Facebook Live provides another possible resource for your small business marketing toolbox. It offers features like the ability to edit, archive videos and launch from your Facebook business page. Here are some of the top Facebook Live best practices so you can use this tool to your advantage.
Facebook Live Best Practices
Use It Often
The best way to get the most from Facebook Live is to use it often. That’s also the best way to keep your audience engaged. Don’t be afraid to let them know who you are.
Make a Plan
Taking a few minutes to decide what you want to talk about works wonders. You don’t need to write a formal script. However, having a general idea what you want to talk about makes things go smoothly.
Focus on Longer Videos
Less isn’t always more. The more time you’re willing to spend making a live video, the more it will be shared. You can stay live for 90 minutes, but Facebook suggests 10 minutes as a great starting point.
Mention People by Name
When people comment during your Facebook Live broadcast, mention them and include their names. Answering their questions live drives engagement up too.
Ask Viewers to Join Up
There’s a Follow button for live videos and ones that have been archived. Make sure your viewers know they can subscribe.
Say Goodbye When You’re Done
You don’t walk away from friends, family or work colleagues without telling them you’re going. The same goes for Facebook Live. Think of a nice sign off and wait for the ping to tell you things are over after you’ve finished.
Advertise with a Great Description
Let people know what your broadcast will be about with a good description. It’s a great way to pique viewer’s interest. It’s another one of those Facebook Live best practices.
Check Your Connection
Don’t let your great Facebook Live idea get cut short by a bad connection. If the ‘Go Live’ button on the app has gone gray, you need to get better signal.
Build Interest
Write a post to let everyone know when you’re going live. Keep it short and catchy to build interest.
Look Good
Preparing for a successful Facebook Live broadcast isn’t just about the subject matter. You should take a few minutes to make sure you look good for your audience. Maybe you can even buy something new to wear.
Target Your Facebook Business Audience
Facebook Live allows you to reach a specific audience. Use your personal contacts or even fans of your Facebook business page.
Target Your Bigger Audience
Any small business that’s successful will have a marketing strategy that includes Facebook Live best practices but goes beyond. Targeting your live broadcasts to followers on other networks like LinkedIn increases exposure.
Pick the Right Spot
Facebook Live users will want to see and hear you clearly. Make sure you pick a spot to broadcast that is fairly quiet and free from distractions. Lots of background noise will interfere with your message.
Pick a Camera Position
Good preparation is the key to success. Decide whether you want to hold the phone yourself or have an employee hold it. You might want to consider a mount for a steady professional shot.
Use Call Forward
Avoiding distractions is the key here. Your business calls can wait since you won’t want to answer them during a broadcast anyway.
Use Your Personal Profile to Advantage
Facebook Live has some interesting features designed to help you get the most exposure. For instance, a live video can be broadcast to your personal pages. Choosing the right settings here will help get the word out.
Broadcast to Your Facebook Pages
Facebook Live also allows you to broadcast to your Facebook pages. Simply navigate to your Facebook page with the app provided.
Grab Your Groups
Including the groups you belong to will make those Facebook Live broadcasts really snap. You’ll need to check the privacy settings first to be sure this tip will work with the groups you choose.
Engage Event Pages
Facebook even allows for that one/two punch where you can broadcast live in event pages. Choose existing ones that allow for this or create ones yourself to promote your goods and services. Look at whether these events are marked public or private. This is a real winner as far as Facebook Live best practices goes.
Learn How to Clap
Facebook Live is a package of features that you can use to interact during a live broadcast. There are even a few emoji reactions taking the place of actually booing and clapping.
Keep Practicing
You can take a dry run at any video before it goes live. By setting the privacy setting to “Only Me,” you’ll get to see your efforts before everyone else does.
Use It to Demo
Got a product that requires assembly? Why not use Facebook Live to show people rather than just tell them? You can even answer questions right away.
Don’t Hard Sell
Remember the same small business marketing rules apply to live video and written content. Hard sales and heavy pitches will turn viewers off. However, you’ll still need to get your message out. Stay soft for success.
Position Your Brand
Even though Facebook Live is a new medium, business is business. That means that you’ll need to position your brand. Using the same tag line that appears on your Facebook business page helps connect the dots.
Get Real
There’s no better way to capture the emotion you feel about your goods and services than with live video. Don’t forget to take advantage of the six emoji reactions available with Facebook Live too. They can compliment your expressions.
