your brand use Facebook Live?   

  • To connect with your audience in a real, human way.
  • To communicate hot-button issues.
  • To connect communities during a crisis or share urgent information.
  • To provide a behind-the-scenes look.
  • To give viewers a glimpse into your life or company culture.
  • For interviews.
  • To broadcast a regularly scheduled program or event.

Tips before recording:

  • Promote the upcoming Facebook Live event with a post on your page an hour or two in advance to give your organic followers a reminder.
  • Always test your Internet connection and ensure your device is fully charged prior to going live! It’s always a good idea to have a backup device ready as well.
  • To get comfortable and practice, you can restrict privacy settings so that only you can see the live video. (Under Live Video settings window, on the right-hand side, there is a padlock; click on that and choose the “Only Me” option.)
  • Facebook recommends broadcasting for at least ten minutes. Experiment with time of day and see when your engagement and active viewers peak (this information can be found within Facebook’s analytics).
  • Good-quality lighting and audio equipment is worth the investment if you are regularly broadcasting live.
  • Make sure your lighting is appropriate (face the window instead of having your device facing the window), and if you can, remove glasses to eliminate the glare on the screen!
  • If you’re using a phone or tablet, don’t shy away from recording with the device horizontally. It shows more of your surroundings to help viewers place you in context, and the formatting works better in the news feed.
  • Once you’ve connected to wifi, make sure to switch your device to Airplane Mode! In this setting, you won’t get calls or other notifications that could disrupt or be a distraction to your video.
  • Don’t kill time just to fill time. Record with a purpose and have your content ready.

Tips during the broadcast:

  • Acknowledge your audience! Answer questions or thank commentators verbally by name for their input.
  • If you are hosting a broadcast in which you expect a steady volume of questions, have a colleague or friend help field them (some can be answered via text and some verbally).
  • Encourage interaction. Static Facebook posts that encourage likes, shares, comments and other engagement are penalized for seeming spammy. But, encouraging these during a Facebook Live broadcast gives viewers an actionable request and may help make your content or call-to-action more visible the more times it is liked or shared.

Tips for after recording:

  • Once a Live Video is created, it will live on your Facebook page (up to 500 videos can live on your page).
  • Pin the video to the top of your feed to increase video views.
  • Promote the video with a boosted post after the broadcast to target and extend the reach beyond your organic followers.
  • If an influencer creates a Facebook Live video for a brand, the brand can and should boost it on their own page.
  • You can create an edited version of the Facebook Live video to promote with an ad.
  • You can upload a custom thumbnail, with a graphic overlay if you’d like, to convey the topic of the video.
  • Respond in a comment to anyone you may have missed during the chat to increase engagement.
  • Captioning the video is another option post-recording, which is helpful for those viewers who tend to scroll through Facebook on mute!
  • Take a look at your Insights, and if you have a high-performing video, you can make it a more prominent “featured video” on your page.

Do you broadcast live? We’d love to hear your best Facebook Live video tips!

Everything You Need to Know About the Facebook Branded Content Tool for Influencers (Updated Nov 2017)

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Disclaimer: Information below represents our findings to date. We will continue to update this post as we learn more about the Facebook Branded Content Tool for Influencers.

In April 2016, Facebook announced the release of a new tool for branded content on verified pages to create easier collaboration on sponsored posts between Pages and brands.

The initial reaction to the announcement was mostly confusion about what exactly these new guidelines meant for brands and bloggers. This was especially the case for social media influencer marketing agencies, including The Motherhood, since we work with a network of “micro influencers” who promote sponsored content on their Facebook pages frequently.

According to Markerly, marketers are seeing higher engagement results with “micro influencers,” meaning those smaller-in-reach pages produce high value for brands through their devoted and active Facebook audience.

Before we answer what this tool means for marketers running influencer campaigns, let’s back up:

What is the Facebook branded content tool?

It’s a tool integrated into Facebook that allows pages and profiles to mark content that includes a third party, brand, or sponsor.

Branded content can be a post, Instant Article, link, photo, or video. Through the branded content tool, publishers of these posts tag the marketer or sponsor’s page. The marketer who is tagged will get a notification and receive access to insights on that post (such as the number of people who have seen it, click-throughs, etc.). The brand tagged will also have the ability to boost the post through their own account.

Facebook wants sponsored content to be marked clearly, therefore updating the branded tool to include the word “Paid” in the post.

Photo credit: Facebook

Do all influencers have to use the Facebook Branded Content Tool?

