Considering that Facebook Live launched in 2016 it is staggering to think that 3.5 billion broadcasts have been amassed. Even more, mind-boggling though, is the fact that a quarter of the world’s population (2 billion people) have watched a Facebook Live Video.
With these impressive stats, it’s fair to say that combining the popularity of live video content with the world’s largest social network is a very good match. And it’s why Facebook Live is quickly cementing itself as a popular option for virtual events. But how does it fare? Is it a viable option? Let’s take a detailed look to find out.
What is Facebook Live?
Using a camera on a computer or mobile device Facebook Live makes it possible to broadcast video in real-time to your followers, as well as directly to an event page or group. This simplicity makes it a powerful tool for brands looking to communicate their brand and build stronger connections with fans and followers.
During and after the live event, the broadcast will appear in the follower’s news feed. It’s also worth mentioning that Facebook’s ranking algorithm priorities live streams over other content, making it a very good social media engagement tool for any marketer. Also, any followers that missed the video can still watch the video by going onto your page or profile.
Finally, at the time of writing this, it is also worth mentioning that Facebook Live is offering monetization which is currently being rolled out across the US.
What is Eventtia?
Eventtia is a cloud-based event management software that makes planning and managing online events easy. With intelligent user interfaces and straightforward planning tools, Eventtia’s event software makes it easier to manage events with an all-in-one tool that covers each part of the event lifecycle. By giving marketers and companies more control of their online events, Eventtia helps them to promote their brand, interact with leads, and strengthen their community.
Features:
- Use website builders and email campaigns to communicate with your ideal audience.
- Create your event in a few clicks and then manage all of your logistics through one dashboard.
- Connect people and businesses with one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many networking formats.
- Seamlessly integrate all of the major streaming and webinar tools into a main virtual stage and connect with a worldwide audience.
- Scale your online events and make informed decisions with real-time data and analytics.
Eventtia vs. Facebook Live: The differences?
So now we’ve got a clear understanding of how Facebook Live and Eventtia work. Let’s take this a step further by comparing the main differences between the two.
No control over the platform
OK, so the first major difference is that with Facebook you can’t control the platform. Unless your name is Mark Zuckerberg, you will never truly own your community, meaning that you could be affected by any changes made to the platform.
Over the years, Facebook has made tweaks to its algorithm which have made some big changes in how people see and access your content. This means that you regularly have to readapt your content strategy to retain your users’ attention, potentially jeopardising all of the hard work you had previously put in.
With Eventtia, you can build and engage you community outside of any platform and actually drag them to your website that you’re in full control of. This puts the power back in your hands, giving you more control and flexibility on how you communicate with your digital community.
In turn, this makes it much easier to do what you want to do without having to follow a set of guidelines that could change at any moment.
Attendees don’t get the full virtual event experience
Facebook Live is simply a channel to broadcast your live event. You can stream anything from a conversation to a performance or a Q&A session. However, any successful virtual event will require more than just a channel to broadcast your video content.
Especially for your attendees, who will be expecting more than just a one-dimensional event focused on content. Because with Facebook Live the event experience isn’t there for your attendees. There’s no option to build a virtual stage, offer simultaneous sessions, or provide networking.
Yet these are all features that come with Eventtia. For marketers, this provides them with flexibility when planning their virtual events. Whereas for attendees, this gives them a more complete event experience, that offers variety and a much closer representation of a physical event.
Less insight into data
To gain valuable insight and create better virtual events for the future, it’s essential that you make the most of your data. Now when it comes to attendee engagement, Facebook Live does offer some metrics such as peak live viewers, total views, average watch time, people reached, and the demographics of who watched your video. However, this only focuses on the engagement of the video. There are no metrics collected before or after the event making it much more difficult to get a real insight into your event.
In contrast to this, Eventtia offers its own event reporting module, allowing you to track certain information from across the whole event. That means metrics and data on your website, registration, email campaigns, and post-event surveys to give you much a clearer understanding of how your event, and not just your content, is performing.
You won’t know who your attendees are
With Facebook Live it’s a lot harder to identify who your attendees are. During the live stream, you can track engagement but these metrics offer very little if you want to know more about your attendees.
Without the right data, this makes subsequent communications very difficult. Especially because you’ll have no option for email nurturing and the end goal of integrating these attendees into your online community. This doesn’t happen with Eventtia because the platform not only helps you to launch your event but it also gathers the emails of your attendees, so that you can continue to engage long after the event.
You can’t brand your event
Consistency is at the root of powerful branding, and projecting a persistent message is an essential element of any successful event. Facebook Live offers no branding because you’re running your live events on their platform.
In contrast to this, Eventtia plays a big part in providing your events with uniformity. Factors such as having standardized websites, automated email campaigns, and a strong presence on social media go a long way in communicating your brand to attendees.
Lack of video production
Although Facebook Live offers you the possibility to streamline without a third-party streaming partner it doesn’t help you generate a high-professionally looking online event production.
Using Eventtia, you’ll be encouraged to work with a third-party streaming partner that will help you make your online event production truly professional. Moreover, you’ll be able to stream your event on major platforms.
Deciding what’s right for you?
This is a big question and the reality is that it all comes down to you and your needs. There is no one size fits all approach, and that’s why it’s worth asking yourself a few questions so that you can identify what’s best for you.
- Do you want your community to be free or owned? Is Facebook the best channel for doing this?
- Are you looking for a channel to broadcast your event? Is your event going to have a virtual stage with an agenda and simultaneous session?
- Am I looking to use multiple technologies to plan and manage my event?
- How important is my events data? How well do I need to know my attendees?
- Do my events need to be branded?
To sum it up, Facebook Live is great for broadcasting content to huge audiences, making it a great social media engagement tool. However, if you’re looking to to plan and manage your online events from A to Z, then Eventtia is your answer.
