Video is currently the fastest growing and most prioritised form on social media. That means that right now is an excellent time to think about how to introduce it to your social channels.

Live video is the simplest way to get going. This feature is available on a lot of platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It works best if you already have a reasonable number of followers. If you ace the following, you’ll come out ahead.

1)      Promote the video ahead of time so you have an audience

2)      Have a key reason for doing the video – showcase a product, talk about a new development, discuss a particular topic, share an experience or event.

3)      Make sure that everything on screen that needs to be seen is visible. Mostly that means making sure that light sources are behind the camera, not behind you! And don’t cut off your own head!

4)      If you’re sitting still for your video, a wobbly camera can be distracting. Using a laptop camera instead of a phone is a good way to achieve a stable shot.

5)      Get ‘clean’ sound. Get close enough to the microphone to ensure your voice can be clearly heard. And don’t go live in a place with a lot of background sound, unless the sound is part of your story. For example, going live at a music festival works great with a lot of background sound!

6)      Try to keep things fairly pacey – watching one person talk is not usually as engaging as other types of visual content, so avoid pauses that might encourage someone to turn off. Try to make sure that any equipment you’re using is sorted BEFORE you go live so you don’t have to fiddle with it in the middle of the session.

7)      If it works for your video, try a little show and tell – this makes things more interesting to look at. Alternatively you might just point the camera at something dramatic – a natural disaster or extreme sports for example.

That’s our top tips for live social video. What have we missed? Hit us up in the comments!