5 Facebook Live Content Ideas to Include in Your Social Strategy
Since Facebook Live launched in April 2016, celebrities, marketers and everyday users are using the channel to share themselves with followers in a live-broadcasting format that allows for instant comments. The feature has been a huge success – look at the stats:
And according to Brightcove, adding a social element to videos such as Facebook Live generates 1,200 percent more shares than text and images.
Your customers are using Facebook Live and, more importantly, your competitors are. Here are five ways your brand or agency can take advantage of the exciting Facebook Live video format to connect with customers.
Tutorials and how-to videos streamed through Facebook Live are great, because the presenter can answer questions in real-time. As a business, you can use Facebook Live to demonstrate or explain a product or service to viewers.
This type of Facebook Live video benefits both your brand and your audience. People will better understand your product, while your brand learns what may be confusing to users and warrants extra explanation in a product description or blog post.
Encourage the host to respond viewer questions. This enables you to interact more with the audience and makes viewers feel special.
https://www.facebook.com/aweber/videos/10155712075806880/
Instead of waiting for hours before a press release is written, edited and sent off to the appropriate wires, use Facebook Live to immediately share breaking news. Facebook Live also gives your brand the chance to be an authority on industry happenings as you share a real-time connection with followers.
Negative events that affect your customers are opportunities for your brand to create positive sentiment by showing customers that you are aware of the situation and are working to resolve it as quickly as possible.
Not all breaking news on Facebook Live has to be negative. You can use the tool to announce new products or to even share something fun, like a baby announcement for someone on your staff.
https://www.facebook.com/SouthwestAir/videos/10154019388938949/
Now you don’t need a big budget to create your own cable news show. Create your own regular show with Facebook Live by giving people a set day and time to tune in for programming.
Americans spend more than 10 hours a day consuming media, according to market research company Nielsen. Choose a format that’s easy to produce and that includes value for viewers – whether it’s simply making them laugh or giving them insight into your brand – and that keeps them captivated from beginning to end. Your business programming could be what they choose to watch over television.
https://www.facebook.com/slates.conundrums.1/videos/vb.100019465903639/105794086746121/?type=2&theater
Originating on Reddit and now a “mainstream delight” (as per The Atlantic), “Ask Me Anything” formats have become synonymous with authenticity. A Facebook Live AMA gives your followers a vehicle to build a stronger relationship with key players at your company. While they may never be able to meet your CEO in person, they can converse with them through Facebook Live. They’re also a great way to show off the human side of a brand.
AMAs work particularly well for brands that already have a strong Facebook following. These chats can be used for your business in a variety of ways, including:
https://www.facebook.com/USATODAYlife/videos/1547100982019854/
Make your Facebook followers feel special by giving them a sneak peek into a new promotion. A couple ways to do this:
https://www.facebook.com/ModCloth/videos/10154444413747171/
There are countless other ways to use Facebook Live for your business. You could enlist an influencer to host a takeover of your channel, which extends your brand’s reach to their audience. You could livestream the opening of a new store or business event. You could use Facebook Live to interview an expert who relates to your brand. Get started by posting the question to your current followers about what they’d like to see for even more ideas.
If you’re game to jump in and play with Facebook Live or need to fine tune other aspects of your digital marketing, register for a Digital Summit conference.
- In May 2017, Facebook reported that one in five Facebook videos is now a live video
- Compared to regular videos uploaded to Facebook, the social network reports that viewers spend three times more time watching a Facebook Live video
- Viewers also comment 10 times more on Facebook Live videos than on regular videos
And according to Brightcove, adding a social element to videos such as Facebook Live generates 1,200 percent more shares than text and images.
Your customers are using Facebook Live and, more importantly, your competitors are. Here are five ways your brand or agency can take advantage of the exciting Facebook Live video format to connect with customers.
1. Tutorials
Tutorials and how-to videos streamed through Facebook Live are great, because the presenter can answer questions in real-time. As a business, you can use Facebook Live to demonstrate or explain a product or service to viewers.
This type of Facebook Live video benefits both your brand and your audience. People will better understand your product, while your brand learns what may be confusing to users and warrants extra explanation in a product description or blog post.
Encourage the host to respond viewer questions. This enables you to interact more with the audience and makes viewers feel special.
