YouTube Now Has Live Streaming

Video is all the rage right now and going live is the biggest trend on Social Media! With Facebook Live, Snapchat, and Instagram stories, this approach has proven to be a successful add to those social media platforms! And this is why Youtube has decided to jump on this bandwagon as well, and it’s about time.  Honestly, I would have thought this is something they would have done long ago, but it is now available through your YouTube Mobile App. But unfortunately not to everyone.  That’s right. Currently, it is only available to people with 10,000 plus subscribers, bummer I know, but I did read in a blog post that the feature would soon be available to everyone.

How Does YouTube Live Streaming Work

• First YouTube needs to make sure your account is in good standing and verify your identity with a phone number.
• Once that happens you can enable live streaming from the Creator Studio tools, with a URL similar to youtube.com/user/BarbiesBeautyBits/live
• Once your channel is enabled, you have two options to start your live stream:
• Option 1: "Stream now" is a quick and easy way to go live. Start sending content and YouTube will automatically start and stop the stream for you at the right time.
• Option 2: "Events" gives you greater control of the live stream. You can preview before you go live, you have backup redundancy streams, and you can start and stop the stream when you want to.
• You have the option to take a picture and use it as the cover of your live video.
• Now you are ready to record.
• Once you’re complete, the live broadcast video will automatically be added to your playlist; privacy options do apply to these as well.

How To Get Started With YouTube Live Streaming

Want more information on how to get started with YouTube Live Streaming, like finding out about monetizing?  Well here is a link to YouTube's Live Streaming Guide!

Happy Streaming! 

Just In: You Can Now Schedule A Facebook Live Video

While Facebook LIVE is great, if no one is watching it, how great is it really?  Well, fret no more, as Facebook has just rolled out the option for verified Facebook pages to now, schedule a Facebook Live Video, giving you the opportunity to let people know ahead of time about your live stream!  Now don’t get me wrong, you have always had the ability to let your followers know about your upcoming Live broadcast, but it was just by posting it on your wall, via a simple post.  However, with this new feature, you can do so much more than that! Not only can you schedule it seven days in advance you can also send reminders and Facebook gives you a share link that you can share and embed in other places like your blog and website. And if all of that wasn’t cool enough your fans can join what Facebook calls your "lobby" (think of a waiting room) about three minutes before your Live broadcast begins.

So How Do You Schedule Your Facebook Live Video

Below is a brief description directly from Facebook media.  However, if you click here, there is a complete PDF download that has come directly from Facebook, making it fool proof.

• Navigate to Publishing Tools: Once you’re in Publishing Tools, select “Video Library” and then “Live.”
• Copy your stream credentials (e.g. steam key, Server URL). If you need to find the credentials closer to the time you’re going live; they are also available by editing the post in Video Library.
• Craft your announcement post. Be sure to write an engaging and informative description, so your followers know what to expect from your broadcast. You will be able to update the description later if need be.
• Finalize your scheduled live broadcast. Put any finishing touches on your post (such as adding a custom image) before you schedule your broadcast.

So there you have fellow bloggers and marketers the ability for you to schedule your Facebook live video, enabling you to get your message seen and heard, BEFORE you go live!

Facebook New Business Page Layout Change

When we hear Facebook is making more changes, we always seem to think of the algorithms.  While that has just happened, today I am sharing a new revamp,  the layout of a business page.

When Will This Facebook Change Take Place?
Unlike in past rolls out, Facebook is rolling this out slower on a per user basis.  So this means that I may be able to see your business page with the new look while you may not!

So What’s New With Facebook?
I’ve done a screenshot of my page below so you can see the changes.

Left Side Of Your Business Facebook Page

Profile Photo
The profile picture is no longer on the cover it is off to the left away from the page.   Off to the left is also your username and name.

Apps Menu
I like this change, as before the apps. were hidden and unless you knew where to click to find them,  a person visiting your page, may have missed them.

Center Of The Facebook Page

Cover Image
This to me is the best change as nothing is cluttering up the image any longer.  It is cleaner, there aren't any buttons, etc. giving us more room to showcase our brand.  Additionally, it is going to be more user friendly as you don't have too worry about the cover image being cut off or covered up!

Likes and Messages
Directly below your cover image, you will find your likes and message button to the left next to your call to action button, which is on the right.

Right Side Of Your Facebook Page

Call to Action Button
What is that??? Exactly.  This was something that was an excellent idea, but got lost on the old page set up.  But not anymore as it is now located under the cover image to the right and it is much bigger, so we can't miss it! 

Page Category
This located directly under the call to action button, you’ll notice my Barbie’s Beauty Bits is Health & Beauty along with my city.

Likes Area
This is below the page category along with the invite friend.

The About Section Is Next
There isn’t much change here.  But the featured video is very prominent so make sure you set that up.

Remaining Tabs On the Right

• Apps
• Photos
• Videos
• Visitor's Post
• Liked by this page.

