Earlier this year, Facebook announced that it was working on various updates to its Live Producer platform, which could take Facebook Live streams to the next level. This week, a highly-anticipated number of updates were finally rolled out to creators, and while they’re not yet available to all users, the results are already promising.
Certain users are now able to view a dedicated “Graphics” tab in Live Producer, which offers a variety of graphic overlays to add to your Facebook Live streams. This includes the ability to run polls and display results in real-time, highlighting viewer comments, and a news ticker that runs along the bottom of your live sessions. In addition to this, users now have access to a “Feature Link” function which allows for direct traffic driven from your stream.
These updates are perfectly timed, as many brands have been experimenting with live streaming over the past few months, having realized that it offers a playful and efficient way to stay connected to customers while sharing various types of content ranging from educational to entertainment on a wider scale. These updates will allow users to further customize their streams, and functions such as the “Feature Link” especially will help drive traffic from passively viewing a stream to actively engaging with a website or making a purchase.
We look forward to seeing how social media platforms continue to evolve to meet unprecedented needs, and how live streaming will grow to become more interactive and user-friendly. Facebook reports that viewership of Facebook Live streams has increased by 50% since January, and we have a feeling this is just the beginning! If you are not seeing these updates in Live Producer yet, stay tuned as they are currently rolling them out to more users.
Do you have any questions on how to successfully live stream? Shoot us a note at [email protected] – we are looking forward to starting a conversation!
