Read here for tips and tactics guaranteed to make your social media marketing strategy succeed!
Is Facebook Live worth your time?
If you’re a small business looking for an instantaneous way to connect with your audience, the answer is “Yes!”
Why?
Because Facebook Live and Facebook Live 360 are both effective ways to connect with the platform’s 1.1 billion daily active users. Broadcast directly from your Facebook business page with ease. The video gets posted on your wall, has priority in your newsfeed, and — like all video social media marketing — has huge rates of engagement.
Start by investing 10-20 minutes in recording and posting the video. With such a wide reach, your results will include a boost in brand awareness, increased customer engagement, superior customer service, and higher sales. Sounds great, right?
Read on to learn the 7 strategic ways to grow your small business with Facebook Live.
We’ll show you how to drive results with the best practices and winning tactics. By the end, you’ll understand the benefits and the strategies that will enable your social media marketing to succeed across Facebook Live.
How to Get the Most From Facebook Live
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I can’t emphasize this enough.
Starting with Facebook Live is EASY. Click the “Live Video” tab on the top of your Newsfeed. Then write a description of your post and click “Go Live.” It’s so simple.
There’s no need for video editing software or timely production setup. You can edit the video title, description, and video itself once it’s saved to your wall. Then attach a category and add features, such as a call to action. Compared to anything else, the time and energy it takes to broadcast in real-time are negligible!
Why does this matter?
The rewards of video social media are massive.
For example, Brightcove statistics show that social video generates 1200% more shares than text, images, and mixed media combined. According to Hubspot, 64% of users are more likely to purchase a product online after watching a video.
That’s not all.
Some 90% of users say product videos are helpful in the decision-making process, while 92% of mobile video consumers actively share videos with their contacts online. Video social media marketing has become the gold standard for engaging your customers online and driving results.
The benefits to live streaming on Facebook Live are many:
- People watch Facebook Live video 3x longer than recorded video.
- You can choose the audience groups you want to see your video
- While streaming, you can see how many people are watching as well as their names and comments
- When complete, the streamed video is automatically saved on your timeline and posted in the news feed
- The video can be easily edited, tweeted, shared, embedded into blog posts, or deleted from the wall
- Viewers don’t expect a fancy video but are interested in an authentic experience with your business
- Facebook Live video ranks higher in news feeds and SEO
But! Before You Go Live, Remember to …
Plan Your Broadcast
Live streaming is a great way to engage your users, but plan your live broadcast for best results. Be sure to introduce yourself in the beginning and organize your talking points to minimize mistakes. Visualize what you want to show your audience and prepare a broadcast worth watching.
This is a great time to write catchy headlines and description for the video. Because these words will appear in the viewer’s newsfeed, be sure to use language that will grab their attention.
Think About Video Quality
Your audience will tolerate a DIY video because it’s live, but the video still has to be quality. Be sure your voice is audible and that your lighting allows your viewers to enjoy the broadcast. Stage your recording in a remarkable environment to boost interest and engagement.
Whether you’re talking to the camera or talking while giving a 360-degree view of the surroundings, you’ll need to consider purchasing an add-on camera for your phone.
Add a Call to Action
Always end your live broadcast with a call to action. Whether it’s a newsletter signup, lead magnet download, or look at a product — be clear and direct. Use actionable language and give users the steps necessary to complete the desired action. Your conversion rates will increase if you have one call to action that viewers clearly understands how to fulfill.
Consider Facebook Live 360
Facebook Live 360 allows you to take your broadcast anywhere and bring viewers along for the ride. How can you actually use this? If you’re someplace cool, Live 360 is a real asset. Plus, it’s a great way to offer variety to viewers who can get a bit bored just looking at a flat-view broadcast for 20 minutes looking at the camera.
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That’s not all. One awesome difference is the Guide feature, which lets you edit your footage after the broadcast, add text overlays and point out points of interest in the video for viewers. Like Facebook Live, you can see all the comments and viewers in real-time, meaning you can react to engagement to enhance the viewing experience seamlessly.
