Facebook Live Stats – 2024

While Facebook has been a powerhouse in the social media world for well over a decade, it wasn’t until recently that the platform began offering live streaming services. Facebook Live is a relatively new feature of the platform, but it has become incredibly popular among users and marketing professionals alike.

Facebook’s popularity has made it a goldmine for digital marketers, online businesses and companies. The live streaming feature only further cemented that status. Here’s a selection of some important Facebook Live statistics you need to know.

About Facebook Live

1. Facebook Live was made available to the masses in 2016.
By the time Facebook Live was launched, the social media platform had a good decade of experience under its belt. Originally, the service was built as a competitor to big-name live-streaming platforms like Periscope.

At first, Facebook Live was only made available to verified public figures like celebrities and media moguls. This was back in August 2015. It wasn’t until nearly 6 months later that Facebook Live became publicly available to anyone, marking a huge change in the way members communicated.

2. In 2016, millions of hours of video were uploaded to Facebook every day.
Around the time that Facebook Live was launched, the platform had just under 2 billion users. Those are pretty impressive numbers, so it was no surprise that Facebook Live started off with a bang. By that point, traditional videos could be uploaded to the platform. Once live was put into the mix, members were watching roughly 100 million hours of video each and every day!

3. Augmented reality filters became available in 2016.
Live streaming was not new when Facebook Live was created. Snapchat and Periscope were already attracting millions of users. To get on the same competitive level as those services, Facebook implemented augmented reality filters.

These filters could create live animations and special effects. Most of the effects would follow the broadcaster’s face, adding a new level of fun to streaming.

4. 20 percent of all videos uploaded to Facebook in 2017 were broadcast live.
Facebook users welcomed Live with open arms. Despite the platform’s existing video upload features, members began using Facebook Live in droves. In 2017, 1 out of every 5 videos viewed on the platform were live.

5. Social broadcasts with friends became a feature in 2017.
In May of 2017, Facebook launched a new invite option. This feature could allow broadcasters to invite friends into their stream. This helped to maximize the reach of live videos and let people broadcast together.

6. There have been over 3.5 billion live broadcasts since launch.
In 2018, Facebook Live reached a very important milestone. The number of live broadcasts created since launch reached 3.5 billion. That’s almost half of the entire global population. Not only did this prove Facebook Live’s popularity, but it produced tons of growth for the entire platform.

That figure is from a couple of years ago. There’s no doubt that the numbers have climbed even more. In the first few years after launch, the number of broadcasts doubled each year.

7. Waiting Rooms first launched in 2018.
With the rising popularity of the service, Facebook implemented some useful changes to make broadcasts more accessible. One of the most notable was the stream waiting rooms. It became available in October of 2018.

Before this feature came into play, streams were a bit unorganized and confusing. Now, broadcasters can create calendars, which produced notifications for subscribers. Viewers can then wait for streams to start in virtual waiting rooms.

8. Facebook paid millions to attract audiences.
Before Facebook Live became the powerhouse that it is, the company wanted to increase awareness as much as possible. So, millions of dollars were paid to celebrities and media companies to use it. In total, over 50 million dollars were spent. Some of the companies paid included CNN, Buzzfeed, and more.

Even social media influencers got in on the action. Facebook reached out to Vine superstars and YouTubers to bring their audience to the platform.

About Facebook Live and Marketing

As we mentioned earlier, Facebook Live is a great place for companies and marketers to reach their target audience. Here are some interesting statistics around the advertising aspects of the service.

9. Over 93 percent of all marketers used Facebook in 2019.
In 2019, roughly 93.7 percent of all marketers were using Facebook in some way for their advertising. The usefulness of the social media platform has been proven time and time again. It gives marketing teams the chance to promote their target audience directly. Much of the hard work is already done.

Facebook even beats out other big-name platforms like Twitter and Instagram.

