When Should You Go Live? Top Tips to Successfully Hosting Live Videos on Social Media

Remember the first time you saw your favorite band play live? For a fan, there’s something so electrifying about seeing the magic happen in real time. As an influencer, content creator, or small business, you can bring that energy to your audience, too. If you’ve been recording and sharing videos for a while now and ready for a new adventure, it’s time to go live! 

There’s no question that live videos are a huge trend on social media right now. According to YouTube, daily live streams have grown by more than 45% this past year. And pretty much every social media platform has live stream capabilities and growing monetization options to earn extra revenue from live videos. 

Whether you’re streaming an event, playing a game, performing music or theater live, teaching a class, hosting a Q&A, or something else fun, live streaming gives you a powerful opportunity to directly connect with and engage your audience. Audiences are always craving closer connections with their favorite creators and brands, and live videos allow you to interact with them in real-time through chat.  

In fact, 80% of audiences would rather watch a live stream than read an article. But hey, since you’re reading an article right now… let’s make the most of your time and get to the good stuff! Here are some tips and best practices for successfully going live on social media. 

1. Understand the Requirements of Your Social Media Platform of Choice

These days you can live stream videos on pretty much every social media platform. But the process is a little different on each one. Make sure you plan ahead and understand what’s required beforehand.

For example, with a Facebook or Instagram account, you can go Live quickly with the touch of a button. But on YouTube, you need to have 1,000 subscribers to live stream on mobile devices, and even for webcam live streaming, you need to activate your account for live streaming first (usually takes 24 hours). You have to apply to be approved for LinkedIn’s LinkedIn Live content. On TikTok, you need to meet age requirements and have at least 1,000 followers to go live.  

You might be wondering… which social media platform is best for live streaming? Where should you host your live video? There’s no right answer here, though. It’s always going to depend on where your audience is most active and engaged. You could also experiment. Try a YouTube live stream one day, and an Instagram Live event next time — and compare your results. Your audiences on your different platforms may have different preferences. 

2. Decide When and Why You’re Going to Go Live

When it comes to deciding what sort of content or event you’re going to live stream, remember that there are two perspectives here: yours and your viewers. 

From your perspective, there are lots of fantastic reasons to create a live video. Live content is usually prioritized in social media feeds, and live videos often get more views and audience engagement. On Facebook, for example, a live video can get 6 times more interactions than a regular pre-recorded video. Going live can help you grow your followers, engage your audience, and increase your revenue. 

But let’s think from your audience’s point of view. They don’t care about why you created your video. They need reasons for why they should watch your live video. What’s in it for them? That’s where your focus should be. 

First and foremost, ask yourself:

Why make this content live? What benefits will you and your audience get by making it a live stream instead of a pre-recorded video?

What might you lose in the process and are you ok with that (i.e., editing control, etc.)?

While you can make a live video pretty much any time about pretty much anything, certain formats lend themselves really well to a live format. For example, a Q&A video works well because you can respond to questions in real-time and give your audience the experience of authenticity because you’re live and unedited when you speak.. But even something like a demonstration video could be interesting live, if you make it so. 

Another factor to consider about your live video: Will it be worth watching later? You’ll be able to share an archived recording of your live stream after the event ends. But will anyone want to watch it? What can you do to make it have rewatch value later for those who weren’t able to tune in live?

Finally, think about the timing. When are you going to schedule your live event, and why? You might be able to tell from your social analytics when your audience is most active — i.e., which times your videos are most likely to be viewed. A live video could also correspond with another event if you want to be extra timely — for example, you could live stream a video game on the same day that new content for that game is released. Maybe don’t schedule your live video during the Super Bowl… unless that’s actually the perfect time for your particular audience. 

3. Figure Out and Test Your Tech Set Up

The tech requirements for live streaming are going to be a little different than how you usually record and create videos. When it comes to the equipment and gear you need, you’ll have a few options for most of the social media platforms you use: 

• Mobile phone. Going live via mobile works great for beginners and for anytime when you might need to be changing locations. Any mobile phone with a decent camera will work. You can use a separate mobile phone-compatible microphone for better sound quality. A portable tripod might be essential too to avoid shaky-video-syndrome.  
• Web camera. Most laptops these days have built-in webcams, or you could purchase an attachment, and incorporate other gear (like microphones, etc) as needed. Webcams are great for things like Q&A formats, conversations, and more. 
• Encoder. For the more advanced types of live streams, you may need an encoder of some sort. This often includes live streaming for gaming, concerts and performances, conferences, and sport events. An encoder will capture, compress, and convert audio and video from multiple sources at once, like your camera, microphones, screen capture, etc.

After you’ve got everything set up for your live stream, make sure you test it, too! Try a pilot-test live event in private mode first. For example, on Facebook, you can adjust your live stream audience to make sure the whole world can’t see your test event. On YouTube, you can do an unlisted or private live stream (and watch it afterwards too) to make sure your visuals and sound are good to go. 

4. Create a Plan for Managing the Live Event

A live video, especially one involving live interaction with your audience, is always going to be a little unpredictable. That’s what makes them exciting and fun to watch. But you’ll want to be prepared for those moments where the unpredictability creates chaos.

