Live Streaming Tips

The College Communications team encourages all social media managers to consider live streaming as a powerful communications tool to drive online engagement with Davidson.

Live Stream vs. Simulcast

Live streams are broadcast through social media websites, which can include Facebook Live, Twitter (Periscope), Instagram, YouTube Live and Livestream.com. A live stream production includes planned engagement with the social media audiences as part of an event and requires event organizers to be inclusive of the social media audience during the event.

A simulcast is feeding video of a live event from one location on campus to an overflow room. For example, if an event in the Duke Family Performance Hall was sold out, it might be simulcast to an overflow room like the Smith 900 room. Simulcasts are typically fed from one room to another and do not require the assistance of College Communications.

Live Streaming Best Practices

Promote Engagement on Social Media

During the event, the speaker/moderator should mention the social media audience in the introductory remarks and then again repeatedly throughout the event at least 3-5 times.

Start on Time

Advanced/professional live streams may be scheduled in advance.

If the event starts late the number of viewers online could drop dramatically.

Facebook requires that a scheduled live event start no later than 10 minutes after the scheduled time.

Promote a Hashtag

Tell both the audience in the room and online to take pictures, screenshots, video and recordings and share their content using a preplanned hashtag.

If no hashtag is in use, ask the audience to tag @DavidsonCollege and/or any supporting department-level accounts.

Two-to-Five Minutes to Grab Attention

The first two-to-five minutes of the live stream are vital in grabbing the online audience and convincing them to continue watching throughout the duration of the event.

The first 15-30 seconds are crucial to engage users who will watch the recording of the live event.

Repetition

The vast majority of the social media audience will only watch a small portion of the live stream event so it is a best practice to repeat the main talking points a few times throughout the event.

Repeatedly engage the social audience and remind them to like, share, and engage on social media.