10. More than 90 million small businesses have a Facebook page.
Marketers aren’t the only ones who can take advantage of Facebook. Small businesses use the platform to gain followers and attract businesses. Roughly 90 million businesses have dedicated Facebook pages. Those pages generate about 2.5 billion comments a month!

11. Facebook accounts for a large majority of all ad spending in the United States
Video advertising is a multi-billion dollar industry. In 2018, about 7.85 billion dollars were spent on digital media. How much of that went to Facebook? According to Facebook, roughly 6.81 billion dollars. That’s more than 84 percent of all video advertisement spending!

12. About 35 percent of marketers view Facebook as their main marketing channel.
Video marketers have several channels to work with. About 35 percent of those marketing professionals surveyed stated that Facebook Live was their main channel to reach their target demographics. That’s about a 1 percent increase from 2018.

13. Nearly three-quarters of all marketers utilize Facebook Live.
According to surveys and statistical data from Facebook, around 70 percent of marketers use Facebook Live directly. Not only that, but more than half of those marketers increased their Live budget in the past year.

14. Almost a quarter of companies think that Facebook Live is successful.
Most marketers thought that videos on Facebook helped them connect with customers.
When asked whether or not Facebook Live helped customers understand brands better, roughly 97 percent of marketers stated that it did. With the simplicity of the platform and the ability to create engaging short-form content, it’s not hard to see why.

More than 75 percent of marketers also stated that Facebook Live helped to generate increased sales. A little less than half said that it even reduced the number of questions about their respective products or services.

15. Less than 15 percent of businesses on Facebook don’t use video ads.
Approximately 14.5 percent of businesses on Facebook didn’t utilize any form of video advertising. These companies opt for more traditional forms of marketing.

16. Only 1 percent of companies take advantage of Facebook Live every day.
Despite all of the popularity that Facebook Live has generated, less than a percent of companies are using it daily. More than half of the marketers surveyed said that the use was infrequent. About 25 percent of broadcast live videos every week.

Think about the impact that could be made if companies increased their live frequency!

Impressive Viewership Statistics

17. Shortly after launch, most Facebook Live videos were broadcast outside of the United States.
In June of 2016, only a few months after the service was made public, most of the streams weren’t coming from the United States. The most videos streamed at that time came from Germany. Mercedes-Benz, the famed automotive company, took advantage of the service and broadcast almost 40 videos at the time.

18. Video-based content makes up about 11 percent of all posts.
When Facebook started, your only option was to create text-based posts. A lot has changed since then. Video content makes up approximately 11 percent of all posts created. This trails behind photos, which make up 12 percent. The most popular kinds of posts created on the platform contain links. They contribute to 77 percent.

So how much are simple text-based posts? Only 1 percent.

19. The average watch time in 2017 for Facebook Live was more than half an hour.
About a year after launching Facebook Live, the average view time for any kind of video content was 34.5 minutes per day. Roughly 4.3 percent of that view time went to live videos. This figure was from a few years ago, so there’s no doubt that the number has increased a bit since then.

20. By the end of 2018, nearly 2 billion people watched Facebook Live.
Between the years of 2016 and 2018, 2 billion people watched some kind of content on Facebook Live. During this time, viewership grew rapidly. According to Facebook’s own data, the watch time for live broadcasts quadrupled in just a year.

21. Roughly 3,000 years of video are viewed every day on Facebook alone.
3,000 video hours were viewed daily in 2018 alone. This is a massive jump from 2016. Back then, only half a billion people were watching videos on the Facebook platform. Now, a majority of pages have some kind of video on them.

22. Some of the most popular Live videos exceed 10 minutes in length.
An analysis of 100 million videos on Facebook found that the most popular videos were between 15 and 20 minutes long. Engagement increased significantly after the within 15 minutes, making this the length that many marketers aim for.