Create A Facebook Ad

Facebook offers advertising solutions for every level of expertise.

You don’t have to be an expert to start advertising on Facebook. Utilize self-serve tools to a create Facebook ad, run a campaign, and track their performance. Almost two billion people use Facebook monthly, so you can reach any kind of audience here.

So there you have it, the new Facebook Business Page look.  What are your thoughts? Let me know below!

Personally, I love the new look and more in your face, as it is giving businesses the opportunity to shine!

Facebook Adds Emoji Buttons To It's Platform!

Back in October on the Kevin Makes Sense Radio Show, I shared that Facebook was going to be giving people more ways to express their emotions more by adding some Emoji's to Facebook.  If you missed that radio show, click here!

Well, friends, reactions is no longer a talk IT IS A REALITY! As Facebook is rolling out its new “Reactions Feature”, for all of it’s users in the next few days!

On the Today show this morning, they shared that Facebook users will now have five new ways to express their feelings on Facebook.

The new Emoji’s include…. Love, Haha, Sad, Wow, and Angry.  Add that to the like button, we now have six ways to let people know how we really feel!

Now business owners, don’t worry this is not a dislike button, but rather a way for people to express, empathy as well as happiness!

Page Admins: With these new icons, you can also check the reactions of your posts in Insights. So love it! 

...We’re kicking butt with Love! 

Or that thought of the day, got a lot of HAha's!

 


To read more on Facebooks new Emoji’s CLICK HERE

Twitter Is Making It's Platform More User Friendly, But Is It Too Late?

You hear me talk a lot about Facebook, and that is because Facebook remains to be king of the social media networks with continued increases.  But today I wanted to talk to you about some changes with Twitter, that was published in a few articles I read this week.  One being in Entrepreneur Magazine and the other a blog post from Twitter.

Twitter has been confusing to a lot of users and, more importantly, there are too many rules, which personally I think has affected them negatively. 

While Twitter is third in social media networks with about 56.8 million users this year, according to Emarketer,  it is having a hard time gaining new followers.

From the article I read from Entrepreneur Magazine, “The company’s market value is down to around $10 billion.  They are not gaining new users.  Beyond a core group of social-media enthusiasts, the media, celebrities and their followers, Twitter never managed to engage mainstream users”.

Some Changes To Twitter

Twitter realizes they need to step up their game so to speak and are attempting to do some of that with some new changes to the platform. While there have been talks for a while about changing their 140 character limit, that is not one of the changes taking place (yet).  Some changes that they did announce included the ability never to miss important tweets from people you follow, to changing the rules around tweets starting with a @username. 

Bottom line Twitter has not stayed ahead of the curve when it comes to social networks. Unlike Facebook, who is continually changing and adding new features to make its users happy. Twitters fear of alienating its current users has prevented them from growing and gaining new ones. 

In conclusion, while these changes may seem good, are they enough to put Twitter on the road in the right direction?  Facebook and others appear to get it, so the following suit, by starting with making the platform easier to use is a good start!

What do you think?  Do you use Twitter?

Until Next Time...

Just In…Facebook Is Making Changes to What Posts Will Be Shown At the Top Of Your Newsfeed

With the New Year always comes new changes, and it is not any different with Facebook.  Yes, Facebook is once again making some changes to the News Feed algorithm, helping to weed out posts you may not want to see.

Facebook's goal is to make the users experience better, and this is why they are always conducting surveys. You may have recently been asked: "What would you like to see on your news feed or to rate a story," now you know why.   Facebook's goal is to place the content in front of people that want to see it.

Facebook said on Monday, “The goal of News Feed is to show you the stories that matter most to you. The actions people take on Facebook—liking, clicking, commenting or sharing a post—are historically some of the main factors considered to determine what to show at the top of your News Feed. But these factors don’t always tell us the whole story of what is most meaningful to you.”

Facebook also mentions, “That this update should not impact your reach or referral traffic. But, some pages may see increases in referral traffic if your posts are considered meaning while other may see a decline if the rate of which people are clicking on your stories does not match what the survey indicated people wanted to see.”

How does this affect your business Facebook page?

While these may seem like small changes, in my opinion it is not.  Why? Because, the posts that will be shown or seen will now be determined by the likelihood that your audience wants to see it, not just by the actions that are taken on the posts. For example, if there are a lot of actions on a post (likes, comments, etc.), but this type of post was not one that was indicated as a post that would like to be seen, it could have a negative effect on your page.

Facebook's software engineers Cheng Zhang and Si Chen suggests: "That page owners need to avoid engorging people to take a particular action (like clicking or liking). While this type of activity will show a temporary spike in your metrics, if it doesn’t match what your audience has said they want to see, it can have a negative effective on your page."

Overall this Facebook update is going to help re-balance the actions on your page to what people have reported that they want to see.

Want to read more on how Facebook is using qualitative feedback to show relevant stories click here!