Facebook Live Tips for Brands
Yatko, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Facebook Live has increased in popularity over recent years, and for good reason too. It offers a brilliant way to build a connection with your audience. Continue reading for our top tips for using Facebook Live to boost your engagement.
Step-by-Step: How to Live Stream on Facebook
- Log into your business Facebook page
- Open the ‘Create Post’ box
- Select ‘Start a Live Video’
- Write an Eye-Catching Description
- Click ‘Start Live Video’ to begin broadcasting live
How to Tailor Your Content
First things first. You need to plan your video content. Knowing what video content to create means to understand your audience.
- What does your audience want to see from your business?
- Ensure that you are delivering valuable content
- Run polls to allow them to select what topic to write about
- Identify the themes from the comments on your posts and use them to create video content, i.e FAQs
Effective Advertising Campaigns for Facebook Live
Follow the below tips on effectively marketing your Facebook Live. For it to be successful, you need to think about it like any other event your business would host.
Paid Promotions – Facebook allows you to target groups for a more focused advertising campaign
Share Reminders – Ensure that every reminder holds value. For instance, share a few highlights that you will cover during your Facebook Live.
Create a Facebook Event – Generate interest and engage with your community with regular updates in the discussion section. The event will also remind your audience of the event as it gets closer.
Share on Other Social Media Channels – Increase your viewership by cross-promoting. However, make sure that you’re not overdoing it. Your audience won’t hesitate in hitting the ‘unfollow’ button if you are constantly promoting Facebook if they have chosen not to access it.
Plan Your Set-Up
To ensure that you are creating quality video content that is enjoyable for your audience to watch, you need to plan your set-up.
- Test your lighting
- Invest in a tripod
- What will be in the background?
- Ensure your location has low-level noise distractions
- Decide to shoot horizontally or vertically
Choosing whether to record either horizontally or vertically depends on the type of video. For instance, horizontal videos show more of your surroundings. While vertical videos allow your audience to feel closer. For example, if you are hosting a live cooking show, you will want to shoot horizontally to show what you’re doing.
One last thing you need to consider before hitting the ‘live’ button is timing. It is essential to know when your audience is online. After all, what good is a live broadcast if no-one is around to join? Use your Facebook Insights to determine when your audience is most active and interact with your posts. Learn about your audiences’ habits to fit your broadcast around them.
Boost Your Engagement During and After the Broadcast
Once your Facebook Live broadcast is over, the methods of boosting your engagement don’t have to stop. Follow these tips to boost engagement during and after the broadcast:
- Engage with the comments during your live broadcast
- Share the Facebook Live video after the event
The main reason to host a Facebook Live event is to offer your audience and community the chance to engage with you. Facebook Live events should feel like a two-way conversation, and the only way this can happen is if you are listening and interacting with them.
As your audience is interacting with you in the comments section, it is important to address these comments throughout the broadcast. Doing so will invite others to join in, comment, share their thoughts, and ask questions. If you don’t feel you will be able to sift through the comments live during the broadcast, you could have someone assisting off-camera. Your off-camera assistant will read through the comments and direct you to the comments to respond to.
After the broadcast, it is important to consider sharing the archive video for your audience who wasn’t able to join the live show. Share them on your business page, thanking your audience for participating. It is also a great idea to spend some time going back through the comments to respond directly to your audience. Doing this will help to make them feel valued.
Overall, hopefully, you now have all the tips you need to make your next Facebook Live event a success. As with anything in the marketing world, learn from everything you do, and use your analytics to build and improve. Learn about your audience with your social media analytics to get the best results in the future. Have fun experimenting and optimizing your next Facebook live broadcast.
