How to Get More Views on Facebook Live

Going live on Facebook can feel like a high-wire act - exciting, but a little nerve-wracking if you’re broadcasting to an empty room. To truly connect and grow your audience, you need more than just hitting the “Go Live” button. This guide gives you practical, step-by-step strategies to boost your viewership, from promoting your stream before it starts to keeping your audience hooked until the end and using the content long after.

Before You Go Live: Setting Yourself Up for Success

The vast majority of your success on Facebook Live happens before you even start streaming. A strong pre-live strategy is what separates a broadcast with dozens of viewers from one with hundreds or even thousands. It's all about preparation and building anticipation.

Pick a Topic Your Audience Actually Cares About

Your live stream's topic is the foundation for everything else. If the topic isn't compelling, no amount of promotion will save it. You need to focus on what your specific audience wants to know, learn, or experience. Generic topics get generic results, specific, problem-solving topics attract dedicated viewers.

• Answer FAQs: What questions do you get constantly in your DMs, comments, or emails? A live Q&A session dedicated to these is an instant value-add. Announce the topic ahead of time, and you’ll have people showing up ready with their questions.
• Host a "How-To" Tutorial: Show people how to do something practical. This could be a recipe demonstration, a guide to using a piece of software, or a tutorial on a specific craft. People love learning a new skill.
• Go Behind the Scenes: Offer your audience an exclusive look at something they wouldn’t normally see. This could be a tour of your workspace, an inside look at your creative process, or a day in the life of your business. It builds connection and feels authentic.
• Interview a Guest: Bringing another expert into your Live is a brilliant way to tap into their audience. Your guest will likely promote the stream to their followers, instantly doubling your potential reach. Make sure your guest has expertise that complements your own and is relevant to your viewers.

Schedule Your Live and Promote It Everywhere

Once you have a great topic, you need to treat your live stream like a real event. Hitting the “Go Live” button spontaneously can work occasionally, but for building a reliable audience, scheduling and promotion are non-negotiable.

Use Facebook’s Scheduling Tool

When you schedule a Facebook Live, it creates an announcement post on your Page. Followers can click “Get Reminder,” and Facebook will send them a notification just before you go live. This simple step moves your followers from passive scrollers to active, waiting participants.

How to schedule a Facebook Live (on a Page):

1. Go to your Facebook Page and start creating a post.
2. Select the "Live Video" option.
3. On the left-hand menu, click "Schedule Live Video Event".
4. Set the date and time (plan for at least 3-5 days in advance, a week is even better).
5. Write a compelling title and an engaging description that tells people exactly why they should tune in. What will they learn? What will they gain?
6. Upload an eye-catching thumbnail image or cover photo for the event.

After scheduling, you'll have a permanent link to share across all your other marketing channels.

Create a Multi-Channel Promotional Campaign

Don't just promote your Live on Facebook. Let your entire audience know, no matter where they follow you.

• Email Marketing: Send an email to your subscriber list announcing the live stream a few days beforehand. Send another reminder email on the day of the event, about one hour before you start. Your email list contains your most engaged followers, so make sure they know about it.
• Instagram: Use Instagram Stories with a countdown sticker. Post a graphic to your grid. Talk about the upcoming Live in your Reels. Your link-in-bio should point directly to the scheduled Live event post on Facebook.
• Other Social Platforms: If you're on X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, or Threads, share the link there too. Customize the message for each platform’s audience. On LinkedIn, frame it around the professional value, on X, make it a quick, punchy reminder.

Get Your Tech in Order

Poor production quality can make people leave your stream in seconds. You don't need a Hollywood studio, but a few small investments in your setup can dramatically improve the viewing experience.

• Internet Connection: A stable internet connection is your top priority. A shaky, buffering stream is frustrating to watch. If possible, use a wired Ethernet connection instead of Wi-Fi. Run a speed test before you go live - you'll want an upload speed of at least 5-10 Mbps for a smooth 1080p stream.
• Audio Quality: Viewers are more forgiving of mediocre video than they are of bad audio. Your device’s built-in microphone can sound distant and echoey. An external microphone - even an affordable lavalier mic that clips onto your shirt - will make you sound crisp and clear.
• Good Lighting: You don't need expensive lighting kits. The easiest solution is to set up facing a window for soft, natural light. If you can’t do that, a simple ring light is a fantastic, affordable investment that eliminates shadows and makes you look more professional.
• Stable Camera: Whether you're using a smartphone or a webcam, keep it steady. A shaky camera is disorienting. Invest in a small, cheap tripod. Position the camera at eye level so you look directly at your audience, not down at them.

During the Broadcast: How to Keep Viewers Hooked

Getting people to join your stream is just the first battle. Keeping them there - and keeping them engaged - is where the real work happens. Your energy and interaction level are defining factors here.

