Livestream on Facebook and YouTube
Livestream on Facebook and YouTube
1. Plan your livestream by defining goals, choosing the format, and assigning roles.
Possible goals and formats for livestreams: Build brand reputation by hosting a live event Boost brand awareness by streaming a live contest Tell your brand story by hosting a Q&A with your founder Increase conversions by doing a live product demo with Q&A opportunities Depending on your scope of work, you may or may not need additional team members to help with the livestream. Some possible roles are: Camera technician: They must be experienced both with using the equipment and the functionality and features of the multistream platform. Cohost: They must be familiar with your brand, be comfortable in front of a camera, and have a good rapport with your viewers.
2. Create an outline for topics to cover during the event based on goals and chosen format.
Depending on your chosen format, your livestream may require a full script or an outline with talking points. Include: The stream structure, including how you want to begin the livestream, what you will do in the middle, and how you will wrap it up. Names of products, services, or people that will be featured. Talking points to meet your goals, like a story about your brand you want to share or a feature of the product. Ideas for how to interact with viewers, like a specific hashtag they can comment. The desired call to action at the end.
3. Choose a software or gear with multistreaming capabilities to take your stream and deliver it to Facebook and YouTube.
Great examples of multistreaming services include Restream, Vimeo Livestream, JW Player, OBS, and Wirecast.
4. Promote your livestream to both Facebook and YouTube by sharing the livestream topic and time.
Create an engaging promotional campaign by showing why your audience should join your livestream. For example, share who your guests will be, record a teaser clip, or announce that there will be a contest or a sneak peek of a new product in the livestream. Consider promoting your livestream in your email newsletter, in a website popup, or on other relevant communication channels as well. For most livestreams, start promotion a week in advance, then a few days before and the day of.
5. Log in to your Facebook account and open your page, then select the Go Live button to livestream on Facebook.
Click Create a Post and select the Go Live option below the post box to get started. Write a click-worthy description and video thumbnail to entice your viewers. Get in position and hit the Go Live button to start the livestream.
6. Enable YouTube livestreaming by navigating to Channel features page > Feature eligibility.
New YouTube channels disable the livestreaming feature by default. To enable it, click the Eligible dropdown under the features that require phone verification. Choose county, mode of verification and a valid phone number. Then enable livestreaming through the Channel features page. Alternatively, you can enable livestreaming via Live Control Room or YouTube Studio live events page.
7. Connect a multistreaming service or hardware with Facebook and YouTube.
Streaming software like Wirecast have all encoding settings for YouTube and Facebook as presets. Copy and paste the stream key values and RTMP from the CDN to software. Streaming hardware like Pearl Mini and Pearl-2 have to be configured separately using RTMP and stream key values from the CDN.
8. Test your streaming equipment, internet connection, and streaming quality.
Either in your multistreaming platform or on both Facebook and YouTube, check to make sure the connected camera and microphone are the ones you intend to use. Perform an internet speed test with Speedtest. Look at the preview window to see what your stream will look like. Consider using an external camera or adjusting the lighting in the room if the quality doesn’t look great.
9. Go live and interact with viewers during the livestream by engaging with comments and replies.
Engage with your audience by: Reading and answering live questions. Telling the audience to reply a specific word or emoji to vote in a poll, feel included in the livestream, or to say if they are here from Facebook or YouTube. Read their comments and include their name. If you have a question, ask them for suggestions. End your livestream with a call to action, like subscribing to your channel, liking your Facebook account, or checking out a product you were discussing.