In his book, The Art of War, the highly-respected general Sun Tzu once wrote, “In the midst of chaos, there’s also opportunity.” So, when we tell you, Facebook has over 2.23 billion monthly active users around the world, it means there’s a lot of potential for your success. Facebook live videos are the most cost-effective way to get people’s attention and get them engaged with your business. In this blog post, we’ve put together four essential Facebook Live tips for brands and businesses that want to grow online and get the most out of live videos.
Want to live stream to Facebook and YouTube with ManyCam with ease? Download ManyCam for free today!
Why Facebook Live for Brands and Businesses?
One of the main advantages for a business to do Facebook live is how cost-effective it is. You can reach and expand your audience for free. There might be some other costs involved, but just the fact that you don’t need to pay to engage with your audience is a huge plus.
There are other reasons why Facebook Live for businesses is one of the most cost-effective mediums out there.
Long format content
On Facebook, users can live stream for hours. Four hours to be exact. Unlike Instagram, for example, which allows users to stream up to one hour. The extra hours comes in handy if you’re live streaming an event.
PRO TIP: The long format content is perfect for you to create webinars for your business. Typically, a webinar lasts one hour, plus some Q&A at the end, so one hour and a half total.
Low budget equipment
Whether you do a Facebook live for your business or a streaming video on any other platform, the gear won’t change much. Unless you’re live streaming events or professional-looking TV shows, a basic live streaming setup will take you a long way.
PRO TIP: For webinars and other “in-office” content, an HD webcam or cell phone will be enough. Since high-quality audio is essential for a successful Facebook Live, you should consider getting an external microphone. They are affordable and can have a significant impact on your outcome.
Other things to consider are live streaming software, hardware and internet upload speed. Nonetheless, it’s cheaper than a video-on-demand production, which requires a more professional look overall.
No post-production required
Since it’s a live video, you don’t need to worry about the post-production costs or hassle. Once it’s over, Facebook saves it, and people can watch it on demand. So, it’s 2 in 1.
Facebook live videos should be part of your marketing strategy if you want to grow your business without breaking the bank.
How can a business get more out of Facebook Live?
If you decide to start doing Facebook Live for your brand, make sure you get the most out of each live video. Or, if you already do live streams, get the most out of them with these Facebook live tips for brands below.
Facebook Live Tips for Brands & Businesses
1 – Get to know your audience better
Take advantage of your live video and get to know your audience better. The more you know your viewers, the better you’ll be able to communicate with them and sell them your products or services. Understanding your audience is crucial for your success.
Get them to interact with you during the Facebook live, ask them questions and learn more about their interests. Polls can help you find common denominators amongst your audience.
Most importantly, pay attention to the questions they ask you. That’s when you learn the most.
Every live video is an opportunity to:
- Interact and engage with your audience
- Ask questions and learn more about them
- Pay attention to the questions they ask you
- Answer their questions
2 – Expand your reach
Doing a business Facebook live is the perfect opportunity to expand your brand’s reach. So, remember to promote your live video in advance, through social media, email lists and your website.
A secret to reaching more people is getting your audience to share your live stream. If you offer them rewards or create online contests, chances are they will promote the Facebook live for you.
So, to expand your reach, remember to:
- Promote in advance
- Get the audience to share, offer a reward
- Create contests
3 – Repurpose content
One of the best Facebook live tips for brands is to repurpose content. In fact, you can repurpose all your content, not only live videos. Since content is vital for your brands’ online success, you need lots of it. But it’s hard to find the time to consistently create high-quality content, especially for small businesses, right?
This concept will change the game for you and will help you make the most out of each content you create. Once you’ve done the Facebook Live, you can turn it into additional content for your brand.
One live video can become:
- Shorter clips for Instagram
- Video on demand on YouTube
- Image with quotes from what you said
- Tweets with snippets
- Podcast with the audio file
- Blog post from the transcription
- Slideshow of your presentation on Slideshare
And any other content you can come up with. From one Facebook live, you could get an entire month’s worth of content.
4 – Target your audience with Facebook Ads
Facebook ads are an excellent tool to grow your business because they are accurate and affordable. After your Facebook live ends, you can create ads and target the people who watched your video. You can retarget people based on how much of your video they watched and win them over.
Key Takeaway
Nowadays, it’s a different war. The marketplace keeps getting more competitive and you need to find new ways to grow your business. Facebook live videos can help. It’s a fantastic way to interact with your audience, get them engaged with your brand and gain more customers. Make sure you follow these Facebook live tips for brands and start crushing it online.
If you go live on Facebook with ManyCam, let us know. We might share it with our audience too!
Want to learn more about live streaming?
How to Overcome the Fear of Live Streaming
For many people, doing a live stream can be a daunting task. Some struggle with being on camera, others don’t want the trouble of arranging all the live streaming equipment. But the number one fear of live streaming is the fact that... (Continue reading)
The Ultimate Guide to Live Streaming Content
Learn all about live streaming content and choose the right content for your business. Plan ahead, have solid goals in mind and achieve more with live video. (Get free access)
