Venta Marketing

The Playbook

Home » Social Media » Create a FB Live Emoji Poll

Create a FB Live Emoji Poll

Usage Guidelines

  • These are the proper instructions to create a live emoji poll on Facebook Live.
  • It is highly recommended that you know and understand how to use OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) prior to building a live emoji poll or any other form of live stream where the use of OBS is required.

Instructions

Creating an emoji poll is the sum of three separate elements:

  1. The emoji poll generator & graphic which is linked to the Facebook post and dynamically changes as emoji “votes” are cast.
  2. Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) acts as the middleman taking the live emoji poll graphic and streams it to Facebook while being capable of adding various multimedia elements to the stream (i.e. music, video feeds, etc.)
  3. Facebook Live receives the stream from OBS and posts it to the designated page or personal profile

All of these elements require perfect setup and integration in order to achieve a live video post that will dynamically change as emoji “votes” are cast.

Creating and Scheduling Your Facebook Live Stream

  1. Go to https://business.facebook.com
  2. Select the page you wish to use for the live poll
  3. On the top menu, select “Publishing Tools”
  4. On the left side menu, select “Videos”
  5. In the top right of the videos list, click the “+ Live” button
  6. This opens the Create Live Video box
  7. Click “Next” in the bottom right
  8. Copy the contents of the “Stream Key” box and save it for future use
    • note: this is the number that will go into the OBS settings as is described in the OBS section
  9. Click the gear button towards the top right
  10. Click “Embed”
  11. Find and copy the number string between the set of “%2F” that come just before the video dimension indicators (height/width) and save it for future use
    • note: this is the number that will go into the video ID box when creating the emoji poll graphic in the next section
  12. Click out of the embed window
  13. Add a title to your live post and tag if desired
  14. Add post text/copy if desired (optional)
  15. Leave this window open OR schedule the live post
    • If you schedule your post, you can add an image
    • Scheduled live posts can be made up to 7 days in advance, they automatically start at the designated time but require manual stopping.
    • note: if no stream is detected, the post will stop and be removed

Creating the Emoji Poll Graphic

note: these instructions assume you have already created the image you wish to use for the poll. These images must be 16×9 and leave appropriate space for the emoji icons as needed.

  1. Go to: react.cast.net.au
  2. Select your appropriate emoji poll (currently, 2, 3, or 6 vote options)
  3. Add in the video ID number you received from setting up the Facebook Live post
  4. Add your background image by pasting in its web URL
    • note: any images used must be hosted on an https site, use ventamarketing.com or this playbook site to host the image
  5. Change look, add text, and adjust spacing
    • note: you are able to change a myriad of option on the live poll, it is recommended that you test and experiment to find what will work best for your poll
  6. Recommended adjustments
    • Add option names
      • note: only do this if your image DOES NOT have option name text on it already
    • Designate which reaction you would like each option to be
    • Adjust advanced settings (as needed)
      • note: specifically, you will likely need to adjust the height and spacing of the emoji rows to conform to your image. Experiment until you get what looks good
    • note: you do not need to change/adjust:
      • font (Oswald)
      • background color (image will cover the background)
      • option color (default is black and works for 90% of posts)
  7. Click submit
  8. You have the option now to view and edit your emoji poll as needed

Setting Up and Streaming in OBS

  1. Open OBS
  2. Select “Profile” from the top menu and select the client’s profile OR create a new profile if needed
  3. Select “Scene Collection” from the top menu and select the client’s profile OR create a new profile if needed
  4. Go to “Settings” on the right
  5. On the left, click “Stream” from the sidebar
  6. Click the “Service” dropdown menu and select “Facebook”
  7. Add your stream key saved from when you set up the Facebook Live post
  8. Click “Output” on the sidebar
  9. Change “Video Bitrate” to 500
  10. Click “Video” on the sidebar
  11. Change “Base (Canvas) Resolution to 1920×1080
  12. Change “Output (scaled) Resolution” to 1280×720
  13. Click “OK” in the bottom right to save settings
  14. Under the “Sources” window, click the “+” to add a source to your scene
  15. Select “Browser Source” and name your source as needed (be specific)
  16. Add your emoji poll URL from react.cast.net.au in the “URL” box
  17. Change width and height to be 1280×720 (to start)
    • note: you will likely tweak this for whatever looks best in the stream, whatever your dimensions, make sure they are 16×9 in dimension. Use this 16×9 calculator to help
  18. Click “OK”
  19. The image will look too small for the black background, this is normal
  20. Right click the image and select “Transform > Fit to screen” (the image should resize to fill the whole screen now.
  21. Add music if desired by clicking the “+” button under “Sources” and select “Media Source”
  22. Select a media file you wish to play
  23. Check “loop” and click “OK”
    • note: you can adjust the volume on the right with the slider, there is about a 10-second delay from what you see/hear in OBS to what is played on Facebook Live
  24. Click “Start Streaming” on the right
    • This will start sending signal to Facebook but not begin your live stream

Going Live of Facebook

  1. Return to your Facebook Live stream window
    • note: if you scheduled the live post in advanced, you can access your live stream in your “Publishing Tools” under the “Videos” tab. Click on your live stream to open up the live preview window
  2. Your stream from OBS should, after a couple moments, become visible in the live preview window.
  3. You are now ready to go live.
  4. Either click “Go Live” OR wait for the scheduled countdown timer to reach 0:00 and Facebook will automatically begin the stream
    • note: streaming will not begin unless Facebook if receiving a stream
    • note: It is recommended that you start you preview stream (not live) 20 minutes prior to going live. This is to make sure the stream is ready and to give time to troubleshoot. Also, it solidifies the connection to Facebook Live which can have hitches and bugs in the first moments and minutes of a stream
  5. Once you are live you can either leave the preview window open or close it. This will not end your stream, you can return to it in the “Videos” tab of “Publishing Tools”

Ending Your Live Stream

  1. To end your live stream, open the live stream preview window it in the “Videos” tab of “Publishing Tools” and click “End Live Stream”
    • note: Facebook posts will automatically end after 4 hours of broadcasting if you do not end the live stream before that
  2. After a few minutes, your live stream will be available for viewing in the timeline.

Troubleshooting & Tips

  1. Don’t try this unless you have a good understanding of OBS
  2. Practice with either your own timeline
    • note: if using your personal Facebook page click the “To share live video from an external device, click here.” option when starting a live stream to begin the process.
  3. A reliable internet connection is key, if your internet drops out while streaming, your Facebook Live post will go dark and possibly cncel if signal cannot be established again, very quickly.

Helpful Links

16×9 calculator – http://size43.com/jqueryVideoTool.html

Example: Ozark Land Trust