7 of the Best Facebook Live Movies We’ve Ever Seen

This week, Facebook announced grand plans to take their already successful live broadcasting platform to superb heights. The announcement included product updates like two-person broadcasts, waiting rooms for viewers, and Snapchat-esque f ilters all in the works.

With these updates in mind, carving out a strategy for Facebook Live seems like a no-brainer.

Oh, and did we mention the potential live movie has for Facebook engagement? Initial data from Facebook exposed that people comment 10X more on Facebook Live movies than on regular movies.

Now, we get it. Going live, well, it’s kinda scary. What if you mess up? What if the camera wigs out? There are a number of things that could go wrong. But while you’re contemplating the risk, a ton of brands are out there engaging their audience in some indeed arousing and private fresh ways.

To help you jiggle the nerves, we put together a list of some of the best Facebook Live broadcasts we’ve ever seen. From live debates to intense trainings, you’ll get a little taste of everything to inspire you to add live streaming to your Facebook marketing strategy.

7 of the Best Facebook Live Movies We’ve Ever Seen

1) Rough Mudder

Harsh Mudder is an stamina event series known for its military-style obstacles and enormous sense of community. A few weeks ago, they took to Facebook Live to broadcast their Merrell Michigan Training Event with Coach T. Mud, a.k.a. Kyle Railton. I nfectious energy aside, this stream made the list for a few reasons.

For one, it serves as a fine use case for how to keep your community engaged — even when they can’t make it to your event. By bringing the event right to their audience’s desktop or mobile device, they can choose to go after along with the training, or simply get a sense of what they might be signing up for.

At the beginning of the broadcast, Coach T. Mud gives a shout out to the Rough Mudder Snapchat treat to encourage those at home — and at the event — to go after along with the training there. This is a fine way to cross-promote your channels and increase overall engagement.

Around the six-minute mark, the person filming chimes in to reiterate where they are streaming from. She does the same thing again around the eight-minute mark. This is a excellent strategy for keeping those who might be joining mid-stream in the loop.

Ultimately, we indeed love the way Coach T. Mud gets up close and individual with some of the attendees around the 18-minute mark. While he mainly uses this time to get to know the Rough Mudder community a little better, he also sneaks in some subtle promotions, like this:

Well played, Coach.

Two) Benefit

One truly interesting route brands have taken with Facebook Live is the series treatment. In other words, they broadcast a themed movie series on a set date and time, usually weekly.

Why does this work so well? As A uthor Laura Vanderkam explains: "TV shows come on at certain times so people get in the habit of watching them. You can do the same with Facebook Live."

One of my beloved examples of this come from the folks at Benefit, who host a series called "Tipsy Tricks" every Thursday at Four:15 P.M. Here’s one of the scenes from a few weeks back:

One of the most interesting things they do via this particular movie is ask questions of the audience to inform how the movie will play out. For example, around four minutes in, the host polls the audience to determine which product they’d like to see them use in the makeup look they’re creating.

Then, they give a duo of minutes to let the audience weigh in before following through based on the responses — it’s sort of like a beauty-themed, choose-your-own – escapade game.

This strategy aims to keep those watching engaged, while also helping the folks at Benefit learn more about their audience’s product preferences.

Another way they’re keeping the audience involved? Benefit permits their viewers to submit ideas via Facebook Live comments or Snapchat to help the hosts brainstorm future topics to cover. You can see this in act by checking out the comment thread on this movie, where they ask viewers to Like the comment if they’d like to see an scene about concealing:

Trio) Jason Carr

The next Facebook movie on the list comes to us in two parts. In an interesting series of events, Jason Carr, a former news anchor for FOX two in Detroit, takes Facebook Live viewers on a rail to his fresh gig at WDIV-TV, Local four News . but he doesn’t tell them that. At least not in the beginning.

The very first movie commences with Carr explaining that he’s going Live to go after up on a promise he made during his final broadcast for FOX two earlier that morning. This was his very first right budge: Using Facebook Live to extend the conversation following something like a webinar, interview, or panel discussion is a fine way to connect with your audience while they’re already engaged.

Viewers observe as Carr — who is broadcasting live from the back of a Cadillac — takes a excursion to what he refers to as "parts unknown." During the very first half of the stream, he provides some context around leaving the station, while engaging with viewers in the comments and continuing to build suspense for where he’s headed.

The entire suspense aspect is key, as it helps Carr spark his audience’s curiosity. After all, a little curiosity can go a long way: Research from the University of California exposed that sparking participant’s curiosity with the right question helped to prepare their brain for learning, while also making learning a more rewarding practice.

