Gone Facebook Live yet? Here are 10 tips to make the most out of your next event.

1. Have a purpose. Do you have a big event or product launch that you want to do something different for? Do you have a PR crisis you are trying to respond to? Do you want to connect to your customers on a deeper and more personal level? These are good reasons to go live. Other hot topics include: Q&As, breaking news, interviews, performances, behind-the-scenes, and demonstrations
2. Be part of an integrated program. Don’t be standalone. The event should complement other channels and marketing efforts.
3. Approach it like you’re throwing a party. You’ll need pre-event prep and promotion. Let your audience know about your upcoming live video with news feed posts. If you don’t invite them, they won’t come. Experiment with images or even a short video to tell them about the bigger video to come. Boost your announcement posts as paid Facebook ads. Then, remind your audience again right before you go live.
4. Harness the news feed. TV lets you attract a large audience at the same time, internet isn’t the same. YouTube can expose a massive audience to a video, but typically over an extended period. Facebook ads allow you to fine tune the algorithm to emphasize certain content and generate a ton of viewership over a shorter period.
5. Be relevant. Don’t just talk about yourself and brand, make sure it’s an interest of your audience. Not every piece of news is Facebook Live worthy.
6. Staging. Make sure background noise isn’t overwhelming and scan background to ensure nothing compromises your efforts.
7. Timing. Select the right time based on the time zone of your audience and their activity. If you must go live during work hours, 1-3 p.m. is best and 6-9 p.m. is when people typically wind down and look for effortless entertainment.
8. Connection. Go live with a strong WiFi^® or 4G connection.
9. Broadcasting. Broadcast for at least 10 minutes and quit while you’re ahead. (Facebook only supports broadcasts up to 90 minutes.) Use a closing line to signal the broadcast’s end. Write digestible descriptions and respond to commenters (using their names) in real time.
10. Consistency matters. If you go live at a consistent time, on consistent days, you create expectation and anticipation. This allows you to build your audience over time. With each stream, you’ll attract past viewers, add new ones and create the circumstances for those new viewers to become repeat viewers.