Using Facebook Live as an Effective Marketing Tool

Facebook Live helps people, public figures, and businesses share videos in real time from their mobile devices with their followers and friends on Facebook. Once the video is live it will start to appear in your personal News Feed as well as others. Live video allows you to directly address your viewers, and they have the ability to engage by using reactions and commenting during the broadcast.

When the video is live, there will be a red icon at the top left-hand corner of the video that shows the number of current viewers. Once the broadcast is over the video will be published to the business page or person’s profile so friends that missed it can watch at a later time. Once published you can share it, tweet it, or embed it in blog posts. Facebook Live has become an effective marketing tool for individuals and businesses alike.

Marketing with Facebook Live

There are approximately 1.18 billion people who log onto Facebook daily. These Facebook users spend three times longer watching live videos than pre-recorded videos. Additionally, the Facebook population watches 100 million hours of video per day. With most businesses and brands already having an established presence on Facebook, live streaming has opened up a new world of opportunities for those businesses and brands. There is no longer a need to create fancy videos or spend hours editing content when you can connect with your audience at a push of a button. Once you open up your Facebook home page, click on the status button at the top of the page and choose the live video icon.

Facebook Live will improve your audience reach and allow you to achieve goals faster compared to writing individual posts. Facebook Live can be used for a variety of videos to promote your business or brand. One way to use it for your business is to discuss a topic that your audience is interested in. You may have written a blog post that readers need clarification on and you can use your video to answer questions all at once. Another marketing advantage of Live is the ability to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at business operations or promote an upcoming event and new products. A recent case study states that when promoting an event to have an easy-to-remember URL or website name to share with viewers. It is important to add the URL in the comment section because some viewers may not have been able to write it down.

Question and answer sessions are also popular ways to broadcast. You could have an interview session and allow viewers to ask questions. This will keep viewers engaged and more likely to continue watching your broadcast. You could also use the session to address questions that are often asked of the customer service department. This will allow you to have excellent customer service and a video archive for everyone to access.

Going Live and Making it A Success

However, according to marketing experts, you should draft a plan for your video. As you know, each live video should have a precise goal set, whether it is trying to garner sales, increase followers or build awareness.

There are several ways to make sure your live broadcast is a success.

1. Tell people ahead of time when you are going to broadcast. This will build anticipation for your video and make sure people are watching.
2. Check to make sure you have a strong signal before going live. WiFi tends to work best, but a strong 4G connection will also work. If you have a weak signal, the “Go Live” button will be grayed out.
3. Write a great description of your broadcast before you go live to capture fans’ attention.
4. Make sure to engage with viewers during the broadcast. Answer questions from viewers and talk to commenters by name.
5. Broadcast for longer periods of time to reach more people. You can broadcast for up to four hours.

When incorporating technologies like Facebook Live, the possibilities are endless. Live streaming continues to grow and it shows how consumers demand that brands and businesses speak with their own voice and create original content. The videos should have a lasting appeal so viewers who missed the live video can still watch it and know that the content is not dated. If you remind viewers about upcoming broadcasts and interact with them, then this will show the business’s commitment to providing their audience value and transparency. Every brand and business has a unique voice and Facebook Live has become the marketing tool to let that voice be heard.