Just before the stream wraps up, we see Carr arrive at his secret destination — his fresh station — where he announces that he’ll pick back up once he has a chance to go in and get lodged.

A little over an hour later, Carr fires up his stream again to give viewers a behind the scenes look at his very first appearance on the fresh job.

Talk about a creative way to announce a fresh hire .

Four) Grazia UK

This Grazia/Facebook collaboration just might be the most interesting use case for Facebook Live on our list. This month, the team at Grazia UK, an Italian women’s magazine with international editions, headed off to Facebook’s London headquarters to chunk together their very first "community issue."

They took to Facebook Live to document a week’s worth of behind-the-scenes footage, permitting their audience to participate in things like their editorial meeting, cover shoot, and GraziaxFB Brexit Debate.

While all of the footage truly helped to pull back the curtain for Grazia’s audience, the GraziaxFB Brexit Debate was one of the most successful broadcasts of the week — and for good reason.

The debate, chaired by The Guardian’s political editor Anushka Asthana, was centered around the UK’s decision to remain in or exit the European Union. The panelists were each given time to discuss their views, while also leaving time for questions from both the live audience and Facebook audience.

Asthana encouraged Facebook Live viewers to submit their ideas via the hashtag #GraziaxFB at the beginning of the broadcast.

Note: If you’re hosting a live debate, discussion, or training, coming up with a hashtag in advance is a fine way to organize the obedience process for questions. (Read this article for tips on how to use hashtags on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.)

Overall, the discussion was timely, well executed, and helped to get the Grazia community talking about not only the Grazia/Facebook collaboration, but also the larger political issue at forearm.

In the words of Grazia Editor Natasha Pearlman: "This is a fantastic chance to bring Grazia to life for our readers, and at the same time launch our real-life community, in partnership with the largest social media network in the world."

"The Grazia audience aren’t just readers, they are part of the brand – their views and opinions form our content and truly matter," she went on to explain. "Now they can participate with us in real time."

Five) Tastemade

When you live in an apartment in Boston (or any city, indeed), you quickly learn how to make the most of a petite kitchen. But this movie from Tastemade takes that concept to a entire fresh level.

According to Tastemade’s Head of Productio Jay Holzer, the lil’ cooking concept was inspired by one of Tastemade’s Japanese fucking partners. As it turns out, miniature cooking is fairly popular in Japan, as a result of kawaii — the quality of ‘sweetness’ — which is plays a prominent role in Japanese pop culture.

While Lil’ Kitchen embarked as a pre-recorded series, the folks at Tastemade tested their luck with Facebook Live by recording this real-time cooking demonstration:

What’s superb about this particular use case is that it can be liked without sound. In other words, viewers can tune in without having to stop and adjust their volume, or put on headphones.

The strangely fascinating footage is truly effortless to consume, which likely contributed to the success of the original scenes. By going live, Tastemade simply added a unique interactive element. And Three.7 million views later, they’ve proved it works.

The lesson? Sometimes, less it more.

6) BuzzFeed

While Whirr F eed recently made headlines for their not-so-perfect Facebook Live attempt with none other than the president of the United States, we can assure you that they know what they’re doing.

On a much less serious note, the folks at Hum F eed took to Facebook Live this past March to host an epic live dance battle.

But this wasn’t just any old dance battle: "Dance Craze Battle: Live" was an interactive competition that required the audience to vote on spectacles and submit suggestions for dance moves.

In inbetween the very first two rounds, the host took time to get to know each of the contestants a little better by asking them a few questions. This was truly clever for two reasons:

1. It created an chance for Whirr F eed to showcase off their team and humanize their brand.
2. It gave time for viewers to submit ideas for the 2nd round of dance battles.

With the help of user submissions in round two, viewers observed as their ideas came to fruition in the form of some pretty interesting dance moves, like "weeping college student":

After each dance, the person monitoring the comments section prompted viewers to cast their vote:

And the entire thing came to a close with a spirited dance party . because why not, right?

Even however this broadcast carried on for half hour, the level of engagement likely helped them keep viewers interested all the way through. When you’re planning a Facebook Live movie, keep in mind that length isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it provides you with a chance to reach more people.

7) Callaway Golf

The folks at Callaway Golf are no strangers to live movie. In May 2015, Callaway debuted a live demonstrate hosted by their SVP of Marketing and Brand Management Harry Arnett. While this particular live series didn’t unfold via Facebook Live, it’s likely that it made the transition to broadcasting content live on Facebook much lighter.

