Facebook has been trying to get in on the live video market for a while now – and their new Facebook Live platform isn’t just for friends and families to send each other content. It’s a powerful business tool. We’re going to look at how to create a live video event on Facebook to help promote your business.
Facebook Live lets anyone with a Facebook account broadcast live video from their mobile (or PC) directly to their Facebook news feed. While other video streaming platforms have been around for a while, Facebook streamlines the process and helps you easily promote your broadcasts within your existing friends network. Facebook Live could be a tool that helps take your business marketing efforts to the next level. It’s a simple, fun and an effective way to improve relationships with existing followers and help the word of your business spread.
How to Create a Live Video Event on Facebook
This step is quite straightforward. Simply click the “live” button on your profile page or the news feed. You’ll then be prompted to give Facebook access to your webcam or phone, which you’ll obviously need to accept.
After this step, you’ll be asked to set your privacy settings. You can choose who’s allowed to watch your broadcast, but as a business you’ll probably want to make it completely public so as to try and get as many viewers as possible. You might want to try a private “only me” broadcast to test everything is working as you want it.
You’ll also be asked to write a description. Make it is enticing and promotional as possible if you’re trying to get as many viewers as you can. You can also tag locations or friends at this point to add more of a personal feel and get more potential viewers for your broadcast. Make sure your camera is pointing in the right direction before you go live!
Make sure you keep active and interact with your viewers in the comments section. After you’ve finished your broadcast (it can be up to 90 minutes) – it’ll be saved as a video to your page.
If you don’t want to broadcast straight away, you can schedule a specific time for your Facebook Live event when you set everything up. This is an important step, as you’ll want to promote your live event before you actually start broadcasting.
How to Promote your Live Video Event
When you schedule a live broadcast, Facebook will send a notification to your entire friends list with information about your broadcast and when it’s scheduled for. This is obviously hugely important in getting as many visitors to your broadcast as possible, so make it sound catchy and like something they don’t want to miss.
You can also promote your live event on other social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram. Get as many people involved as possible. One great step many people might not have thought of is to promote your event “offline” by mentioning it in your business premises or to your staff and customers by word of mouth. You could also put up posters in your store (if you’ve got one).
Some Ideas For Successful Facebook Live Video Events For Your Business
Now you know how to set up your live broadcast, you probably want to know what you should be broadcasting about. Here are a few ideas:
1. Live competition draw
One great way to grow a loyal social media following is by offering exclusive competitions to your followers. You could try broadcasting a live raffle draw to find the winners!
2. Give an inside look of your business
You could try a “behind the scenes” look at your business. Make it personal and enjoyable so people feel something good about your brand.
3. Announce exclusive special offers
If people know that they’ll get exclusive special offers if they follow you, your following should start to grow. Make live broadcasts the first (or only) way you announce special discounts or big sales.
4. New product launches
You might think only Apple are big enough to have live events for their product launches – but now you can too. While you probably won’t be doing one on quite the same scale, a live event for your new product could help elevate it above your competition.
There are tons of other ideas for using Facebook Live to help promote your business. You could address followers directly, answer questions, or deal with complaints. Think outside the box and come up with an effective way to grow your business with Facebook Live. Facebook Live offers a great new way to connect with your followers and grow brand loyalty – and it could be one thing your business needs to take the next step.
About the author
Peter Ellington has a lot of experience writing about social media issues and other areas of business marketing. He enjoys sharing his knowledge and knows how important the right education can be, which is why he also writes for a business specializing in Singapore tuition.