#1 Bring Your Audience Behind the Scenes
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Everyone loves to feel like they’re getting an exclusive insight into something special. Go behind the curtains to show the audience the everyday life of your business.
Bottom line, highlight your process, workplace culture, ideation – anything you’re comfortable with sharing. Remember that people love how-to videos, so appealing to their desire to learn is a sure bet.
Focus on an element of the company that your target viewers would be interested in learning about. An engaging behind the scenes video will show them a side of the business they’ve not seen while giving you a chance to develop your position brand image with users.
#2 Showcase Your Brand Experience
This strategy is particularly effective at enticing engagement and sales if you’ve got a brick and mortar store. Text and images often fail to depict a physical store effectively… but a tour of your site is a great way to share the look and feel of shopping around!
Guide your audience around your space while demonstrating how products are used. Be sure to answer any acknowledge comments and questions in real-time to enhance the interactive experience and promote sales.
If that isn’t enough, Facebook Live offers a 24-hour streaming option if you’re keen to give viewers a truly transparent introduction to your location.
#3 Broadcast an Event
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Going to an exciting event or conference for your business?
Live stream it!
Your audience will appreciate the opportunity to follow along, whether it’s a concert, speaking event or a tradeshow. Don’t forget to interact with viewers and bring them into the experience.
For example, if you’ve set up a booth at a local trade show, invite people down to visit you. Offer a small incentive to help bring people in for face to face.
Have an upcoming event or webinar to promote? First, create a post to inform fans about your special upcoming live stream. Then share the specifics in your video broadcast.
A key part of driving conversions will be sharing an easy URL with viewers (check out Bitly for a URL shortener). Post this link in the video comments so your audience has quick access and can sign up right away.
#4 Elevate Your Customer Service
To secure happy customers, invest in your customer service.
As research from Kapow showed, 68% of customers leave because they perceive you are indifferent to them. Facebook Live makes answering consumer needs a cinch, especially if you’re addressing a common question the customer service team receives.
You can create an archive of customer service videos that address certain customer issues. By personally talking to customer issues, you’ll score huge points for caring and authenticity.
#5 Hype New Products
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Facebook Live is a great way to showcase new products or product updates. Spread the word about your exciting release or tease your audience with something new that’s not yet out.
The fact that the product is unavailable will excite sales, so be sure to include a link to the video for pre-orders to capitalize. Add extra hype by answering questions from customers in real-time.
Emojis and comments are also a great way to gauge the level of excitement and determine the level of overall awareness.
#6 Engage Facebook Group Members
Live video is a great way to answer questions and interact with members of your Facebook business group. Keep your followers updated with regular blasts that are informative and relevant.
For example, Guy Kawasaki posts daily videos. These posts are an effective way to strengthen the customer relationship at any level of the journey.
But there’s a catch.
If you pay close attention, the comments can be a goldmine of great information about how to maximize your customer interactions and develop truly loyal customers.
#7 Feature Interviews
Social media marketing for small business is more than posting your logo and your message across channels. It’s about sharing your internal culture and values with the audience.
Facebook Live is an authentic platform for interviewing your employees, happy clients, and industry professionals.
Bottom line.
Giving a voice to those within and around your brand will humanize your brand and develop more trust with viewers. Leverage the testimonials of customers as user-generated content for social proof on marketing messages across any channel.
Showcase interviews with industry experts to show your sense of thought leadership with the audience. Post regular employee interviews to demonstrate the everyday life of the company and illustrate how trustworthy your company is.
This Broadcast is Over … For Now
This has been a guide to the seven best ways to grow your small business with Facebook Live and Facebook Live 360. To align with consumer preferences, social media marketing is trending towards more video all the time.
Businesses that reach their target audiences with personable and relevant live stream videos will position themselves in the genuine, meaningful way customers have come to expect. Given the ease, reach, and built-in viewership of Facebook, the question shouldn’t be why – but rather: why not.
How will your small business best benefit from using Facebook Live this year?