Give People Time to Join, Then Grab Their Attention

When you first hit "Go Live," your followers will slowly start getting notifications and trickling in. Don't jump into your main topic the second you're live. At the same time, don't just sit there silently waiting. Use the first 60-90 seconds to warm up the audience.

Welcome people as they pop in. Introduce yourself and briefly state the topic of the Live. Create a "hook" by telling them exactly what value they're going to get by sticking around. For example: “Hey everyone, welcome! We’re going to get started in about a minute. Today, we’re talking about the three biggest mistakes people make when ____, and I’m going to show you exactly how to avoid them.”

Make Your Live an Interactive Conversation

A live stream shouldn't be a one-way monologue, it should be a two-way conversation. Engagement sends positive signals to Facebook's algorithm, which then shows your Live to more people. More importantly, it makes your viewers feel seen and connected to you.

• Welcome People by Name: As people join, give them a shout-out. “Hey, John, thanks for joining from Austin!” This tiny acknowledgement makes people feel part of the community.
• Ask Direct Questions: Don't leave engagement up to chance. Prompt your audience with specific questions. Instead of saying, “Any questions?” ask, “What’s the single biggest challenge you face with [your topic]?” or “Do you prefer option A or option B? Let me know in the comments.”
• Feature Comments On-Screen: Respond to comments and questions as they come in. Read them out loud so everyone watching knows what you’re responding to. This turns your viewers’ input into part of the content.
• Encourage Sharing: Don't be afraid to ask people to share the stream. Say something like, “If you’re finding this helpful, hit that share button! You probably have a friend who needs to hear this, too.”

Maintain Your Energy and Go for a Longer Duration

Believe it or not, longer live streams often perform better. Facebook’s algorithm has more time to recognize that you have an engaged audience and start pushing your stream into more news feeds. A longer duration also gives more people the opportunity to stumble upon your stream as their friends engage with it.

Aim for a minimum of 15-20 minutes, but 30-60 minutes is even better if your topic and audience engagement can sustain it. To keep up your own momentum, have a simple outline of a few key talking points so you don’t get lost or run out of things to say. Your energy is contagious - if you seem excited and passionate, your audience will be, too.

After the Live Ends: Give Your Content a Second Life

The value of your Facebook Live doesn't end when the broadcast does. In fact, most of the views will come from the replay. By optimizing the recording and repurposing the content, you can multiply your reach exponentially.

Optimize the Replay for VOD Viewers

Once your stream is over, treat the replay video like a valuable piece of content on your Page.

• Edit Your Post: Go back and edit the video's description. Write a clear, SEO-friendly title that tells people exactly what the video is about. Add a detailed summary to the description along with relevant links.
• Add a Custom Thumbnail: Don't leave the automatically generated thumbnail. Create a custom thumbnail image with a clear title and an engaging photo. A good thumbnail dramatically increases the click-through rate on the replay.
• Add Video Chapters: If your video is long, add timestamps in the description for key topics you discussed. This makes it easier for viewers to find the information they care about most.

Turn One Live Stream into a Week's Worth of Content

A single 30-minute live stream is a goldmine of content that can be chopped up and distributed across all your social channels. Repurposing is the secret to maintaining a consistent posting schedule with your limited time.

• Short-Form Video Clips: Find the most impactful 60-90 second nuggets from your stream. These could be killer tips, funny moments, or powerful quotes. Edit them into vertical videos and post them as Reels, TikToks, and YouTube Shorts.
• Instagram Carousels: Pull out 3-5 key takeaways from your Live. Create a simple text-based carousel graphic for each point and share it on Instagram and LinkedIn.
• Blog Post: Use a transcription service to get a full transcript of your Live. Clean it up, organize the key points, and turn it into a high-value blog post for your website. Embed the Facebook Live replay video in the post.
• Quote Graphics: Find the best one-liners from your broadcast and turn them into shareable quote images for social media.

Check Your Insights to See What Worked

Finally, go into your Page's Creator Studio and look at the analytics for your live stream. Pay attention to:

• Peak Live Viewers: When did you have the most people watching simultaneously?
• Audience Retention: Check the graph to see where people dropped off. This helps you identify which parts were engaging and which were not.
• Engagement Metrics: Look at the total amount of comments, reactions, and shares to see how interactive the session was.

Use this data not to judge your performance, but to learn. Every live stream is a chance to refine your approach and get better for the next one.

Final Thoughts

Getting more views on Facebook Live boils down to a solid game plan before, during, and after your broadcast. By promoting your stream ahead of time, engaging actively with your audience in the moment, and strategically repurposing the content later, you turn a single event into a powerful engine for connection and growth.

Promoting your stream and then slicing it into dozens of smaller videos for other channels is an incredible strategy, but it can feel like a full-time job. With a tool designed for modern social media, we make it simple to see your whole promotional strategy on one visual calendar and then quickly schedule all those repurposed clips across your platforms. Postbase was built specifically to handle a steady stream of content, helping you get the most out of every single Live without getting overwhelmed by the process.