Harnessing Facebook Live as a key aspect of your marketing mix gives you a much better chance of building brand notoriety on social media. Here’s how to do just that.
I’m going to go out on a whim here and make a pretty bold claim about your marketing strategy and Facebook Live; you’re probably not doing enough with it. Okay, so maybe that is a sweeping generality, but it’s the sentiment that counts. Much of what can be achieved through Facebook Live can’t be replicated in other post styles, and many businesses don’t even bother with it.
As a social networking feature, there’s nothing particularly phenomenal about it. Live streaming is by no means a new concept. In fact, it’s been around since the darkest ages of dial up. But couple it with the largest social network around and suddenly you’ve got a really easy way to reach your audience with personal – and yes, human – messages.
Social features that build your brand
What is it that made your audience choose to advocate your business over your competitors? Simple. It’s your brand. And it’s your brand that will encourage future users to do exactly the same. Certain social networking features actively facilitate the process of building your brand by acting as something of an X-ray through fonts, colours and messages to inside an organisation, enabling businesses to show how this is reflected within.
Facebook Live is one of these features. That means that while it may not be a ground breaking user feature, as a marketing tool it’s pretty special. Alongside the general appeal of video, it carries a value of immediacy; a sense of being “in the moment” that social users can’t get enough of.
Here are some ways you could use it to build your brand…
Behind the scenes footage
With Facebook Live you are able to offer your audience a unique look behind the scenes into your business and how it works. Social media users love being exposed to a place they might otherwise never be able to see. However, the key here is to analyse and understand exactly what it is that your audience wants to see.
Should your stream be educational, sharing your processes? Or should you be focussing on particularly exciting production process or interesting work site? Understand that behind the scenes footage is a promotional opportunity, but to have any effect it needs to have value to users.
Special celebrations
If you can, don’t Tweet about it – stream it. Whether it’s someone’s birthday or the Anniversary of your company launch, everybody loves a party. If your colleagues have got the afternoon off for tea, cake and cocktails, invite your customers to get involved too.
Streaming celebrations and events can be particularly useful if your company culture plays a major part in the development of your brand. It can certainly be useful for attracting the best talent to your business, but that isn’t all; users are far more likely to value a business that obviously values its employees.
Expert Q&A sessions and Webinars
If you’ve spent any time undertaking marketing responsibilities to any extent, the likelihood is that you’ve been invited to at least 3,000 free webinars. The beauty of hosting these on Facebook Live is that you aren’t asking for sign-ups, so required user investment is low. For that reason, users are far less likely to have reservations
Holding live Q&A sessions is also the ideal way to concrete your brand as an industry leader. With Facebook Live, you are able to listen and respond to questions as they come in. Not only does it encourage trust in your service, it’s a great way to showcase that you are comfortable under the spotlight.
Hosting focus groups and gain user feedback
Building a new product or service? Getting your audience’s perspective is incredibly valuable and could make all the difference in those crucial preliminary stages. On Facebook Live you can use Focus Groups to get user’s input on different creative and strategic decisions in the during the development process.
Not only a great way to conduct on the spot market research, it will make your customers feel valued and part of your brand.