According to Arnett, the practice of live movie brings Callaway back to their roots: "We felt like if we could figure out a way to be unique in it, provide utility to it, and be a contributing citizen in the community of golfers, we could become sort of the people’s brand," he told Golf Digest, "which was very closely connected to the DNA of the company when it got embarked twenty years ago."

A good example of their segue into Facebook Live is this off the hook tour of Arnold Palmer’s office, led by Palmer’s assistant and longtime friend Doc.

For golf enthusiasts, this is a desire come true. A fter all, Palmer is known to be one of the greatest players of all time. But it’s the practice that the movie supplies that makes it indeed interesting for those tuning in.

For one, the person behind the camera makes an effort to keep viewers involved across the tour. For example, around five minutes in, he thanks the audience for tuning in and checks in to see if they have any specific questions or things they’d like to see. This is a good way to keep people who might be thinking about ripping off off engaged.

Around the 20-minute mark, the cameraman also takes a minute to reintroduce the tour guide, Doc, to clarify his relationship with Palmer for those just tuning in.

While there are mentions of Callaway products across the movie, it’s by no means the main concentrate. Instead, the cameraman works to surface interesting facts and stories from Palmer’s assistant to keep those geeking out at home both entertained and engaged. For example, around the 23-minute mark, he prompts Doc to tell the story behind Palmer’s infamous umbrella logo:

Pretty cool, right?

If you’re just getting embarked with Facebook Live, make note of Callaway’s tactics. And recall: Your broadcast doesn’t have to be all about your product or service for it to be successful. At the end of the day, you want people to reminisce the practice you provided them, which will ultimately help to keep you top-of-mind.

Getting Commenced With Facebook Live

Now that you’re feeling inspired, it’s time to get out there and attempt it for yourself.

If you’re feeling up to it, but still think you need a little training, check out this post from my colleague Lindsay Kolowich. She’ll walk you through how to broadcast on Facebook Live, how to analyze your live movie’s spectacle, and the top tips and tricks for getting the most out of the platform.

Have you experimented with Facebook Live? What is your dearest example? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.

7 of the Best Facebook Live Movies We ve Ever Seen

7 of the Best Facebook Live Movies We’ve Ever Seen

This week, Facebook announced grand plans to take their already successful live broadcasting platform to excellent heights. The announcement included product updates like two-person broadcasts, waiting rooms for viewers, and Snapchat-esque f ilters all in the works.

With these updates in mind, carving out a strategy for Facebook Live seems like a no-brainer.

Oh, and did we mention the potential live movie has for Facebook engagement? Initial data from Facebook exposed that people comment 10X more on Facebook Live movies than on regular movies.

Now, we get it. Going live, well, it’s kinda scary. What if you mess up? What if the camera wigs out? There are a number of things that could go wrong. But while you’re contemplating the risk, a ton of brands are out there engaging their audience in some indeed titillating and private fresh ways.

To help you jiggle the nerves, we put together a list of some of the best Facebook Live broadcasts we’ve ever seen. From live debates to intense trainings, you’ll get a little taste of everything to inspire you to add live streaming to your Facebook marketing strategy.

7 of the Best Facebook Live Movies We’ve Ever Seen

1) Raunchy Mudder

Harsh Mudder is an stamina event series known for its military-style obstacles and enormous sense of community. A few weeks ago, they took to Facebook Live to broadcast their Merrell Michigan Training Event with Coach T. Mud, a.k.a. Kyle Railton. I nfectious energy aside, this stream made the list for a few reasons.

For one, it serves as a fine use case for how to keep your community engaged — even when they can’t make it to your event. By bringing the event right to their audience’s desktop or mobile device, they can choose to go after along with the training, or simply get a sense of what they might be signing up for.

At the beginning of the broadcast, Coach T. Mud gives a shout out to the Rough Mudder Snapchat treat to encourage those at home — and at the event — to go after along with the training there. This is a fine way to cross-promote your channels and increase overall engagement.

Around the six-minute mark, the person filming chimes in to reiterate where they are streaming from. She does the same thing again around the eight-minute mark. This is a excellent strategy for keeping those who might be joining mid-stream in the loop.

Ultimately, we truly love the way Coach T. Mud gets up close and private with some of the attendees around the 18-minute mark. While he mainly uses this time to get to know the Rough Mudder community a little better, he also sneaks in some subtle promotions, like this:

Well played, Coach.

