Social Best Practices of the Top Facebook Live Videos: Part 3

by Jack Weinstein

So far, we’ve introduced the social best practices of the Top Facebook Live videos of online publishers, TV shows and consumer brands.

In Part 1 , we highlighted some examples of how video recipe publishers have successfully used Facebook Live to captivate audiences with artsy and fun content. We also showed how stars from some of our favorite TV shows interact with fans through live Q&As and behind-the-scenes footage.

Last week, Part 2 illustrated how consumer brands provide education by introducing audiences to new ways to use their products. We also provided examples about how automotive brands are giving viewers sneak peeks of new models by literally broadcasting big reveals from car shows.

In our third and final part, we dive into retail.

The top Facebook Live videos posted by retailers shared a strategy that has long generated engagement for brands on social. They partnered with actors, athletes and musicians to generate engagement by tapping into audiences much larger than their own.

Retailers Leverage Star Power

Celebrities have the power to generate social engagement for just about any brand like One Direction did for KitKat and Justin Bieber did for Calvin Klein last year . They boast audience sizes that brands dream about but could never attain. And those audiences are engaged.

Retailers have caught on and have paired star power with Facebook Live to generate engagement.

Ticketmaster posted a live Q&A with former Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas and Hot Topic did the same with Black Veil Brides lead singer Andy Black. Both live videos were among the five most-engaged posts for each brand this year and by far the most commented.

HSN’s two most-engaged posts of the year were live videos featuring tennis star Serena Williams and actress Melissa McCarthy . Unlike many of the other industries and even the Ticketmaster and Hot Topic live videos, HSN’s were much shorter. Both were less than four minutes and the video featuring Williams was only 2:21.
Facebook recommends that broadcasts last at least 10 minutes (they can go as long as 90), but HSN didn’t need that much time.



Understanding which celebrities and influencers your audience engages and pairing them with your brand during campaigns is a proven strategy for generating engagement. You’re automatically exposing your brand to a much larger audience who could potentially become your fans.

This worked for HSN, which boasts a Facebook audience of nearly 1.2 million fans, but that’s just one-quarter of the more than 4.4 million fans who engage with Serena Williams.

If you missed the first two parts of this series, check out:

Social Best Practices of the Top Facebook Live Videos: Part 1

Social Best Practices of the Top Facebook Live Videos: Part 2

Have you seen a great example of a branded Facebook Live video that we didn’t include? Post a link in the comments below.