8 Ways to Leverage “Facebook Live” for Business

“Facebook Live” can be a really valuable tool for businesses of all sizes. And the best part is that it’s free. A live broadcast can help showcase a brand experience that pictures and words may not be able to do.  Whether it’s broadcasting a community volunteer event, going “behind the scenes” with customer service, or live streaming a new product launch, a live broadcast could add tremendous and authentic brand value and boost your library of custom digital content.

Here are 8 ways to use “Facebook Live” for Business

1. Prepare

Preparation is key. Have a plan for your broadcast and try not to make it a “sales pitch”. Offer something of value to your followers. You want to appear authentic and give viewers a chance to engage. Prepare a list of talking points or discussion ideas. Respond to as many comments as you can to keep the conversation moving along.

2. Cross promote your social media channels

Schedule regular posts to inform followers when to tune-in. Create custom images, video clips or graphics on LinkedIn, Snapchat and Twitter to cross promote your broadcast. You’d be surprised how many new followers you may get.

3. Schedule a “Go Live” notification

The “Go Live” notification is a great way of to ensure your audience knows when to tune in. Go to video settings to find this. Once you’ve done this, your followers can subscribe to your channel and will receive a push notification when your broadcast starts.

4. Broadcast Live

Make your broadcast visually appealing. Poor office lighting, poor sound quality, bad angles, and awful backgrounds can absolutely kill a broadcast.  The good news is it doesn’t take much to rig a “pop up” office studio.  You’ll need a smartphone, small smartphone tripod, 2 desk lights and an external microphone. (iPhone mic/headphone is acceptable.)

Here are a couple tips:

• Make sure the lights are near the camera pointing at your face. Lights in the background are NOT good. Most of the light in the room should come from the front. (You will look a lot better.)
• Create a background with logos or signs that appear behind subjects while talking so the branding message is seen through the video.
• Turn down all other TV/radio/noise in the room.
• Don’t move the camera around a lot.

5. Repeat your message often

Make sure you are repeating the topic or message of the broadcast regularly.  A great rule we’ve always had in TV News is: Tell me what you are about to say. Say It. And tell me what you just said. If viewers are tuning in halfway through your broadcast, give them a reason to stay. Just a few words to reinforce your topic.  Always start your broadcast at least 2 minute in to give people time to tune in to your broadcast. Give them a short intro while the audience begins to build.

6. Engage

Depending on the size of your audience and the amount of feedback, you should have a social media administrator dedicated to instant feedback during your broadcast.  “Facebook Live” is a fast-paced event where responses and comments could be missed. You also want to make sure you’re not missing any sales opportunities within your comment stream.

7. Repost Your Broadcast

When recording a “Facebook Live” event, make sure you save it on your page for followers who could not join you live. It may be a good idea to repurpose the content for other social media platforms.  We tell clients to “save all recorded content”. You never know when you could use it down the road.

8. Track Viewers

Facebook enables page owners to analyze information about their broadcast. The “video metrics” page provides information like video views, unique viewers, the average duration of the video view and audience retention. These metrics are designed to help you learn what’s resonating with people and determine how to more effectively create and promote your videos on Facebook.