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.

Potential Talking Points

The event speaker/moderator should mention these talking points to welcome the online audience and encourage engagement and sharing of the live stream:

  • This lecture is being broadcast tonight live on the Davidson College Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channels
  • Thank you for joining us live, please share the live stream with your network to encourage others to watch
    • (The key to getting increased viewers on a live stream is to get viewers to share the stream to their audiences and networks during the live stream itself).
  • There will be a question and answer session at the end of the presentation—if you are watching live please submit your questions as comments during the live stream and we will try to answer them as we are able.
  • After the conclusion of the live stream, an archived version of the video will be available online on the Davidson College Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channels as a recording.

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.