Facebook Live is a tool for live streaming video from your smartphone to your Facebook followers. For businesses, live streaming is a unique and effective way to build brand loyalty and make more sales! It’s a great way to add an interactive visual element to your online presence for free. It gives you an opportunity to make an intimate, personal, and memorable connection with your customers via social media.
If you want to see the power of Facebook Live for businesses, plan your live stream first. Think about what your customers would want to see and what the ultimate goal of live streaming is for you. The issue for many businesses who’d like to try Facebook Live is that they can’t think of any interesting or relevant content to stream. Here are some ideas for how businesses can use Facebook Live to help strengthen their brand:
Giving a Behind-The-Scenes Peek
Your customers are interested in what goes on behind the closed doors of your business. If there is anything visually interesting about your business that people don’t normally see, Facebook Live gives you the opportunity to showcase it. Not only does it answer customers’ curiosities about your company, it shows off the personality of your business which is crucial to building brand loyalty.
For example: if you own a restaurant, broadcast a live video in the kitchen! Have your chef walk viewers through the steps of crafting one of your best-looking dishes. Your viewers will appreciate the transparency in you letting them see your behind-the-scenes process (plus, it’s hard to watch someone cook without wanting to eat some). No matter what type of business you run, your Facebook followers would likely be interested in a tour of your facilities or an inside look at your product/service creation process.
Marketing a Product Release Or Event
Another way that many businesses have found success with Facebook Live is to market events. You can build up hype for a new product release by showing it in action on Facebook Live first. If you have regular events at your business, broadcast one on Facebook Live to show followers what they’re missing out on, so they’ll come to the next. Some examples of event marketing on Facebook Live:
If you’re a real estate agent, give followers a live video tour of properties before you hold an open house to increase attendance. If you own a bar, broadcast live during a major sports event and show how much fun your patrons are having watching the game at your establishment to increase attendance for the next game. If your business is having a special holiday event, take a live video of you preparing for the event beforehand to give potential attendees a taste of what’s going to happen later. You get the point; any business that has special events can benefit from Facebook Live because people are more likely to come to you event if they can see what it’s like first.
Encouraging Customer Engagement
Possibly the best part about Facebook Live is that it’s an interactive experience for your customers. They aren’t just watching a static video, they can comment and you’ll see their responses in real time. That means you can use Facebook Live to have an actual conversation with customers. Consider having a Q&A session with customers to let them ask questions and express feedback. Many consumers take to social media to ask businesses questions, but few get the response they’re looking for. Facebook Live gives you an opportunity to make those customers feel special and to make a memorable connection with them. People will always choose the business that interacts with them personally over the business that doesn’t attempt to connect with them.
Building Brand Loyalty
Ultimately, Facebook Live is a method for building brand loyalty. It doesn’t typically draw new customers to your business, but it makes your current and past customers feel more in-touch with your brand. Live streaming helps them understand who you are, and if they connect with that, it gives them a reason to choose you over your competitors time and time again.
