EVOLVE Business and Professional Magazine November 2016 | Page 32

Use the LARA
app to see a
Facebook Live
Demo now!

25,000 animals across Volusia County each year. While digital
posts like graphics or photos engage our viewers for a couple

of seconds, attracting more viewers and holding their attention
for longer periods enhances the opportunity to illuminate our
message and increase their knowledge.

We achieved those goals using Livestream at one of the

Halifax Humane Society’s big events, Dog Park on Ice. Dog Park
on Ice is held twice a year, and we invite dog owners and their
pets to the Daytona Ice Arena to experience play on ice with

other furry friends and theirs owners. For this particular event,

•  We use it to promote fundraising events.

•  Our staff can use it to hold live question and answer sessions
with our viewers o n various topics.

Your business may not have any cute, furry friends to post

on your feed, but this free and unique engagement tool from

Facebook can help you promote your business in a variety of

ways that static visuals or graphics may not provide. Here are a
few ideas for effective Facebook live videos:

we normally use social media to post graphics, invite fans to

1. Question and answer sessions

Historically, our average posts engaged 1,000 to 5,000 viewers.

3. Event promotions

the event, and even post photos inviting the public to join us.

This year, however, we dramatically increased our reach with
Livestream. We posted a LIVE video at the event of the dogs

prancing, barking, and playing on the ice to the tune of Christmas
carols. That particular live video has received almost 30,000

views, 446 shares, and 672 likes to date; a 500% increase when

2. Inside scoops or behind-the-scenes coverage
4. Exciting announcements
5. Tutorials

6. Contests.
While we blame social media for the decrease of the human

compared to a regular post!

attention span (8 seconds), perhaps Livestream has given us a

Livestream for this event. First, Facebook promotes this feature

you strategize with your business about posting that photo of

A couple of factors were important to our success with

and wants others to use it—Facebook users are notified any time
a friend, business, or interest page is “Live.” Second, posting a
photo of a dog standing on the ice wasn’t nearly as exciting as

watching him jump for joy as he pranced with his furry friends

to the tune of carols. Livestream brought our followers into our

way to improve what we see and how we see it. So the next time
your new menu item, product, or service, consider this: Would I

want to see a photo or comment OR would I want to see how it’s
made, watch someone eat it, or learn how to do it myself?
You decide.

world at the click of a button and let them interact in real time.

At Halifax Humane Society, we have integrated Livestream

into our social media campaigns. It helps us in a variety of ways:
•  We use it to promote our available animals and to answer
questions about the animals.

| 32 | EVOLVE BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE

Amber Marcoux is the Community Outreach Director
for the Halifax Humane Society in Daytona Beach, FL.
Amber holds a B.A. in Marketing and currently resides
in Ormond Beach, FL with her fiancé and two dogs, Nala
and Dude.