Live streaming video has taken social media marketing by storm. While streaming video is certainly not a new phenomenon, apps like Periscope and Meerkat created avenues for marketers to reach their target audience members with engaging content on trendy new channels.
Facebook, always one to have an answer to new technology, recently responded to the trend toward live streaming video by rolling out Facebook Live. Since its rollout in April, marketers across a wide array of industries have adopted Facebook Live and added it as a tactic in their marketing toolbox with varying levels of success.
Facebook Live has a high potential to help your message reach further and connect in new, exciting ways. In order to be successful, however, there are some considerations you’ll need to keep in mind.
Promote
Facebook does take care of some of the promotion for you by notifying a percentage of your followers that you’re live, but you can’t leave the audience creation all up to Zuckerberg and friends. Do some promoting of your own. If you have a newsletter list, send out a blast announcing that you’ll be live on a particular day at a particular time. You can also push out notices across your social media channels. It’s important that you do all you can to ensure you have as many viewers as possible.
Check Your Connection
Very early on in my Facebook Live efforts (which is like a five-year-old saying, “when I was a little kid”), I found that the strength of your connection has the potential to make or break your video. As your video rolls along and more and more users start to tune in to watch, the last thing you need is to lose them due to a bad connection. Test out your connection before you get started, and make sure it’s strong.
Setup in a Quiet Place
An office is probably the best place to host a Facebook Live session, but there are plenty of other options. The most important thing is to understand that the microphone on your device will pick up more than just the sound from your voice, so make sure you eliminate as much potential for distracting noise as possible. This will ensure that you get the best sound quality possible.
Conversational
Facebook Live videos are unpolished, which means high production value isn’t expected. You should maintain a conversational, casual tone and voice. It’s important that you don’t come across too scripted. If you want to use a more scripted or more professional tone, consider a webinar instead.
Make an Outline
While creating a script is going too far and can take away from the conversational tone, you want to be careful not to stumble too much. It’s important to have some type of direction. Create an outline of your main talking points and have it nearby. This will help you stay on point without coming across like you’re reading from a prompter.
Encourage Engagement
Your Facebook Live video will offer viewers all the features of a traditional Facebook post. As you talk, they have the ability to like, share and comment on the video. Encourage your viewers to post questions and comments, and let them know you’ll either answer them live or you’ll be sure to get to each one later by answering right in the comment field.
Have fun with Facebook Live. It’s a new tool, so you’re free to experiment and maybe even set a precedent for others. Test out new things and see what works best with your audience.
Facebook is really pushing this tool, so being an early adopter gives you the added bonus of getting a little more recognition from Facebook. Start testing out Facebook Live and begin enjoying the benefits before too many users jump on it and the noise level drowns out your message like so many other social media channels and tools before.
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