Facebook has grown to more than 1.71 billion monthly users and most of that traffic comes from people scrolling endlessly on their mobile phones. We have all heard about how mobile marketing is the next hot thing, and that is exactly what is happening. As marketers, we are always looking for new ways to grab our ideal customer’s attention and keep it long enough to deliver our message – and hopefully a value proposition. It is well known that video retains a viewer’s attention and converts at a much higher rate than text or still images do. Facebook has made a big investment into Facebook Live, and although the live video stream feature is still under development, and not everyone has access to use it quite yet, you should be ready and have a plan to leverage this important new marketing tool as it becomes more and more common.
First, let’s take a look at what Facebook Live really is, and what its features are. Facebook Live is a mobile-only feature that shows up as an option for many people as you tap the area to post a new update. There are two main components to this new feature. First, the video will be streaming onto your personal or business page as you record; this is the “live” part. Your video is literally streaming to your page, and subsequently to your friends’ news feeds as you are recording (so make sure you have an agenda of topics and some quality things to talk about). Second, the video is saved automatically and can be viewed by your friends and connections at any point later. This feature is great because it allows people who could not be on Facebook at the moment of your live video to watch the recorded video at their convenience.
Here are a few tips to make Facebook Live successful in terms of your business marketing:
1 – Make sure you let your audience know when you will be going live.
This is important in getting those initial viewers. Try to stream your live video at a time of the day that is easy for people to step away from their work and listen to what you have to say. With Facebook Live, you can stream the video through your personal page, your business page, an event page or even to a group that you are a part of. Choose the right channel to stream from. You want to make sure you are approaching the audience in the right way. For example, if you are posting for fun, or talking about your family BBQ, stream from your personal page. If you are going to give three tips on how to market your business using Facebook Live, do that from your business page.
2 – Add value to your viewer’s lives.
Make sure you take the time prior to hitting the “Go Live” button to think about what your audience is going to want to hear. You want to deliver quality content that will keep people interested in your topic and make them want to share it with others.
3 – Reply to comments, engage with viewers and have a strong call to action.
Viewers can comment and like your video in real time, so you can adjust what you are saying and answer questions on the fly. This creates engagement and helps connect with your audience. Leveraging video in this way has an amazing effect on potential customers because you can talk to them, answer questions, build trust, communicate the nuances of your offer, and have a strong call to action to get your viewers to do something. The call to action is very important; it should be something specific and have no cost. Your call to action could be to share the video, ‘like’ your business page or visit a website. Make sure to repeat your call to action throughout the video as people will be joining at different times.
In conclusion, Facebook Live is an impressive new feature that maximizes your ability to leverage the internet to get your unique message out to hundreds, if not thousands, of people all at once. You can also use the video later by incorporating it into your website blog, or sending it to someone who would like to know more about your business.
Producing videos consistently and always being deliberate in your message will help to build an audience that looks forward to your videos and will, in-turn, convert viewers into customers.
Matthew Janik is the owner of Vancouver-based Fringe Digital Marketing Agency, online at fringewebpro.com. He can be reached at 503.753.2061.
