Do you remember the Ice Bucket Challenge, which was all the rage a couple of years ago? If you were on Facebook – and really, who among us isn’t? – you probably even took part in it in one way or another.
For those of you who might have been in a cave, though, the Ice Bucket Challenge was a simple idea: shoot a smartphone video of someone soaking you with ice and water from a bucket. After your soaking (and on the video), you challenge three or four of your friends to make a donation to help find a cure for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s Disease) or be forced to be soaked by an ice bucket.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge became a worldwide phenomenon, raising $115 million to fight the disease, according to the ALS Association. But how did it become the hottest thing in America for a few months in 2014? Facebook video.
The world’s preeminent social medium increased its appeal to new users when its creator, Mark Zuckerberg, became one of the first celebrities to take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge. After the video of Zuckerberg’s challenge was broadcast on his medium’s new video player (and replayed millions of times), videos on Facebook became the new stars of social media.
In the past year, though, the medium has stepped up its game and added Facebook Live – real-time video presented on your smartphones, laptops and others Internet-enabled devices.
Today, churches are broadcasting their services, journalists are reporting news and celebrities are all using Facebook Live to get their messages across to the public.
So how can you make Facebook Video work for you and your small business? According to a January 2016 report by Kurt Wagner on recode.net*, 500 million people now watch 100 million hours of Facebook video every single day. Thanks to Facebook’s new algorithm that is pushing viewers to Facebook Live videos instead of pre-packaged (or, native) videos and even hyper-linked videos, your customers are being encouraged by the social medium to view these videos either live or on the site when the live feed ends.
That’s where you need experienced professionals in this field to help you and your small business. Having a big sale and you’d like to uniquely promote it – and even target the specific audience that needs to see it? Facebook video – Live and otherwise – is the way to do it.