Facebook Live adds scheduling and pre-stream lobby: Here's why it's a great move

Facebook is an ambitious company that has evolved over the time. Probably, it's this nature of evolution that has ensured the company's pockets are filled.Now, to further appease broadcasters, it has added some new handy features that will allow Live video scheduling, scheduled broadcast sharing and pre-broadcast lobbies. A pre-broadcast lobby will allow interaction with users who are also waiting for the event to start.Those who engage in Facebook Live would know the difficult part is drawing a larger audience as you spontaneously start the Live. Not to mention, sharing your Live feed (once you have gone live) on other social media channels. The feature will enable a pre-announcement wherein users will be alerted about the Live, well in advance. Users can also choose to get a one-time reminder before the Live streaming starts. Facebook is rolling out the feature for verified Pages initially.Facebook Live could become a everyday part of our livesThe ability to schedule a Live definitely gives Facebook an edge over others like Periscope and YouTube. In fact, it opens up great potential for turning Facebook Live as an everyday part of people's lives. Broadcasters can schedule a Live, which means they can run weekly shows at a particular time, just like YouTube.Moreover, Facebook is a larger platform with roughly 1.71 bn monthly active users, with a larger scope for people to get glued to their device screen watching a video, or a video series probably. For advertisers and marketers, it may become a platform to showoff a scheduled launch event live or behind the scenes action of an upcoming movie. Facebook Live's scheduling has opened up these possibilities, and even more.Facebook has been trying to compete with Twitter on news too. Needless to say, Twitter is the place to go if you are looking for breaking news. The Facebook Live scheduling feature may not make it a source for breaking news, but is definitely a news source where you can beam live from a location or give analysis of the news that happening. We also see news channels offers news wraps online, and scheduled Lives could just make them a part of your lives.This may not essentially stand true for India, at least not now. But, with the push given to 4G, it could quite get there in a few years.Revenue creatorFacebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is a shrewd business man, and he knows the potential in videos. Facebook had announced smashing quarterly revenue that rose more than 50 percent, owing to its wildly popular mobile app and a push into live video luring new advertisers and encouraging existing ones to boost spending. This could be a part of the bigger plan, wherein Live may just push the revenues higher for Facebook.Videos have a lot of potential, and Internet companies know it well. Facebook isn't the only one, Google is also trying to leave no stone unturned. Google recently acquired Famebit for YouTube marketing. Obviously, Google is trying to make YouTube marketing mainstream, which essentially means brands will consider YouTube in its everyday social media advertising strategy, or that’s what it is aimed at. This makes it quite clear why Famebit is essential for Google.This sort of waiting room, definitely gives Facebook Live an edge over YouTube live streaming or Periscope. How Facebook will turn this into a revenue stream, is waiting to be seen.Steps to schedule LiveFacebook has enlisted these step to schedule Facebook lives

• Navigate to Publishing Tools Once you’re in Publishing Tools, select “Video Library” and then “Live.”
• Copy your stream credentials (e.g. steam key, Server URL) If you need to find the credentials closer to the time you’re going live, they are also available by editing the post in Video Library.
• Craft your announcement post Be sure to write an engaging and informative description so your followers know what to expect from your broadcast. You will be able to update the description later if you want to.
• Finalize your scheduled live broadcast Put any finishing touches on your post (such as adding a custom image) before you schedule your broadcast.

Scheduling feature is expected to go live from Thursday onwards for Verified pages. It will be released for other users in the coming weeks.