When the Branded Content Tool originally was launched in April 2016, Facebook only allowed verified pages (and then later, verified profiles) to access the branded content tool. However, Facebook recently announced that they are making the tool more widely available and offering it to non-verified pages, as well.

Starting in April 2017, for users on iOS and the web (and Android in the near future), any non-verified page can submit an application to access to the branded content tool. Facebook will begin to offer the tool on a rolling basis to non-verified pages that it predicts are most likely to use it. Pages will get a notification in Facebook if they are selected for the branded content tool.

We recommend that influencers apply for the Branded Content Tool. Once you are approved for tool (it usually only takes up to two days), you can easily mark which posts are sponsored by clicking the handshake icon when composing a new post. If you have any questions about using the Branded Content Tool within your current campaign with The Motherhood, feel free to reach out to your account manager to discuss.

Do I need to include a disclosure statement if I’m using the Branded Content Tool?

This one has caused some confusion among influencers and agencies. The short answer is yes, you still need to include a proper disclosure statement (“ad” or “sponsored”) for sponsored posts, even when using the handshake tool. Facebook has clearly defined the rules for branded content, which includes using disclosures in addition to the handshake tool:

“Comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including by ensuring that you provide all necessary disclosures to people using Facebook or Instagram, such as any disclosures needed to indicate the commercial nature of content posted by you.” (Facebook, August 2017)

Best practices for the Facebook Branded Content Tool for influencers moving forward:

  • If you have not already, request access to the Branded Content Tool here.
  • If a post is flagged as not complying with their branded content policies, Facebook will notify the publisher and the post will not appear in the News Feed until fixed.
  • If you are a brand or company reaching out to influencers to share branded content on their Facebook pages, we highly suggest consulting a marketing agency that has knowledge on the subject and is up-to-date on all policies. You can contact The Motherhood with inquiries at [email protected].

In our research since publishing this post, we have come across interesting articles on the topic that we would also like to share with you:

We are still following the news on the Facebook Branded Content Tool for Influencers, and we will be sure to keep our readers updated as the situation evolves — which, as many social media marketers know, is bound to happen! We welcome any feedback.

Updated: November 1, 2017

Influencer Spotlight: Jessica McFadden, A Parent in America

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What has made click-throughs on one social media channel nearly obsolete?

What will steal the scene in lieu of toys this holiday season?

Where is engagement happening in 2016?

Jessica McFadden of A Parent in America and A Parent in Silver Spring has the answers, and we’re sharing them (and more!) with you in this month’s blogger spotlight.

Read on to learn more about why her blog is not her personal journal and what always results in a win when it comes to brands, bloggers and their readers. Give Jessica a shout-out at @JessicaMcFadd!

Jessica McFadden

Want to see more? Check out our Influencer Spotlights here!

How does the Blogger Spotlight Series work? Each month, our internal team convenes and discusses our latest programs, stellar partnerships and top-performing influencers. It’s not about numbers, but rather, the quality, authentic content they’re delivering consistently. It’s about reliability, professionalism and partnership. We discuss our nominations for the month and ultimately decide on just one blogger to invite as our featured blogger. Stop back October 1 for the next blogger spotlight!

Social Fresh 2016 Conference Trends Round-Up

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The Motherhood is thrilled to have been able to attend the Social Fresh 2016 Conference in Orlando! We heard from an amazing lineup of speakers who shared valuable insights on everything from creating authentic brand content, to running social ads, to providing SEO predictions for the future — just to name a few topics. We especially loved learning that more than half of the conference speakers were female, the most they’ve had in any of the 18 Social Fresh conferences to date! All of the speakers were incredible. Thank you to the presenters and Social Fresh team who made this conference a must-attend event.

Here are some of the trends, ideas and insights that grabbed our attention at Social Fresh 2016:

1. Human-first, good-quality content is still key.

The Social Fresh 2016 team presented this stat: “creating content is the most time-intensive task for social media teams, taking up 18.5 percent of their days!” As any content creator knows, it can be difficult coming up with creative and relatable content; however, when done correctly, it pays off:

  • 67 percent of followers will share your content if it is good. – Heather Taylor
  • 78 percent of followers believe that companies that provide good content want to build a relationship with them. – Melanie Deziel
  • Videos that show people in the first several seconds receive twice the amount of engagement. – Stacy Minero

It’s no surprise to us that authentic content equals the best content. Conference speakers, like author Sally Hogshead and Cory Vasquez of RE/MAX, drove home the fact that people want to see relatable, empathetic content from brands and influencers. Real, honest posts will cut through the crowded social space. 

