BUSINESS

  SOCIAL MEDIA

LIVE STREAM AT EVENTS

UTILIZE FACEBOOK’S LIVE FEATURE TO GET SOCIAL AT CONFERENCES

JUSTIN BAZAN, O.D.

WHAT HAPPENS in Vegas, stays in Vegas! That is, until a fellow O.D. begins to broadcast live from that post-education happy hour. Are you ready for your close up?

Using Facebook Live, a feature that broadcasts live events as video posts to the social media platform, is one way to share with your fans your professional development experiences at one of the many optometric conferences held annually.

Here, I take you through how to integrate live streaming into your social media marketing campaign.

BACKGROUND

Facebook Live is not a fad. It has been widely embraced by the general population for personal and professional use. (Don’t believe me? Check out all the videos streaming live right now at tinyurl.com/FBLiveMap.)

Users can “Follow” you to be alerted when you are live. More importantly, the service allows real-time interaction. So, your followers can “like,” “love,” ask questions or otherwise provide feedback in real time as you are broadcasting. Live videos are then published to your page or profile so fans and friends can watch them later.

Example of how to use the live video feature within a closed group.

GAINING ACCESS

Facebook Live is a feature that is only found on your mobile device. It is easily located when using your personal profile to post on your own timeline. (It is fairly hard to find for those wanting to use it in a group.)

To “Start A Live Video” while on a group’s Facebook page:

• Touch the “…” indicating “more” under the publisher.

• A menu will appear that will have that choice.

• After you select it, the Facebook Live interface will appear.

On your own business page, the app “Facebook Pages” clearly indicates “Start a Live Video” as a selection for posting content to your page. As a bonus, Facebook recently made “a small update to News Feed so that Facebook Live videos are more likely to appear higher in News Feed when those videos are actually live,” according to the company.

GET STARTED

Unsure of where to begin your first live broadcast? Here are some ideas:

• Channel Walter Cronkite. When you come across cool new products and devices as you are strolling around the tradeshow floor, consider doing a live broadcast. Grab the attention of those O.D. “celebs” you see walking around and — instead of taking the typical selfie — let your audience see them live!

• Start a discussion group. AAO, AOA and Vision Expo do not allow filming of their educational programming (See “Vision Council” at right, and for more specific guidelines, reach out to organization representatives directly). However, perhaps you and your fellow O.D.s continue the conversation topic after the session. Debating the findings of a new piece of research or discussing signs and symptoms of a disease could be great footage to share with your audience.

• Create a fear of missing out. FOMO is a powerful emotion! Want to see more of your colleagues attend events? Let them see what kind of fun they are missing by not attending! Conferences provide ample opportunities to show the lighter side of your colleagues.

However, be aware the video has the potential to live in the digital world forever. With that said, let’s keep it classy, optometry.

GO LIVE!

So, next time you find yourself at an optometric convention, instead of taking that same old boring selfie with the conference sign, remember FB live and all the fun you can have with broadcasting live. OM

DR. BAZAN is founder of Park Slope Eye, in Brooklyn, N.Y. He is a member of the AOA, NYSOA and the American Academy of Orthokeratology & Myopia Control. In 2014, he received financial compensation for services from Allergan, Bausch + Lomb, Vision Service Plan, Luxottica, The Vision Council and Foster Grant.