Live video - lessons learned

Exam results were published in Scotland this week. Once again, Skills Development Scotland hosted the Exam Results Helpline (this being the 25th anniversary of the helpline, itself) for pupils and parents across the country.

It is obviously a big deal across social media too. 'Exam Results' was a trending topic across Twitter all day Tuesday, as was the excellent Developing Young Workforce campaign #nowrongpath. On Facebook too, just about every news outlet published stories to their pages with many commenting and pushing the various reactions buttons.

The Mix

At SDS, we were no different. Social is an essential part of the marketing communications mix. From promotional posts with the helpline number, helpful articles, and replying to proud parents to offer our congratulations; we were all over it on opening day.

Live Video

One area we wanted to improve on this year was with our Live Facebook Video feature, Last year, we tried it for the first time and garnered some modest (i.e. nothing I'd rave about in a report) success.

The format was simple: a Careers Adviser and I chatted over some of the most frequently asked questions regarding exam results.

This year, we recognised our large parent following on Facebook and invited Cheryl Burnett from National Parent Forum Scotland to join in and give a parent's perspective.

Excepting the addition to the lineup, a slightly better lit room and an improved camera (iPhone 7 Plus with attached wide angle lens), the format was much the same. Unfortunately, so was the number of comments received via the live stream comments.

Live video is the hot stuff on social media. You'd be hard pushed to find any social media 'expert' not recommending as a must have part of your content strategy.

Always Learning

The lesson I have learned is around 'consistency'. And I should have known better. If you're a social media marketer reading this, you are probably dismissing me as a green as grass rookie.

For anything on social, consistency and time are the most valuable commodities going. You (I) simply cannot expect to post one live video per year and expect engagement. People need to trust the people in front of the camera first, before they invest their time on screen.

I reckon if I had spent the last six months recording a live video every week, we would have had quadruple the number of viewers as we did on Tuesday, And so - expect plenty of me (or some other poor sap I rope in as my host) to do just that.

What do you think? I'd love to get your opinions on what works? Would people ever consume long form video on Facebook?