Hogshead encouraged the room to stop looking at what will make their brand better, but to look at what makes them different, and capitalize on that. Being different can be your brand’s advantage. In her words, “The goal isn’t to create the same message to blast to your following. The goal is to create the right messages that break through and stand out.”

Having “human-first” content was another prevalent theme. Vasquez shared a checklist of characteristics that make her brand’s content “human-first”: timely, engaging, honest, relatable, good quality and empathetic. Twitter’s Stacy Minero also encouraged the audience of marketers to highlight human stories, saying, “People are drawn to people.”

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Takeaways for creating human-first, branded content:

  • “People can tell when you’re trying to go viral, so be authentic.” – Jeremy Goldman
  • Expert content creator Sarah Evans encouraged the audience to ask themselves, “Will this make people care, share or swear? If none of those, it’s boring content.”
  • “Woo them, don’t sell them…. Lay off the sales pitch!” – Heather Taylor

2. Video (especially Live Video) continues to become more and more important!

Jeremy Goldman of the Firebrand Group shared an eye-opening session on the future of video in marketing. The Firebrand Group found in a recent survey that the majority of marketers (75 percent) are turning to Facebook for videos, rather than YouTube or other platforms, due to higher engagement. YouTube video comments don’t hold as much value as a like, comment or share on Facebook.

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Their study also showed that 85 percent of marketers see positive ROI from video marketing. Goldman predicted this video trend to rise, saying, “As video grows in popularity, the demand for good–quality videos is skyrocketing.”

This is a trend our own network of influencers has also been predicting, calling video the #1 trend in blogging and social media in 2016.

Takeaways for creating compelling videos:

  • 80 percent of people mute ads, so make sure your ads make sense without audio, or use text and captioning within the video content.
  • Always think, “How can I make this video social and interactive?”
  • Pay to promote your Live videos after they are broadcast Live.

3. Twitter is becoming more interactive.

Minero shared ways of getting your followers’ attention in their feed. She reported that Twitter is moving away from broad impressions and toward participation — from viewing to doing. With attention spans as short as eight seconds, attention is the new currency in brand advertising, according to Minero.

In order to “stop people in their feed,” companies are working with Twitter to create customized branded emojis and stickers. Minero used the #TacoEmojiGenerator as a great example of this, which was a hit with the Social Fresh audience.

 Minero’s tips for creating hashtags on Twitter:

  • Keep in mind that the most utilized hashtags are usually the less branded ones.
  • Let your hashtag provide a way for people to express themselves and their motivations (see REI’s campaign for #OptOutside as a great example of this!).

Were you at the Social Fresh 2016 Conference? We’d love to hear your top takeaways from the event or your feedback on our takeaways!

 

Social Showdown: Instagram Stories vs. Snapchat Stories

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Last week, the launch of Instagram Stories shook up the social media world, drawing immediate comparisons to Snapchat. Soon enough, everyone—from consumers to brands to bloggers—will pick a favorite.

While both platforms appear similar at first glance, there are some nuanced variations that will appeal to different audiences. The Motherhood’s social listening team took a deeper dive into the competing offerings to identify some differences between the two.

Content: Are you a Creator or a Consumer?

There are those who prefer to take a more active role in publishing content and those who more passively enjoy taking it in from their feeds.

Snapchat prioritizes content creation over consumption, whereas Instagram has long been focused on content discovery. After all, Instagram opens to a user’s feed as opposed to the camera screen, like Snapchat.

Instagram makes user discovery easier, too, by showing profiles at the top of users’ feeds. With Snapchat, users must know and search for a company or influencer’s username before following them.

For these reasons, Instagram is more brand-friendly for content publishers, such as companies and influencers interested in broadcasting messages to their audiences.

The Measurement Factor

Though Instagram is currently a more measurable platform than Snapchat (making it more appealing to brands and many bloggers), at the moment, Instagram Stories do not allow public likes or comments. Rather, users must use Instagram Direct to weigh in on a story – meaning there are no likes or comments to measure. It is possible, however, to share a picture or video clip from your story directly as a post in your feed, which then allows for engagement on that particular post, as well as encourages people to watch your story.

