Going Live on Social Media

Article by Diamond Member Tesni Haf Kendell featuring Diamond Member Zara Groves

Did you know that live videos get significantly more engagement than pre-recorded videos? On Facebook, for accounts with under 5K followers, the average engagement on live videos is around 2%, this figure drops down to around 1% for pre-recorded videos.

I’ve had a chat with Zara, of Zara Groves Fitness, to find out more about her experience going live.

“I love going live on videos as I feel I can really be myself and get my message across much easier than writing.” – Zara

The best places to go live

You can go live on most Social Media platforms, the best one is the one where you currently have engaged followers. Live content isn’t great at attracting new followers, but it is good at turning your followers into fans.

On Twitter, you also have a slightly different option: Spaces. I wrote a blog about it a while back – read it here.

“I tend to go live mainly on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.” – Zara

Finding the best time to go live

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you a specific time, because it’s unique to you and your audience.

If you want as many people as possible to join you, you need to ask yourself what time do you usually get engagement? What time might your ideal client be able to sit down and listen to you? To improve the likelihood of having lots of people join you, you can also plan it in advance – let people know a few days ahead of time and remind them again an hour or so before you go live.

Interestingly, that busiest time might not be the best time for everyone. If you don’t go live because you’re scared of having to think on the spot and answer people’s questions, then build up your confidence by going live at a quieter time. Your followers can always watch it on replay.

“Sometimes a thought pops into my head and so I will literally go live there and then but mostly I plan when I am going to go live that day.” – Zara

Preparing to go live

In my opinion, the most important thing about going live is to be prepared. You need to know what you are going to talk about and why. Don’t be afraid to have notes if you’re worried you’ll forget to say everything. It’s also a good idea to mention right at the beginning the purpose of your live – why should people keep watching?

“The biggest thing I have learnt about going live is just to be myself and be natural. Just go for it, the more you do it the easier it gets. Get good lighting either from natural light or bought ones, you get to know where and how that works the more you do it. Just think you are speaking to your friend.” – Zara

How going live can help your business

I’m not going to lie to you, I’ve never been live. The closest thing I’ve done is being a guest speaker in a Twitter Space. Going live is an option, and you don’t have to do it.

However, if you do feel comfortable going live, then yes, it can help your business. As I mentioned above, it’s great at turning your followers into fans. Fans are what Social Media Marketing is all about: they are the ones most likely to buy from you, but they are also the ones who’ll mention you to their friends and share your posts.

“It has helped my business – more people tend to tune in when it’s live, if they like what you are saying they listen to the end if they don’t they scroll on by but you don’t know that until you look at the insights. If you feel that this will help your business then just pluck up the courage and do it then do it again and then keep doing it.” – Zara

My Featured Guest

Zara Groves is a passionate Health, Fitness & Body Confidence Coach who’s on a mission to help ladies over the age of 45 to love themselves again. If the name sounds familiar, you might have seen her on BBC Two – Take a Hike.

If you want to catch Zara’s next live, check out her YouTube channel!

Tesni Half Kendell

Ace of Media