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Live And Let Live

Jamie Allebach
Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Facebook Live has a story to tell – what’s yours?

Now that Facebook Live’s gone live, lots of articles are cropping up that focus on how to use it – how to choose the best location, how to create a storyline, how to interact with live audience questions and comments. It’s all good information, and quite necessary for making the best audience impression. But honestly, when all is said and done, “how” is totally missing the point.

I’m about to tell you why to use Facebook Live.

  1. It’s Facebook.
  2. Facebook has 1.65 billion monthly active users.
  3. That’s more active users than Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and Snapchat combined, even if you throw in Pinterest or LinkedIn for good measure.
  4. 82% of online American adults aged 18-29 use Facebook; 79% of ages 30-49, 64% of ages 50-64, 48% of 65+. Pretty good range and reach — and for food marketers, it encompasses 77% of online women, who are quite often our primary target.
  5. All of your followers and brand advocates are on Facebook.
  6. All of their followers are on Facebook.
  7. Your Facebook Live streams are locked to the top of your follower’s timelines the entire time you’re streaming (10-90 minutes) for free.
  8. Let me repeat, FREE. Boosted Post positioning with no associated fees, and plenty of space to write ad-worthy video descriptors to drive views. On the largest social network on the planet. Do the words “Win-Win” come to mind?

So how does all this compare to other streaming competitors like Periscope (owned by Twitter) and Snapchat?

Well, with Twitter’s (comparatively) paltry 320 million users, Periscope has only 20% of Facebook’s viewer reach. And, since it’s Twitter, your live stream gets pushed off the top by the next tweet to come along… hardly the primo positioning it enjoys on Facebook. Snapchat? Shorter is better, only 200 million users, and primarily a younger audience with 86% between ages 13-34. Oh, and videos aren’t stored for viewing later… 24 hours and they’re gone. Growing quickly, but not an impactful tool for food marketing – yet.

What’s the takeaway here? With 1.65 billion users, the ability to stack the deck in your favor, and a network of followers your brand’s probably already connected to, Facebook Live is hands-down your best bet for live-streaming success.

So what are you waiting for?

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