Instagram, like Snapchat, does offer the ability to track how many users saw a certain story, and does so in a clearly visible way. As Fast Company says, “One of the open secrets to [Instagram’s] success is that it’s trained users—through design choices like this—like watching those numbers tick up and to make decisions accordingly. So while Instagram’s viewer counter is also an eyeball icon with a number next to it, and while Instagram also shows you both a total head count and who those viewers are, it puts that information all in one place instead of making you dig for it like Snapchat does.”

This feature, combined with Instagram’s larger built-in following, is an obvious plus for brands, especially. Case in point: On the first day Instagram Stories rolled out, Nike garnered 800,000 views in 24 hours for a story the brand posted. On Snapchat, Nike’s most popular video received 66,000 views.

Feature Advantages

One immediate difference Instagram offers over Snapchat is that it clearly defines its features for the user with prompts and tips–something that appeals to those who find Snapchat too difficult to navigate.

However, Snapchat does currently have some feature advantages over Instagram, including geofilters (denoting where an image was taken) and selfie lenses, both of which provide a distinguishable reason for users to keep going back to Snapchat.

Time will tell which platform will entice more users, but for now, it seems like for brands, marketers and influencers, Instagram may have the edge over Snapchat.

We want to hear from you! Are you planning on using Instagram Stories exclusively over Snapchat (or vice versa), or do you think there are applications for both?

 

 

 

Advantages of Using an Influencer Marketing Agency

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Influencer marketing is a discipline that’s continuing to grow and attract brands’ attention: More than half of marketers recently surveyed have reportedly increased their budgets for influencer marketing in 2016.

This comes as no surprise, as we know that influencer marketing is one of the most effective ways to seed authentic, searchable content that drives purchase over time. The Motherhood found that 80 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase from brands they’ve read about from a trusted blogger, and additional industry data reveals that marketers who implemented an influencer marketing campaign earned an average of $6.85 in media value for every $1 they spent on paid media.

As influencer campaigns are on the rise, many brands are exploring the most effective and efficient ways to incorporate a sponsored content strategy into their overall marketing plans. One of the most critical decisions is whether a brand will manage influencer marketing in-house or through an agency. As evidenced by Google’s search history for the term “Influencer Marketing Agency,” brands are exploring their options at a record high rate.

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The Motherhood team is made up of professionals who have worked at the world’s top PR agencies, so we have a unique, first-hand understanding on how these decisions are made by brands at the firms that represent them. As a social media marketing agency that specializes in influencer marketing, we understand the power and perks of leveraging a specialty network to act as an extension of a brand’s team.

Three advantages of using an influencer marketing agency

1. Gain an expanded circle of trust. Hiring an influencer marketing agency requires that the marketer allow the agency to act as a steward of their brand — and leap of faith requires a great deal of trust. The Motherhood understands this — we’ve been on the other side! However, marketers should feel confident that hiring a credible, long-standing influencer marketing agency will offer a level of expertise and reliability that expands far beyond the four walls of a brand’s headquarters.

While many agencies tout their large networks of influencers, it’s imperative to know that the agency you’re engaging has a unique understanding of each individual influencer’s preferences, strengths and specialities. For marketers who want to create mutually beneficial partnerships built on a foundation of trust, pride in the brand and investment in creating exceptional work together, quality — rather than quantity — should be weighted heavily.

2. Save time, save money. A partnership with an influencer marketing agency allows brands and their PR agencies to work more efficiently by eliminating the time internally that’s required to research, identify, vet and manage a group of bloggers. A survey found that 75 percent of professionals consider identifying the right influencers to be the biggest challenge of a sponsored content campaign. Influencer marketing agencies have the right institutional knowledge and infrastructure in place, offering a better and more efficient way to manage relationships with influencers.

Using our proprietary database, The Mometer, The Motherhood makes it our business to provide the most strategic, targeted partnership recommendations between our bloggers and the brands who trust us to help represent them.

3. Offload details. When you hire an agency that specializes in influencer marketing, you’re gaining a partner with a deep, fine-tuned understanding of how to run a successful sponsored content campaign. Brands can weigh in on the aspects of the campaign that are most relevant to their direct role: key messaging, coverage pacing and key performance indicators, for example. However, turning over the reins to an experienced influencer marketing agency means that someone else will handle minute but important details such as blogger negotiations, product shipping, giveaway rules, managing bloggers’ adherence to the coverage deadline, disclosure compliance and hashtag use — just to name a few. When using an agency, these details are not the responsibility of the brand; rather, the agency is on-call for all related program management and implementation.

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If you are interested in teaming up with The Motherhood on an influencer marketing campaign, please email [email protected].