The thrill of receiving a notification that your favorite brand or influencer is going live creates feelings of intrigue and anticipation that are unmatched by the average Facebook post. Live streaming on Facebook is a great way to immediately grab the attention of your audience and create a sense of urgency that they may miss out on what you’re offering if they miss the live stream.
Use the 5 tips below to get the most out of your live streams and increase brand awareness on Facebook:
Announcements:
Facebook Live is an excellent way to share the latest news about the happenings around your brand, such as the introduction of a new product or service. Indicating that you’ll be going live to make an announcement regarding your brand can be enough to build anticipation among your online community. In preparation for your announcement on FB Live consider creating a post that outlines the date and time of your live stream along with a prompt to set their notifications so they don’t miss it! Another tactic is to create a Facebook event around your live stream so that event-goers receive a reminder before you go live (this will help with attendance) and you have an idea of how many people are interested in the event and may attend. Creating a Facebook Event will also allow you to send out invitations to the members of your community as a reminder for those who saw the post, ensuring that those who missed the post are still aware of the stream. Also sending out invitations makes the interaction more personal and adds to that feeling of community and exclusivity.
The goal of this kind of live stream is to bring awareness to your brand, product, or service, but unlike the other tactics on this list, most of the work starts before you go live. The idea is to make your audience feel like they’re being invited to something they can’t afford to miss because what you’re offering is an exclusive first look at your product or service. Ideally, engagement won’t stop after the stream is over. Your announcement should become the starting point for a larger conversation that takes place after you go live, where members of your community flock to each other to discuss what you had to say or even tell those they’re close to about what’s coming from your brand to help drive awareness.
Tutorials:
A great way to follow up on your announcement of a new product or service is to offer live tutorials. If customers have questions about how to use one of your products or want a better idea of how your services can solve an issue or challenge they’re facing, the first place they will turn is to the internet to read reviews and gain more information. Instead of allowing your customers to get information from a second-hand source, provide them with the most accurate information they can find by doing a live demonstration on Facebook Live. Tutorials are a great way to ensure you have a steady stream of content as well. You can create a series of live streams that can live on your Facebook page after the stream has ended so that they can be found at any time, or you can download the video by clicking download under the options tab of your saved live stream to repost on YouTube or the brand website.
Q&A’s:
Your live streams don’t always have to be built around you giving a speech, webinar, etc. Live streaming can also be an opportunity to be more interactive with your social media audience. Question and Answer sessions are a fantastic way to address any questions or concerns your customers may have, give information about yourself or your brand to potential new customers, and build trust between you and your online community. You should also use Q&A sessions to develop future ideas to implement into your brand by asking your audience questions like, “What kind of content do you want to see from us in the future?” or “What are some changes that you would like to see us make?”. This will create a real sense of community amongst your customers, allowing them to be involved in the development of new products or services.
Interviews:
Interviewing other brand owners, thought leaders, influencers, and the like on live streams is another brand awareness tactic that gives both parties a pipeline to a new audience. Both you and the person you’re interviewing will inevitably bring in members of your respective communities that may potentially begin engaging with the other’s brand based on a newfound introduction and interest.
Get your community involved before the interview by asking what they would like to know about the interviewee or their brand. Also, use this opportunity to discuss little-known information regarding the interviewee’s brand such as sharing behind-the-scenes stories about how each of you got started or came together for a webinar, to provide exclusive information the audience may not find anywhere else.
Hold A Contest:
Consider holding a contest on all of your social channels and going live on Facebook to announce the winner(s). By giving away a free product, service, or a special discount, you’ll entice current members of your audience to engage more with your brand. You’ll also give those who are not yet a part of your community but may be interested in joining, a reason to finally take the plunge. It’s a low-risk avenue for potential customers to get their hands on what you have to offer and a fun way for legacy customers to participate, while you create an opportunity to receive a larger audience and a higher level of brand awareness. One con in the tactic is that contests can sometimes bring people who are only interested in winning, and not truly interested in making a purchase. It is natural post-contest to gain new followers and website traffic, but be prepared for some of the initial followers to disappear, leaving people who are truly interested behind.
Facebook Live gives businesses the opportunity to create organic brand awareness while creating a personal connection with their audience. Given the unique opportunities that going live presents, it should be a part of every social media marketer’s arsenal.
