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Three reasons to avoid live video
22 April 2021
There's no denying that live video on social media is huge. More and more people are doing it and the likes of Facebook and Instagram (and all the others) are favouring it in their algorithms.
But should you do it? Well the fact that it's so popular and social media loves it may be a good reason to go live. However here are 3 reasons why perhaps you should think twice.
1. It's all about timing
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There's no point in just rocking up on your social media platform of choice and hitting that button unless you know your followers are online at the same time and available to watch.
Doing a live video is a little like turning up at someone's house, just virtually, ideally you want them to be in otherwise what's the point of doing it live in the first place? You might as well just record a video instead and post that.
What's the solution?
Well there are a couple of ways to get a better audience with live video. Firstly look at your insights. This is the data that tells you when your followers are looking at the platform. That's the time when you want to go live, knock on their door when you know they are in.
The other thing you ought to do is tell them when you're going live. That way they are more likely to show up when you show up. For example if you plan to go live at 7pm on a Friday, schedule a couple of posts during the week to let people know that's when it's happening. If you plan to do regular lives then aim to stick to the same time, eventually people will get used to your schedule and your audience will grow.
2. You're just not ready
How much time have you spent in front of a camera? If you're not confident with video - live can be a disaster.
Being great on video and generating interest is largely about confidence. Imagine you're at a business conference, the speakers that you will remember (for the right reason) are engaging, they are in charge of the room and their energy is compelling. If you sit in a room with a timid, nervous, unconfident speaker that can feel uncomfortable pretty fast and you just won't remember what they said.
The same applies to video. If you haven't done much of it before you may not be confident or experienced enough to engage with a live audience as well. Therefore it might be a better option to practice with recorded video first. That way your audience only gets to see the good bits. As you develop your presenting chops you will then be more capable of getting a bigger audience with live video and keeping them.
3. What's the reason?
Just forget for a second that it's popular, why are you going live in the first place? Could you get your message across better in another way?
Don't just do lives for the sake of it or because someone told you it was the way to go. It might not be the way to go for you. There are plenty of other ways you can get your message across and your message may be better suited to another method of delivery.
For example, done right recorded videos can get great engagement and the benefit is they last longer. Done right you can re-cycle them too.
Once your live is over, it's over. Sure there is the option to replay it afterwards but for several reasons (which I won't cover here) they may not get great views after the event. A recorded video (with captions) will always get better engagement than the re-play of a live one.
There are other methods to consider too. Carousels for example, or even a good old fashioned email marketing campaign might hit the spot better (remember those?)
How to get better at being live
If you’d like to find out more about becoming a better presenter on screen and how video can boost your business presence on social media, click below and let's have a chat.
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