Two) Benefit

One truly interesting route brands have taken with Facebook Live is the series treatment. In other words, they broadcast a themed movie series on a set date and time, usually weekly.

Why does this work so well? As A uthor Laura Vanderkam explains: "TV shows come on at certain times so people get in the habit of watching them. You can do the same with Facebook Live."

One of my dearest examples of this come from the folks at Benefit, who host a series called "Tipsy Tricks" every Thursday at Four:15 P.M. Here’s one of the gigs from a few weeks back:

One of the most interesting things they do via this particular movie is ask questions of the audience to inform how the movie will play out. For example, around four minutes in, the host polls the audience to determine which product they’d like to see them use in the makeup look they’re creating.

Then, they give a duo of minutes to let the audience weigh in before following through based on the responses — it’s sort of like a beauty-themed, choose-your-own – venture game.

This strategy aims to keep those watching engaged, while also helping the folks at Benefit learn more about their audience’s product preferences.

Another way they’re keeping the audience involved? Benefit permits their viewers to submit ideas via Facebook Live comments or Snapchat to help the hosts brainstorm future topics to cover. You can see this in activity by checking out the comment thread on this movie, where they ask viewers to Like the comment if they’d like to see an scene about concealing:

Trio) Jason Carr

The next Facebook movie on the list comes to us in two parts. In an interesting series of events, Jason Carr, a former news anchor for FOX two in Detroit, takes Facebook Live viewers on a rail to his fresh gig at WDIV-TV, Local four News . but he doesn’t tell them that. At least not in the beginning.

The very first movie embarks with Carr explaining that he’s going Live to go after up on a promise he made during his final broadcast for FOX two earlier that morning. This was his very first right budge: Using Facebook Live to extend the conversation following something like a webinar, interview, or panel discussion is a good way to connect with your audience while they’re already engaged.

Viewers witness as Carr — who is broadcasting live from the back of a Cadillac — takes a excursion to what he refers to as "parts unknown." During the very first half of the stream, he provides some context around leaving the station, while engaging with viewers in the comments and continuing to build suspense for where he’s headed.

The entire suspense aspect is key, as it helps Carr spark his audience’s curiosity. After all, a little curiosity can go a long way: Research from the University of California exposed that sparking participant’s curiosity with the right question helped to prepare their brain for learning, while also making learning a more rewarding practice.

Just before the stream wraps up, we see Carr arrive at his secret destination — his fresh station — where he announces that he’ll pick back up once he has a chance to go in and get lodged.

A little over an hour later, Carr fires up his stream again to give viewers a behind the scenes look at his very first appearance on the fresh job.

Talk about a creative way to announce a fresh hire .

Four) Grazia UK

This Grazia/Facebook collaboration just might be the most interesting use case for Facebook Live on our list. This month, the team at Grazia UK, an Italian women’s magazine with international editions, headed off to Facebook’s London headquarters to lump together their very first "community issue."

They took to Facebook Live to document a week’s worth of behind-the-scenes footage, permitting their audience to participate in things like their editorial meeting, cover shoot, and GraziaxFB Brexit Debate.

While all of the footage indeed helped to pull back the curtain for Grazia’s audience, the GraziaxFB Brexit Debate was one of the most successful broadcasts of the week — and for good reason.

The debate, chaired by The Guardian’s political editor Anushka Asthana, was centered around the UK’s decision to remain in or exit the European Union. The panelists were each given time to discuss their views, while also leaving time for questions from both the live audience and Facebook audience.

Asthana encouraged Facebook Live viewers to submit their ideas via the hashtag #GraziaxFB at the beginning of the broadcast.

Note: If you’re hosting a live debate, discussion, or training, coming up with a hashtag in advance is a good way to organize the subjugation process for questions. (Read this article for tips on how to use hashtags on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.)

Overall, the discussion was timely, well executed, and helped to get the Grazia community talking about not only the Grazia/Facebook collaboration, but also the larger political issue at forearm.

In the words of Grazia Editor Natasha Pearlman: "This is a fantastic chance to bring Grazia to life for our readers, and at the same time launch our real-life community, in partnership with the fattest social media network in the world."

"The Grazia audience aren’t just readers, they are part of the brand – their views and opinions form our content and truly matter," she went on to explain. "Now they can participate with us in real time."

Five) Tastemade

When you live in an apartment in Boston (or any city, indeed), you quickly learn how to make the most of a petite kitchen. But this movie from Tastemade takes that concept to a entire fresh level.

