Facebook Live is a real time video platform that can help you connect with your Facebook audience and broadcast your content while sharing it with your Facebook contacts. Here are a few tips to help you get it right the first time:
- Start with an broadcast idea designed to get people excited about your brand in an environment that you can control in terms of noise, participants and quality.
- Test out Facebook Live before you go all out by keeping it internal the first time. Use the settings to limit your audience to yourself or you and some employees. Then review how it worked and what you want to change before your first public effort.
- Keep reintroducing yourself. Since when you start your video there may not be an audience yet (it picks up as people see it on their feed), you need to name yourself and your brand and any participants throughout the broadcast.
- The initial and ongoing images on your video are key. If you are sitting at a desk doing nothing but talking-it will receive as much engagement as a video that is changing over time (changing backgrounds, locations, adding people).
- Ask your audience to like, share and comment because Facebook is counting. Those activities are in it’s algorithm to determine if they should share of your video with fans. Even turning on the sound is a plus (Facebook mutes sound for video launch).
- Engage with comments, likes and questions so that the algorithm will be maximized. Remember that Facebook is counting.
- Ask someone else to monitor and reply to comments, posts and shares in real time on a desktop computer while you are still broadcasting.
- Go back to your broadcast and edit the post with a link that makes sense for your connection with people who click on the post later. Link content from your website.
- Wait 2 hours before/after posting any other videos so that the Facebook Live broadcast will not be stealing audience away from your recently posted videos. Facebook shares less popular videos with fewer fans. Facebook credits Facebook Live as more relevant because it is real time (also part of their algorithm).
- Cross promote your broadcast on all your social media platforms in advance to let fans know when and where your Facebook Live is taking place so that they can tune in and participate in your broadcast.
For more information on improving your business marketing or your website performance, contact Tailor-Made Advertising to review and improve your efforts. Liz Harsch has been helping business owners maximize their marketing budget since 1988. For more information about Liz or Tailor-Made Advertising, visit tailormadeadvertising.com. Liz is a valued Marketing speaker and trainer for SCORE, SBDC, Constant Contact, Chambers of Commerce and Small Business Groups on Traditional and Online Marketing, Social Media, Analytics or Email Marketing for your organization, email her at tmade.mkt@verizon.net or call 310-791-6300.