Who’s doing it well
The email marketing automation company AWeber regularly uses Facebook Live to show potential and established customers how to use their email marketing platform with greater success. B2B brands in general – and SaaS companies in particular – are doing an excellent job at leveraging live video to show users how to use their product more effectively. Check it out:https://www.facebook.com/aweber/videos/10155712075806880/
2. Breaking news
Instead of waiting for hours before a press release is written, edited and sent off to the appropriate wires, use Facebook Live to immediately share breaking news. Facebook Live also gives your brand the chance to be an authority on industry happenings as you share a real-time connection with followers.
Negative events that affect your customers are opportunities for your brand to create positive sentiment by showing customers that you are aware of the situation and are working to resolve it as quickly as possible.
Not all breaking news on Facebook Live has to be negative. You can use the tool to announce new products or to even share something fun, like a baby announcement for someone on your staff.
Who’s doing it well
Southwest Airlines transformed something that usually turns off its customers – bad weather – into an opportunity to share a behind-the-scenes look into the company’s inner workings as the airlines dealt with Winter Storm Jonas in 2016. Broadcasting live from Southwest Network Operations Control, the Southwest Airlines team showed the hard work its team was putting in to mitigate delays and problems caused to passengers because of the storm.https://www.facebook.com/SouthwestAir/videos/10154019388938949/
3. Regular programming
Now you don’t need a big budget to create your own cable news show. Create your own regular show with Facebook Live by giving people a set day and time to tune in for programming.
Americans spend more than 10 hours a day consuming media, according to market research company Nielsen. Choose a format that’s easy to produce and that includes value for viewers – whether it’s simply making them laugh or giving them insight into your brand – and that keeps them captivated from beginning to end. Your business programming could be what they choose to watch over television.
Who’s doing it well
In July 2017, news and politics magazine Slate announced a new program called “Conundrums,” powered by the Facebook Spaces social virtual reality app. In the first episode, actress Carrie Preston appeared, and she and host Dan Kois debated conundrums like who would win a war against each other: Georgia or Florida?https://www.facebook.com/slates.conundrums.1/videos/vb.100019465903639/105794086746121/?type=2&theater
4. ‘Ask Me Anything’ (AMA)
Originating on Reddit and now a “mainstream delight” (as per The Atlantic), “Ask Me Anything” formats have become synonymous with authenticity. A Facebook Live AMA gives your followers a vehicle to build a stronger relationship with key players at your company. While they may never be able to meet your CEO in person, they can converse with them through Facebook Live. They’re also a great way to show off the human side of a brand.
AMAs work particularly well for brands that already have a strong Facebook following. These chats can be used for your business in a variety of ways, including:
- Get to know the CEO
- Chat with product developers and designers
- Connect with research and development scientists
Who’s doing it well
On Mondays, newspaper USA Today hosts a Facebook Live video chat with the brand’s TV critics, who discuss burning TV developments with followers. At the beginning of the chat, the hosts explain to ask questions in the comments, and the hosts address answers in real time.https://www.facebook.com/USATODAYlife/videos/1547100982019854/
5. Special offers
Make your Facebook followers feel special by giving them a sneak peek into a new promotion. A couple ways to do this:
- Demonstrate a product and offer viewers a unique discount code for watching. Highlighting a product or service on Facebook Live conveys the value of what you’re selling and compels viewers to take action.
- Use Facebook Live to demonstrate the benefits of what you’re promoting. Make the video behind-the-scenes by giving a peek into the production process or by shooting it at an interesting location within your office.
Who’s doing it well
When fashion line ModCloth launched a limited-time pop-up store, a brand representative took fans around the world inside to check out new styles. The video debuted three weeks before the store closed, showing off garments and store displays to give followers an enticing view of what they’d miss out on if they didn’t check out the store.https://www.facebook.com/ModCloth/videos/10154444413747171/
Experiment with what works for your brand
There are countless other ways to use Facebook Live for your business. You could enlist an influencer to host a takeover of your channel, which extends your brand’s reach to their audience. You could livestream the opening of a new store or business event. You could use Facebook Live to interview an expert who relates to your brand. Get started by posting the question to your current followers about what they’d like to see for even more ideas.
If you’re game to jump in and play with Facebook Live or need to fine tune other aspects of your digital marketing, register for a Digital Summit conference.