Ultra.
Live streaming to Facebook Groups allows you to reach a targeted, niche community, which can help with engagement by connecting you with your ideal viewers. However, with recent changes to Facebook live streaming, going live to a group directly on Facebook is no longer allowed—you must now go live using an RTMP destination using a stream URL, stream key, and live streaming software.
In this blog post, we will provide a step-by-step guide to going live to a Facebook Group using Streamlabs Desktop. However, if you’re using another live streaming software, these steps will give you a pretty good idea of doing so from your software of choice.
How to Go Live to a Facebook Group via RTMP Using Streamlabs
To go live on a Facebook group, you must first ensure the group is set up for live streaming.
Prepare Your Facebook Group for Streaming
- Go to your Facebook Group.
- From the left navigation panel, find and select Settings.
- Scroll down to Live in the main window display and ensure the option to allow live video is enabled. Group members will now see the option when creating a post within the group.
Set up Your Facebook Live Stream
- Head to the Facebook Live Producer page.
- On the left, click Choose where to post, select Post in group, and then choose your group.
- On the right, select Go Live. This will open the Stream Settings tab.
P.S. From this page, you also have the option to create a live video event that you can invite people to attend/RSVP to in advance (even on a recurring basis). If this sounds like something you would like to do, select Create Live Video Event, fill in the details, then follow the steps below to set up the live stream (you’ll be prompted to do so after setting up the event).
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- Once on the Go Live page, find Select a Video Source, and choose Streaming Software. Here, you’ll see the stream key for your live stream (which you must put in your streaming software of choice).
If you select advanced settings, you will find the link to your live stream, which you will also need to create the RTMP destination in Streamlabs Desktop or any other software (more on that later).
- Under Add Post Details, you can enter the title and description of your live stream, which Facebook requires to live stream.
- In the left navigation panel, you can tweak your live stream before going live. Below are some other features and settings that you can manage here.
Dashboard: See a preview of your live stream, including all events, insights, goals, comments, and more.
Settings: Control your stream, viewers, and comment settings and get a live link for your stream.
Interactivity: Manage your chatbot, polls, questions, and featured links.
Distribution: Crosspost your live stream or share with other Page’s groups.
Monetization: Enable Stars (Facebook in-app monetization tool) and manage Stars goals.
Remember to make changes to your live stream as needed before going live.
- Open Streamlabs Desktop, log in to your account, and then open your Settings.
- In the left sidebar, click on Stream. Then click Stream to Custom Ingest at the very bottom of your screen.
- Under Stream Type, select Custom Streaming Server.
- Enter the Stream URL and Stream Key from your Facebook Live Producer Stream Settings tab.
- Click Done to save your changes in Streamlabs Desktop and start your live stream.
After starting the stream in Streamlabs, go back to Facebook Live Producer to click Go Live in the Facebook Live Producer as well. You need to click Go Live in both Streamlabs and Facebook to begin the live stream.
By following the steps outlined above, you can set up and go live to a Facebook group in minutes.