According to Tastemade’s Head of Productio Jay Holzer, the little cooking concept was inspired by one of Tastemade’s Japanese playmates. As it turns out, miniature cooking is fairly popular in Japan, as a result of kawaii — the quality of ‘sweetness’ — which is plays a prominent role in Japanese pop culture.

While Lil’ Kitchen commenced as a pre-recorded series, the folks at Tastemade tested their luck with Facebook Live by recording this real-time cooking demonstration:

What’s excellent about this particular use case is that it can be liked without sound. In other words, viewers can tune in without having to stop and adjust their volume, or put on headphones.

The strangely fascinating footage is indeed effortless to consume, which likely contributed to the success of the original gigs. By going live, Tastemade simply added a unique interactive element. And Trio.7 million views later, they’ve proved it works.

The lesson? Sometimes, less it more.

6) BuzzFeed

While Hum F eed recently made headlines for their not-so-perfect Facebook Live attempt with none other than the president of the United States, we can assure you that they know what they’re doing.

On a much less serious note, the folks at Hum F eed took to Facebook Live this past March to host an epic live dance battle.

But this wasn’t just any old dance battle: "Dance Craze Battle: Live" was an interactive competition that required the audience to vote on spectacles and submit suggestions for dance moves.

In inbetween the very first two rounds, the host took time to get to know each of the contestants a little better by asking them a few questions. This was indeed clever for two reasons:

1. It created an chance for Hum F eed to showcase off their team and humanize their brand.
2. It gave time for viewers to submit ideas for the 2nd round of dance battles.

With the help of user submissions in round two, viewers observed as their ideas came to fruition in the form of some pretty interesting dance moves, like "howling college student":

After each dance, the person monitoring the comments section prompted viewers to cast their vote:

And the entire thing came to a close with a spirited dance party . because why not, right?

Even tho’ this broadcast carried on for half hour, the level of engagement likely helped them keep viewers interested all the way through. When you’re planning a Facebook Live movie, keep in mind that length isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it provides you with a chance to reach more people.

7) Callaway Golf

The folks at Callaway Golf are no strangers to live movie. In May 2015, Callaway debuted a live showcase hosted by their SVP of Marketing and Brand Management Harry Arnett. While this particular live series didn’t unfold via Facebook Live, it’s likely that it made the transition to broadcasting content live on Facebook much lighter.

According to Arnett, the practice of live movie brings Callaway back to their roots: "We felt like if we could figure out a way to be unique in it, provide utility to it, and be a contributing citizen in the community of golfers, we could become sort of the people’s brand," he told Golf Digest, "which was very closely connected to the DNA of the company when it got began twenty years ago."

A excellent example of their segue into Facebook Live is this sensational tour of Arnold Palmer’s office, led by Palmer’s assistant and longtime friend Doc.

For golf enthusiasts, this is a wish come true. A fter all, Palmer is known to be one of the greatest players of all time. But it’s the practice that the movie supplies that makes it truly interesting for those tuning in.

For one, the person behind the camera makes an effort to keep viewers involved across the tour. For example, around five minutes in, he thanks the audience for tuning in and checks in to see if they have any specific questions or things they’d like to see. This is a superb way to keep people who might be thinking about pulling down off engaged.

Around the 20-minute mark, the cameraman also takes a minute to reintroduce the tour guide, Doc, to clarify his relationship with Palmer for those just tuning in.

While there are mentions of Callaway products across the movie, it’s by no means the main concentrate. Instead, the cameraman works to surface interesting facts and stories from Palmer’s assistant to keep those geeking out at home both entertained and engaged. For example, around the 23-minute mark, he prompts Doc to tell the story behind Palmer’s infamous umbrella logo:

Pretty cool, right?

If you’re just getting embarked with Facebook Live, make note of Callaway’s tactics. And reminisce: Your broadcast doesn’t have to be all about your product or service for it to be successful. At the end of the day, you want people to reminisce the practice you provided them, which will ultimately help to keep you top-of-mind.

Getting Embarked With Facebook Live

Now that you’re feeling inspired, it’s time to get out there and attempt it for yourself.

If you’re feeling up to it, but still think you need a little training, check out this post from my colleague Lindsay Kolowich. She’ll walk you through how to broadcast on Facebook Live, how to analyze your live movie’s spectacle, and the top tips and tricks for getting the most out of the platform.

Have you experimented with Facebook Live? What is your dearest example? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.

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