Facebook Live is a great way to get seen by your fans and followers. Join the live video revolution with these Facebook live marketing tips for your business. Learn to broadcast to your fans with no fear.
Live video in social media has been around long before Facebook made it popular. Periscope was a pioneer, and eventually purchased by Twitter. YouTube rolled out a live video option, and Instagram revealed this feature in 2017. Not to mention the streaming services that have become social networks in their own right, like Twitch. Utilizing live video can benefit your brand in a multitude of ways. Most importantly many platforms, like Instagram and Facebook, are prioritizing live content in the newsfeed. This means more organic reach for your brand in Facebook. More people will see your content, and are more likely to engage. Marketers are using live video to talk to fans in real time, demonstrate your products, and surprise and delight customers. If you haven’t already started utilizing live video, now is the time to start taking advantage of the free service to maximize brand awareness. Here are some Facebook live marketing tips to get you started.
Have a Goal
A lot of brands will utilize the newest social features just to claim they are using them. Make sure you have a goal in mind when deciding to go live on social. Staying relevant and top of mind with your consumers is a great goal to start with, but as you progress start thinking in terms of more measurable actions. If you want to introduce your fans to a new product, impressions, reach or views will probably be the right key performance indicators for you.
Establish a Price Point
There is a wide range of capabilities when it comes to live video. You could invest in a large production, or go live straight from an iPhone with virtually $0 contributed to the project. Watch other live videos on the platform you’re looking to go live on to see what standard of quality you want to produce. Often we see brands at either end of the scale – those who think they don’t have to try at all, and those who try too hard. Fans expect quality and effort to increase as the size and profitability of a business increases. That being said, live video is a wonderful thing because it isn’t produced to the same level of television and allows the viewers to feel connected with real people, not robots. No matter what level you decide to invest on, make sure people can hear you and see you.
Eliminate the Fear
If your goal is just to get comfortable with the product, this is the next step for you. Go live on your personal account or a private page to get comfortable with the equipment, features, and being on camera. Keep in mind that some live features on pages or business accounts are different than personal profiles, test on the one you’ll eventually want to go live with. Once you complete your live video, watch it back. See what worked and didn’t, determine the quality and make notes of what you need to improve.
Make an Outline
Note that this tip does NOT say “Create a Script”. You don’t want to force your on air talent to memorize anything or be the aforementioned robot. You should outline what you want to do in your live video, the overall concept, and any main messaging points. This is especially helpful if you’ll have multiple people speaking on camera in order to make sure they’re on the same page. You should distribute this before the live date so everyone has a chance to look over. You can also make the main points you want to cover viewable to on air talent during your broadcast.
Promote a Week in Advance
Make sure as many people know about your broadcast as possible. Facebook lets you set up an RSVP for your event between 10 minutes and 7 days of the time of your broadcast. This allows users to mark if they are interested in “attending” your live broadcast. They get a reminder the day of, and their friends will see they are interested (word of mouth). You can’t boost your RSVP post, but Facebook does give you a unique URL and you can run ads with this to encourage people to RSVP for a reminder. You can also use this link to cross promote your broadcast on other social channels and email. It’s important to note, in order to go live from this RSVP post you will need a third party software. Check out the RSVP requirements for Facebook here.
Keep Getting Views Post Event
Even though it’s a live video, getting views after the broadcast is still meaningful. Although you can’t promote beforehand, you can promote your live video after it’s done (and during if your page is verified). Putting dollars behind your broadcast is the number one way to reach more people. You can also download the video after it’s complete and upload it to other channels, like YouTube, to reach viewers on different platforms. Using the embed code also lets your site visitors view the content on your website and increases viewership.
Once you’re comfortable going live, start strategizing your live content plan. Want some help planning and implementing? Get a quote from our social experts here.
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