How to Use Facebook Live

Have you noticed? Facebook Live is everywhere right now!

Not only is everyone from major brands to tiny businesses using the feature but Facebook are also promoting it as much as possible and as I highlighted before Christmas it’s becoming a real game changer online.

If you want to join the fun simply follow the steps below!

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First, it should be noted that Facebook Live is a mobile-first feature meaning that even though you can broadcast from a laptop or desktop, it’s primarily for smartphones and tablets.

With that in mind let’s get going. Open the Facebook app on your smartphone or tablet.

If you want to Live from your personal account you’ll see the Live icon in the top left-hand corner. This can be seen in the screenshot below. When you’re ready simply hit that button and… Go! 

If you want to go Live using your business or brand page then click on the respective page and you should see something similar to the screenshot below.

Hit “Publish” when you’re ready and a screen similar to the screenshot below should pop up. You’ll notice the “Live Video” button near the bottom of the screen.

Simply hit that “Live Video” button when you’re ready and in 3, 2, 1… Your business is Live! 

Have fun!

New Year Marketing Ideas for Northern Ireland Businesses

Well then!

Are you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed or are you feeling the after-effects of too much partying during the holidays?

Either way it’s time to get back at it and although January is generally when everyone tries to hibernate it represents a great month to try out some creative new marketing ideas.

If you’re going to stand out and grab people’s attention during the most dreaded month of the year you’re going to have to get creative!

Fitness Buffs!

It’s only a cliché because it’s 100% true but every January you can guarantee gym attendance will double (at the very least!), diet information will be everywhere on social media and well-intentioned New Year resolutions will be heartily made.

With all that in mind, why not give your marketing a health and fitness twist for the first month of the year?

You could do a spoof Facebook Live broadcast that pokes fun at online workout videos (in a nice way J) while promoting your latest offers or services.

Just avoid the spandex…

Tryanuary

Besides health and fitness, January, and the beginning of the New Year, is usually viewed by everyone as a fresh start and a chance to try new things or get a better grip on the more serious things in life.

This “Tryanuary” approach has great marketing potential!

Tap into this by offering something different that either solves a problem or entices your potential new customer.

For example, if your business sells Insurance, why not promote a blog that details exactly why your insurance product will help a new customer become more fiscally responsible in 2017!

This mindset is also perfect for businesses selling classes or experiences so start getting your “try something different” message out there ASAP!

New Year Resolutions

New Year resolutions are everywhere at the minute and although most of them will fall by the wayside come February they represent a great opportunity to engage with your online community.

If you want to increase brand awareness and turn customers into followers why not embark on some resolutions together to create that bond?

Restaurants and cafes could try to create and taste a new dish every month with fans/customers following along at home via Snapchat and Instagram stories.

Car salesman could set a challenge of walking so many steps each day on the forecourt and ask followers to keep up or join in via Twitter or Facebook.

How can you tie things in to your business?

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These ideas might seem like a bit of fun, but during the dullest month of the year when everyone is energy-sapped by endless sales and the end of Christmas, they’ll stand out a mile!

Remember, attention is MORE than half the battle! 

Facebook Live is a Game Changer

Facebook Live was first released in August 2015 but lately, and specifically during the second half of 2016, it’s become a game changer on so many levels for businesses and brands.

Now, anyone or any business can go Live to an instant audience that would’ve been unimaginable and inaccessible just 5 or 10 years ago.

With Instagram also announcing new Live features and Snapchat constantly dabbling and improving, in the art of instant video communication, “Going Live” is going to become the norm and we’re only seeing the start of it. 

Notifications Working For You

Right now one of the major benefits of going Live on Facebook is the notification feature.

Now with the click of a button, on a smartphone, tablet or laptop, your followers will be directly notified the moment you go live. This instantly increases the chances of quickly gaining an audience for whatever you want to promote or broadcast.

This is massively different from a standard organic Facebook post that generally reaches only 5-10% of your followers.

How to Use Facebook Live for Business

What does Facebook Live mean for businesses?

As with everything it’s simply another platform, another tactic and another means to get your message out there to a wider audience than ever before.

If you’re an estate agent running a show house open day why not Facebook Live a tour around the house? Depending on the current size of your Facebook business page you could have an extra 50, 200 or 500 eyes viewing the rooms as you walk around. Not bad for one click of a button.

Boutiques could Facebook Live once per week to announce new stock arrivals and highlight best selling or on-trend pieces.

Craft makers could Live broadcast the making of a popular product or a tour around the workshop behind the scenes…

The opportunities are there and an audience is waiting, after that it’s about figuring out what works and what doesn’t, what entertains, informs or engages your audience.

The Premier League Football Problem

On a bigger level, for many brands and businesses Facebook Live, and similar features on other apps, represents a big opportunity but the Premier League may not be one of them.

Recently I’ve been able to watch full Premier League games, otherwise unavailable to a UK or Ireland television audience, via a Facebook page live streaming everything from a location most likely in Asia.

The live stream in question attained an audience of approximately 6 thousand people with almost zero promotion, simply through the organic reach of Facebook.

This represents a major issue for the Premier League going forward as Live broadcasting is only going to get bigger and it will be interesting to see how they tackle the problem.

If you feel like your business could suffer in some way my advice would be to start broadcasting and figuring out Live before the competition does. 

NFL UK Going For It

Interestingly, the NFL may be showing the Premier League a thing or two when it comes to using social media Live broadcasting.

Just this week, on Tuesday 13th December, the NFL used Facebook Live to broadcast and announce the organisation’s four upcoming International Series games to be held in London in Autumn 2017.

Despite having different broadcasting deals with Sky and the BBC respectively, NFL UK used Facebook Live to make their announcements.

The reason for this? Instant audience.

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Take some time to experiment with Facebook Live over Christmas or January; depending on when is quieter for your business.

Live broadcasting is now just a click away for everyone.