How Marketers Can Benefit from Facebook Live

Many social media and marketing experts predict that live streaming online video such as Facebook Live will revolutionize how companies and brands present content and communicate with customers. Live streaming video, they predict, will become a major PR, marketing and communications strategy.

Facebook Live presents brands a significant new opportunity to use live video to showcase their knowledge, gain followers and increase brand awareness. While other social media networks, namely Twitter and Snapchat, offer streaming video, none boast the enormous user base of Facebook.

Although Facebook introduced live streaming late last year, the company only recently opened it to all users and began to market it aggressively. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes live video is the future of the Internet.  He’s enthralled by it, some say even obsessed. While some doubt the importance of live video, marketers must certainly take note of the powerful new communications tool on the most important platform in social media.

Advice from Facebook

Facebook offers the following tips for marketers hoping to benefit from the streaming video feature:

Tell fans when you’re broadcasting ahead of time. A written post that tells your audience when to view the video will build anticipation. One day’s notice provides the right amount notice.

Get a strong connection. Check the app to make sure you have a strong signal before going live. Wi-Fi tends to work best, but if you can’t find a nearby network, seek a 4G connection. If you have weak signal, the ‘Go Live’ button will be grayed out.

Describe it well. The description goes out in the news feed and notifications. Writing a catchy description before going live will capture attention and help viewers understand what your broadcast is about.

Ask viewers to subscribe to notifications. Remind viewers that they can tap on the Follow button to get notifications of your future videos.

Greet commenters by name; respond to their comments live. Viewers will be thrilled to hear their names mentioned.

Broadcast for longer periods of time to reach more people. The longer you broadcast, the more likely people are to discover and share your video. Facebook recommends that you go live for at least 10 minutes, although you can stay live for up to 90 minutes at a time.

Conclude with a closing line that signals the end of the video, such as “I’ll be going live again soon.” Then wait a few seconds until you hear the “ping” indicating your broadcast is complete.

Be creative. Try different types of broadcasts – and go live frequently – to keep your audience engaged.

What Marketing Experts Say

Marketers also offer tips of their own.

Be careful. Live videos are risky. “Any slips of the tongue/misconstrued/ill-informed/slightly controversial comments, could land your brand in hot water and greatly damage your reputation. Please bear this in mind when broadcasting,” warns Alexander Clark at Smart Insights.

Humanize your brand with behind the scenes, intimate and authentic content,

Choose your presenter wisely. The wrong face or voice can significantly damage your brand’s reputation.

Poor quality can also damage your reputation. Learning how to produce quality videos and using the right equipment, including a tripod to avoid the shaky-hand syndrome, helps ensure quality.

Set a specific topic beforehand to avoid rambling discussions, advises social media marketing expert Mari Smith for Social Media Examiner.

Test length and times. Despite Facebook recommendations, testing can reveal the video lengths, as well as broadcast times, your audience prefers.

Edit it. After the live broadcast, you can edit the video like any other. Click on the date of the post in your timeline to access it and select Edit.  Editing will benefit greatly from a B-roll of video from a separate camera or smartphone.

Repurpose it. You can write a blog post about it and share it on other social media platforms.

Bottom Line: At least some people predict Facebook Live will revolutionize how content is shared online. Live streaming video may become a major PR and marketing tactic. These tips from social media experts and Facebook itself can help brands get the most out of Facebook’s new live streaming feature.