On the heels of Periscope’s wildly successful run as pretty much the only game in town over the course of the last year or so, Facebook has finally released its own live-streaming video app, Facebook Live.
While Twitter’s Periscope basked in the glory of having grown to more than 10 million users after only four months in business, Facebook Live promises to be even more popular.
Never mind the fact that Live works almost the same as Periscope, its potential user base and audience of over 1.5 billion casts more than a large shadow over any predecessors and competitors in this space.
Using Facebook Live is easy. Just go to Facebook on your phone, tap the “What’s on your mind?” field and hit the icon to the right that’ll ask you to describe your live video before clicking on the “Go Live” button. That’s all there is to it.
To use this new app effectively, though, isn’t quite so easy, especially if you’re using it for business purposes.
What do you say to command prospects’, customers’, client’s or even your friends’ attention? How do you keep your audience begging to see more of you no matter what you have to say?
Here are just a few ways brands can use Facebook Live and win over their audience at the same time.
1. Go behind the scenes.
People are curious. They want to know what goes on inside the boardrooms and behind closed doors. Take them around your office. Give them a tour of your warehouse. Invite them to join you the next time you sit down with your colleagues to discuss business. Share the secrets of your success with those who are willing to watch.
2. Share news and information.
Talk about a no-brainer. Be like a reporter and talk about the day’s top stories. Schedule a time when you will appear regularly in the News Feed. Condition your audience to be looking for you on Facebook like they tune into their favorite shows on TV, enthusiastically and faithfully.
3. Take questions from your audience.
Access to you and your brand is a big reason why people follow you on social media. They want a pipeline to the source. Nothing makes them feel more empowered than having their questions answered promptly. Like a virtual town hall, take questions from audience members and answer as many as possible. Their loyalty and commitment to you will intensify and increase.
There are just three ways you can use Facebook Live as a professional to stand out among the competition for attention in the News Feed. To read the original version of this post, where I listed a total of 10 ways you can use this new live-streaming video app, follow the link included in the note below.
Note: The original, full-length version of this post, “10 Ways Brands Can Use Facebook Live,” was published on ClickZ on April 25, 2016. To read the post there, click here.
