How to Use Facebook Live with Zoom

Zoom is one of the most popular video clients used these days. It became the champion of the pandemic for employees, students, families, and friends around the world. Now, plenty of people are still using it for everyday meetings and marketing, including livestreaming. The way you do that depends on the service that you’re using, but the rules aren’t all that different.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything that you need to know about how to use Facebook Live and your Zoom client to create powerful live streams that will draw in all kinds of new audiences. Before we get to the technical details, though, let’s talk about the perks of live video for your business.

Benefits of live video and streaming

Livestreaming, also sometimes written as live streaming, is simply the process of airing a video live, or while the actual events are taking place. In this case, we’re talking about livestreaming your Zoom meetings and webinars on the Facebook Live platform. Doing this can help your business in several different ways.

First and foremost, users love visual content. Even more so than pre-recorded videos, live streaming creates that personal connection and also establishes a sense of urgency for people—the live feed only lasts so long. Live video is also a cost-effective way to market your business and build an audience. You can use it to grow your reputation as an authority in your industry, and so much more.

There’s still plenty of room in today’s Internet for livestreaming—although it has begun growing in popularity, it’s not an oversaturated market yet. You’ll also get your audience to consume content on your time instead of theirs. You’ll find access to highly-targeted audiences and can use live meetings and webinars to let people get to know your company, too.

How to use Zoom and Facebook Live

If you want to use Facebook to stream your Zoom meeting or webinar, you first have to have permission. That means it must be your page, a group page, or another page where you’re in an admin role. This will not only allow people to join the Zoom call, but viewers will also now be able to watch the streaming video on Facebook and comment on the videos as they watch.

A quick tip before we dig into the instructions: Facebook made an update in 2018 that causes some users to be unable to live stream to a group. The reason? We’re not really sure, to be honest, because it doesn’t seem to happen to everyone. Fortunately, however, there’s a custom service option that you can use to create your Facebook Live stream with Zoom.

Ok, now that we’ve covered that, let’s talk about how to actually get the live stream synced on both platforms.

Enable live streaming on Facebook for meetings and webinars

With all streaming services, Zoom will give you three options for how you can enable meetings and webinars:

·  By account

·  By group

·  By user

In any case, you’ll need to visit the “meeting” tab of each section and then click the box next to “allow livestreaming of meetings” and “allow livestreaming of webinars.” You’ll also want to select Facebook as the streaming option, and then click “save” before you close the menu.

Then, you will be able to start the live stream, change the title of the video, and edit other settings. Once the livestream is loaded and the Zoom platform is ready to go live, it will notify you and you can start your meeting, webinar, or other video.

How to start a live stream

Once you are ready to start a live stream, you can click on the “more” menu from the webinar or meeting. There, click on “Live on Facebook” and it will take you to a browser page where you can log in. If you’re already logged in, it will load your page. Facebook may send a message that claims there is an error, but you should disregard:

"This endpoint is deprecated and will not be accessible once the next Graph API version is released. Please use the Live API instead."

As mentioned, you’ll ignore the message and then choose where you want to live stream on Facebook. When Facebook is loaded and it’s ready to broadcast, you can click the “Go Live” option and then start the meeting as we discussed in the section above.

For those who need it, custom live streaming is an option that you can use. Zoom has a great resource for setting up this option so that you can get the most out of your video marketing. You can read all about the customization options in this guide.

A few tips…

There is a lot to learn when you first start livestreaming. However, there are a few things that should be at the top of your list:

·  Ensure that you are aware of the processing time and the 20-second (or so) lag between the Zoom client and the Facebook presentation of the video.

·  Audio echo can be avoided by muting the video in the background if you need to keep your Facebook page open.

·  You can pick different video layouts so that everyone can see and hear the livestream.

·  Check your permissions to make sure that you’re set up for video success.

Speaking of success, partner with Smith.ai to field all those new leads

You’re going to have a lot on your plate when it comes to video marketing and livestreaming to engage your audience(s). You’ll also want to make sure that you’ve got systems in place to manage all the new leads this will bring in, including a 24/7 answering service like the virtual receptionists at Smith.ai. We can assist with lead intake, scheduling, and so much more, giving you more time to focus on your videos, your customers, and your business.

To learn more, schedule a consultation to discuss what the 24/7 virtual receptionists at Smith.ai can do to help your business with everything from outreach campaigns to lead intake and beyond. You will also be able to reach us at hello@smith.ai or (650) 727-6484.