Engagement through social media with your business’s followers and potential customers is incredibly important. Live video remains a valuable way for businesses to engage with audiences, create authentic interactions and build stronger relationships with potential customers.
Facebook Live broadcasts are important because they provide businesses with an opportunity to communicate directly with their audience, answer questions in real-time and create more personal interactions with followers.
Live video content can help businesses build trust, showcase their expertise and create engaging experiences that encourage audience participation.
Prepare beforehand by deciding what you are broadcasting. Is it a ‘how to’, ‘product review’ or ‘Q&A session’? Decide on the goal of the broadcast. Is it purely for publicity, to find new customers, get Facebook likes or to find new email subscribers?
You should decide on a landing page for redirects and make an announcement of your intention to broadcast live in advance, to ensure that an audience is attracted before you start to broadcast.
Keep your broadcasts focused and engaging, with the ideal length depending on your audience, topic and objectives. The most important factor is providing valuable content that keeps viewers interested throughout the broadcast.
To increase the popularity of a live broadcast, you should acknowledge those that comment while live, answer questions, ask for feedback, ask viewers to share the video and ask viewers to subscribe, so that they are notified of future videos.
After publishing, optimise your video by updating the title, description, thumbnail, captions and any available call-to-action options to improve discoverability and encourage further engagement.
Where possible, include relevant links and calls-to-action within your video description to encourage viewers to take the next step, whether that is visiting your website, contacting your business or signing up for further information.
Consider using relevant topics, locations and hashtags where appropriate to help your content reach a wider audience.
Facebook Live performance should be monitored using available analytics tools to understand what content resonates most with your audience.
Key metrics to review include reach, engagement, watch time, audience retention, reactions, comments and shares. These insights can help identify which topics, formats and broadcast styles perform best.
Pay attention to where viewers drop off during your broadcasts, as this can highlight opportunities to improve future live videos and keep audiences engaged for longer.
If your business needs help with improving the reach of Facebook Live broadcasts, or anything else relating to your Social Media efforts then you can contact Odyssey New Media for help at info@odysseynewmedia.com or call us on 0121 439 5450.
Editor’s note: This article has been refreshed to reflect current social media practices. Some platform features, analytics tools and recommendations referenced in the original article may have changed since publication.
