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Gaming Facebook algorithms, and other lessons in live video from The Boom Room

The livestream of Elissa Janelle Velveteen's Boom Room performance. May 8, 2017 Category: FeaturedMediumMethod

Disclosures

Tech in the Commons is supported by the Knight Foundation and organized by Generocity.
The Boom Room Studio operates a little differently than most recording studios: The Fishtown business is also a performance and event space, which makes for a mean source of lively visuals and good vibes.

How to best tap into that energy and promote the space to potential clients?

Eight months ago, founder Gary Dann found his promotional niche in live video. It “really completed the whole package of the studio,” he said, allowing visiting musicians to instantly broadcast their work to the world.

Dann is visiting Generocity HQ tomorrow evening alongside PhillyCAM’s Laura Deutch and Media in Neighborhoods Group’s Jon Kaufman for our third Tech in the Commons event, a live video bootcamp for place-based nonprofits. He’ll cover how to use low-cost streaming products to maximize exposure on social media and how to properly promote the content you’ve created.

Register here
The Boom Room 3

Raymond Baylor’s livestreamed performance at The Boom Room. (Screenshot via YouTube)

While it’s possible to stream on YouTube or Twitch, the drummer and multimedia producer said Facebook is particularly effective in reaching intended audiences because 1.) it already has millions of users, and  2.) a user’s friends automatically receive notifications when they go live.

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Dann has A/B tested this: He filmed a video of a singer’s performance and livestreamed it, then took the same video and uploaded it on Facebook in the traditional way. The live version received something like 500 percent more views than the uploaded version, he said.

For all the videos he’s streamed, Dann said that collectively, they’ve garnered about 60,000 views on Facebook.

What makes people tune into a live video more than a pre-recorded one?

It’s tough for Dann to say. There’s certainly an immediacy that viewers are attracted to, he said, which may play into modern humans’ need for instant gratification. Or maybe it feels more intimate to viewers, as if they’re in the venue with the performers. (It’s worth noting here that it’s possible to livestream pre-recorded content, but Dann has still found that debuting a pre-recorded video live “will get so many more views” than uploading the video on YouTube first.)

And there’s a certain anticipation that something could go wrong — “There’s still that, ‘Oh my god, anything can happen’ [feeling],” he said.

The Boom Room 1

Sabrina Cuie’s livestreamed performance at The Boom Room. (Screenshot via YouTube)

Here are some of Dann’s tips for making the most of live video:

  • Understand Facebook’s algorithms  — The platform is more likely to promote live videos than regular ones, and it prefers videos shared on personal pages over business pages.
  • Shop around — Technological options vary from $10,000 (using multiple cameras and high-end audio equipment) to free (using a personal iPhone propped up on a tripod).
  • Tagging, tagging, tagging — While streaming, be sure to tag your location and any relevant pages and people so those watching know who’s involved in the production. Plus, those tagged can share the video, widening its reach further.

The final two Tech in the Commons bootcamps will teach place-based nonprofits best practices for employing live video and social communications in their digital engagement strategies.

Register here

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Generocity

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