The most important thing you need is a plan for moderating the chat. Live chat is essential for interacting with your audience in real time. But sometimes it can also be… well, a hot mess. You may need help from someone (or from a team of moderators) to weed out any inappropriate comments. Or if you have a lot of viewers, you may want someone to help you spot the best comments you want to respond to during your video, and/or help you respond to them.  

Depending on your platform, you may have other moderating options too — for example, YouTube lets you slow down the rate at which people can comment, automatically block comments with certain words, and more. 

5. Find Ways to Keep Your Viewers Glued to Your Screen

In the world of social media, when there are millions of other posts and videos happening all the time, attention is a hot commodity. With a live stream, you might get your audience’s attention immediately and provoke their curiosity when they see you’re streaming live. But you need to find creative ways to hold their attention, too. This is especially important since you won’t have the same kind of fun effects you can get from editing a pre-recorded video.  

One strategy?

Become a master of suspense. Keep your audience hooked by making them wonder what’s coming next in your live video.

You could incorporate a giveaway or prizes, reveal the winner of a game or contest, introduce a challenge, or tease a big reveal. 

And of course, to boost your engagement, make it actually engaging. Make your live video as interactive and personalized as possible. You can thank your top contributors, call out fans by name when you see their chats, and respond to comments. You could put up polls and then weigh in on the results as they come in. 

Keep in mind too that lots of people are going to show up fashionably late to your live stream party. Not everyone’s going to start right when you start and keep watching to the end. They’ll drop in and out. How can you keep things interesting and engaging for those folks too? 

6. Promote Your Live Event Like Crazy

Ever have that recurring nightmare where you host a big party but no one shows up, because they never got their invitations? When it comes to live streaming, you need to go out of your way to make sure your audience knows that you’re planning to go live, and when. 

Here are a few tips for getting the word out: 

• Announce the event on your social media feeds and then have several follow-up posts with a countdown (“Only 2 days until my live stream…!”) to build excitement.
• Include the details for the event in your narrative text for your other videos and your channel description or profile bio section. 
• Write a great title and (when applicable) make a custom thumbnail graphic to make people more likely to click on your live video when they see it in their feed. 
• Encourage all your followers, subscribers, and audience members to enable notifications so they can learn exactly when you’re going live. 

Of course… promotion doesn’t stop when your live stream ends either. Promote the archived video afterwards too so that your fans who missed it can still watch it. Share the link everywhere, and use it as an opportunity to promote your next live event, too. 

7. Decide on If and How You Want to Generate Revenue from the Live Stream

You already know the benefits of live videos can include growing your audience and increasing your engagement. Those add up to more revenue for you in the long run.  But your live videos can be a way for you to make money directly, too. Cha-ching! 

Some platforms can let you tap into ad revenue for your live streams. On YouTube Live, for example, you can enable different types of ads, including pre-roll, mid-roll, and images.  

Most platforms also now have their own monetization options in which viewers can “tip” creators live during an event. TikTok has coins; YouTube has Super Chat; Facebook and Instagram have Badges, etc. These can be an awesome way for your fans to support your work and feel closer to you, too.

Remember that even if your personal goal is to add more money to your pocket,  your live stream’s goal should be to add value for your audience.  

That’s especially the case when it comes to the donation options. What’s in it for them? Why would they want to spend some of their money on coins or badges and give those to you? Make sure you have an answer to that question and that you make it really clear to your audience too. Be transparent and encourage their participation!

8. Analyze Your Live Stream Afterwards to Make the Next One Even Better

After your live video event, take some time to reflect on it. In the military they call it a “hotwash” — an after-action analysis. It’s your chance to figure out what went well and what you could improve next time. 

Your social media analytics data should help you out a lot here. For example, you can see how many people subscribed or how many people stuck around for the whole event (retention rate). If you lost a lot of viewers at a certain point, you’ll know you may need to add some more engagement opportunities or suspense to keep them hooked longer. 

Also, take some time to review all the comments from viewers that you got during the live stream and mine them for ideas for future videos. 

Finally, how was your own experience? Did you feel adequately prepared? Could you give yourself more helpful notes or a script next time? Do you see ways you can improve your live public speaking skills when you watch the replay? What did you enjoy most? What new information did you learn about your viewers and what they care about? 

In the end, going live can be a great way to take your social media video strategy to a new level. The more you interact with and get to know your audience, the better you’ll be able to serve them in the future. Good luck and have fun! 

TL;DR:

Going live on your social media can be a surefire way to interact with your audience and even potentially increase your revenue. First, get your gear ready and make sure you meet the requirements to live stream on your platform of choice. Then, plan a perfect live event that keeps your audience engaged and entertained by building in suspense and fun interactions. Find someone to help you moderate live chat if you need it, and promote your event like crazy (both before and after) to get as many viewers as possible. If you decide to monetize your event, be sure it will add value for your audience, too. Finally, spend some time reflecting and analyzing afterwards to get ideas for your next event. Have fun! 

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