23. The popularity and awareness of Facebook Live has grown dramatically in only a few years.
There’s no doubt that the public awareness of Facebook Live increased dramatically between 2016 and 2018. How popular did the platform get between this time? Well, Google trends show that there was a 330 percent increase for searches with keywords like “Facebook Livestream.”

Facebook Live Compared to Uploaded Content

Creating video content on Facebook is very flexible. You can upload traditional content or broadcast live. Broadcasts are automatically uploaded afterward for later viewing. Here are some statistics regarding the difference between live and non-live content.

24. Not long after launching, Facebook Live videos showed more engagement than traditional videos.
Live videos generate about 35 percent more interactions from the community than non-live videos. This includes likes, shares, and more.

25. People comment on Facebook Live videos more.
When it comes to comments, live videos get about 10 times more. This is thanks, in large part, to the ability to interact with creators in real-time.

26. Facebook users spend more time on live videos.
Live content is incredibly popular on Facebook. It’s so popular that users watch about three times as much of it as they do standard uploaded videos. While there are a lot of factors that contribute to this figure, it’s theorized that viewers are much more likely to stay until the end of a live stream. With normal uploaded videos, viewers can simply fast-forward to the action. That’s not possible with live content, ensuring that viewers stay tuned in for longer.

27. Facebook Live videos are shared less than traditional videos.
One statistic that traditional uploaded videos have over live videos is share count. The average share count for live content is a little over 11,000. For non-live videos, it’s about 54,000.

28. By 2017, Facebook Live videos were being promoted more than non-live videos.
About a year after launch, Facebook Live videos were promoted about a bit more than non-live videos. Live videos had a promotion rate of about 78 percent.

29. Facebook Live was the most popular live-streaming platform in 2017.
While YouTube might be the reigning King when it comes to video viewership, they don’t hold that title for live streaming. Facebook Live beat out YouTube and took the top spot in 2017.

30. Live videos are not among the most popular posts in Facebook history.
A mere 0.74 of the top 10,000 most popular Facebook posts were live. Roughly 40 percent are traditional uploaded videos.

31. 17 percent of all adults in the United States have watched Facebook Live.
About 17 percent of Internet users from the United States viewed content on Facebook Live. That’s more than the 16 percent that used YouTube live.

32. A vast majority of video content on Facebook is in the platform’s native format
While members can easily upload videos in a wide range of formats, roughly 92 percent of all videos on the platform use Facebook’s native format. This includes Live videos.

Random Fun Facts About Facebook Live

32. The most popular Facebook Live video is “Chewbacca Mom.”
Wondering what the most popular Facebook Live video in history is? That title belongs to Candace Payne, who uploaded a humorous video of herself in a Chewbacca mask. It amassed over 50,000 views in an hour. Now, the view count is sitting above 175 million!

34. The very first Facebook Live video was broadcast by Mark Zuckerberg.
On September 15th, 2015, Mark Zuckerberg broadcast the very first Facebook Live video. He used the opportunity to introduce the service to the masses and go over some features. He even gave a brief tour of the Facebook headquarters.

35. Most users prefer to keep videos muted.
Interestingly enough, about 85 percent of Facebook viewers prefer to keep videos muted as they watch. As a result, many marketers utilize subtitles to ensure that their message is understood.

Conclusion

Facebook Live has managed to become a juggernaut in the live streaming industry in only a few short years. Most platforms take decades to amass the kinds of viewership numbers that Facebook has gotten. It’s changed the way that people share their lives and has proven to be quite beneficial to digital marketers and companies.

Thanks to the built-in audience that Facebook has, live videos are capable of reaching massive audiences. It’s already a platform that has over 2 billion users, so it’s a service that’s worth your interest.

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Jamie Spencer

My name is Jamie Spencer and I have spent the past 10 years building money making blogs. After growing tired of the 9-5, commuting and never seeing my family I decided that I wanted to make some changes and launched my first blog. Since then I have launched lots of successful niche blogs and after selling my survivalist blog I decided to teach other people how to do the same.

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