With about 2 billion people using Facebook monthly, Facebook Live is smart to broadcast to the largest audience in the world for free. Conference sessions, sales pitches, presentations, and similar information can be streamed easily, quickly, and freely.
The potential of Facebook Live is easy to recognize. Businesses that aren’t using Facebook Live to market their products and services miss out on valuable customers. Facebook also has its algorithm adjusted, so that live videos appear higher in the news feed, giving businesses all the more reason to go live.
“Let’s get clear: if your brand isn’t already creating video content for social, it’s behind the times,” warns Cartin and Spritzer, Co-founders of Socialfly.
“In the world of social media marketing, the video was ‘the’ trend of 2016. Now, with the introduction of live video on Facebook, it’s more important than ever to produce video content if you want to stay relevant and keep up with your competition. Facebook Live provides a unique platform to create videos that will live on your timeline.”
Lets take a look at some tips to convert Facebook Live viewers into paying customers.
Set Yourself Apart
Many businesses are yet to join the Facebook Live pristine as it is still a fairly recent tool. There are tremendous opportunities and growth space in online platforms, and news publications were the first ones to utilize this tool. Utilizing this new tech solution will set your brand apart from your competitors. For instance, a restaurant can consider facilitating a weekly cooking program, exhibiting recipes using your product, and talking about how you source it.
Interact with Viewers
Facebook Live is a useful tool to interact with your customers to build their trust in your brand. It is substantially easier to sell your product when the customers have trust in your brand. Interacting with the audience by asking engaging questions, reading, and replying to their comments and thanking them will influence your customers to feel your video is customized for them. They will appreciate you taking the time to connect with them one-to-one during their video experience.
“If people can watch you talk about your specialty or an issue facing the industry, they will be much more likely to sign on with you versus an unknown entity,” says Michelle Vroom, CEO, and founder of Vroom Communications.
Product launches and demos
Live videos are ideal for product launches that give your potential customers the first glimpse of the product. Chevrolet’s live stream unveiling the all-electric 2017 Bolt EV at the CES 2016 attracted over 55,000 views, showing how the platform can be utilized effectively for a new product launch.
IHOP, the family restaurant chain’s Facebook live stream of pancakes on a beach, went viral, and became the brand’s top social video ever. The brand set up the Facebook live stream to engage customers and draw focus to the pancakes by placing them in a beach background with different people popping in and out of the video (to make it appear live), which attracted 385,000 video views and thousands of successful customers.
Video Customer Care
Live streaming can also be adapted for round-the-clock video customer care, giving your customers the option to interact with a human representative. Using a live stream for customer care can bring your brand closer to customers as the interaction is immediate, more intimate, and transparent.
Boost Sales
Hospitality businesses can use Facebook Live to give live tours of hotels and restaurants. Even fashion firms can provide a live stream of their latest collection, and customers will be able to place orders even as the models walk the ramp. Brands can maintain their exclusivity by targeting the live stream to a specific geographic area or even age-group using the built-in settings of Facebook live.
Run a contest or giveaway
Contests, giveaways, and other events during your FB Live make them exciting and increase the number of people who tune in during the event itself. Try to make the giveaway item relevant to your brand. A free consulting session, signed copies of your new business book, and similar items related to your core business are great ideas for a giveaway.
Network
Networking before and after the event helps you get the word out faster than promotion alone. Word-of-mouth has been the strongest marketing tool for ages, for a reason. When people hear something from a friend, they’re more likely to respond so, get your friends, colleagues, and followers to spread a good word across.
Facebook Live’s viewership is growing rapidly, as more and more businesses begin to realize its importance and join the broadcast. Streaming on Facebook Live is a cost-efficient way to – have your brand’s message heard, make a personal connection with your audience, and simultaneously turn them into your potential customers.