Draw Attention to Your Archive
Remember your videos are archived in Facebook for future reference. Often these get more views over time than live videos. Mentioning this helps customers to engage and is another one of the Facebook Live best practices to look at.
Master the Metadata
Editing this all important part of your exposure toolkit is another bonus. The best bet here is to go to Facebook.com. Clicking on Options and then Edit This Video gets you started.
Analyze, Analyze, Analyze
Data analytics are everywhere and Facebook Live is no exception. Minutes viewed and people reached are just a few of the metrics available. Critical numbers like audience retention can help you plan for future broadcasts.
Experiment with Times
Finding the right time of day to broadcast on Facebook Live is about understanding your target market’s preferences. Analytics help, but you’ll need to experiment a little too.
Be Likeable
Remember this isn’t a professional production. You’re not trying to sell products or services on the Home Shopping Network. You need to be personable and relaxed. Calm down before you tap the Live icon.
Get the Most from Live Events
Integrated marketing is all the rage for small businesses. Facebook Live can let you broadcast from a live event. Using social media to advertise it beforehand completes the circle.
Do Interviews
Own a small business? Why not get someone to interview you? It’s one way to put a personality alongside your product in real time.
Give a Behind the Scenes Look
Why not let prospects see what’s behind the scenes at your business? A Facebook Live video showing what’s usually off limits is an amazing way to personalize your company.
Sneak Peaks
Got a new product that you want some advanced publicity on? This kind of streaming is an excellent way to build excitement beforehand.
Customer Service
Satisfied customers are the end game for every small business. Facebook Live lets you set up a time, put questions from existing customers together, and answer them in real time. That’s one way to stream your way to 100 prevent client satisfaction.
Stream a Call to Action
A live stream is another option to connect in a personal way. It’s also a platform to steer prospects to signing up for newsletters or subscribe to future broadcasts.
Need Facebook Live Best Practices? Offer Classes!
This approach focuses on giving potential customers something for free. Teaching an online course on how to play guitar drums up interest for a music store. Values added courses like these in real time keep prospects interested in you.
Respond to News in Your Industry
Being a small business leader means staying on top of developments and innovations in you market. Place yourself at the top of the pack by responding to relevant news stories live. Setting up some alerts helps you to stay on top of all the latest.
New Product Launches
Showing off what a new product can do is another way to get the most from Facebook Live. Hosting a quick Q&A at the end will drum up lots of interest. Remember to always tell people when you’re going live.
Feature Employees
People are the lifeblood of any small business. Introducing some of your valued employees in a live format is like meeting them in person. Don’t forget to ask your followers to subscribe.
Feature Management
Hosting an interview with some of your management team is yet another way to get the most from Facebook Live. Keep in mind the longer the broadcasts, the more people you’ll reach.
Feature Clients
Facebook Live can even afford you the opportunity to go live with customer testimonials. If they’re willing to answer questions for a consideration in return, all the better.
Use the Follower Button
Setting the stream up properly matters to get the most exposure. Under the Follower option, clicking on Everybody allows the most people to see you.
Write a Good Title
If you want your live stream on Facebook to get off on the right foot, you’ll need to write a compelling title. Thinking along the lines of a title for a blog post or article helps. When people get notification about your live broadcast, this is the first thing they see.
Speak Clearly
Practicing your diction before you go live is important. You want to be casual and relaxed, but mumbling doesn’t help you to sell your products or services.
Take Advantage of Both Cameras
Most of the smart phones you’ll use for a Facebook Live broadcast have front and back cameras. Using both of them gives your audience a better overview. However, you need to speak a little louder when you’re using the back camera.
Choose an Interesting Thumbnail
Promoting your live broadcast is at least partially about choosing the right thumbnail. Facebook has some options to look through or you can select one of your own.
Edit Your Archive
After you’ve done a live stream, it gets archived so you can edit it. Just click on the date on your post and select edit. It’s one way to sharpen your small business message after the fact.
Expand Your Reach
When you are using your Facebook business page for a live stream with Facebook Live, you can create a video ad by accessing Facebook’s Ads Manager. Expanding your reach is always just a tap or click away.
Facebook Photo via Shutterstock
This article, “50 Facebook Live Best Practices for Stunning Streams” was first published on Small Business Trends