The Lure of Live Video—Are You Ready to Take the Leap?
// By Jane Weber Brubaker //
Live video is not for the faint of heart. Consider the jaw-dropping gaffe at this year’s Academy Awards, when Warren Beatty got the wrong envelope and broke the hearts of the La La Land producers.
So why does the social media team at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin love live video? “When you’re forced to walk that tightrope, when you’re forced to perform without a safety net, that’s really the power of live video,” says Korre Johnson, digital engagement manager. Johnson and his co-worker Courtney Rademann, digital engagement coordinator, made the case for live video at the most recent HCIC conference during their presentation, “We’ll Do It Live! How to Integrate Live Video Into Your Social Media Strategy.”
Korre Johnson, digital engagement manager, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
But it’s not the thrill-seeking aspect of performing death-defying feats that keeps them going. It’s the results they get. Johnson and Rademann dipped their toes in the water in late 2015, using Periscope to feature life inside the NICU during National Prematurity Awareness Month. The result was a big splash, with an online article in People Magazine promoting the live event.
When Facebook announced Facebook Live in April 2016, the team at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin pivoted quickly. “The day Facebook Live became available, we were all in and ready for it,” says Rademann. “We like Facebook Live because of the marketing platform it offers, and because we have a base of over 126,378 fans.” To date, CHW has produced a total of 72 live broadcasts, 27 on Periscope and 45 on Facebook Live.
What does it take to succeed with live video? Is it really so much more compelling than “normal” video? Johnson and Rademann believe it is, and they have the results to prove it. Here, we’ll share their best practices, refined over time, as well as an update on the impressive results they have achieved using all the tools in Facebook’s advertising arsenal.
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