4 Reasons To Use Facebook Live For Your Business

Facebook Live, a feature that allows you to live-stream videos from your phone, webcam or other devices, has been available to Facebook users since April 2016. Here are 4 reasons why it might be worth using for your business.

1. Showcase Your New Products

Presenting new products via live stream is a trend not to be ignored. Using this medium allows you to show off the different features of your product and demonstrate its unique characteristics directly to a captive audience. Even if your product isn’t yet on the market, this form of promotion gives future customers the chance to get a sneak peek of the product itself and potentially order it in advance of its launch date.

You can also give consumers an exclusive preview of the product by live-streaming the launch event itself. The more interesting the better. So, if your launch event for a new mid-range family hatchback happens to feature live footage of Sébastien Loeb tearing up a rally circuit at a pace that would make a cheetah cringe with inadequacy, you’re all the more likely to draw in the crowds online. Though launch events of a more modest budget are equally as effective for livestream and give followers the impression of getting the inside scoop.

2. Q&A Sessions and Handling FAQs

Tools like Facebook Live are perfect for these kinds of interactions. Because it is live, the audience feels more invested in the discussion, and they can actively take part by posing questions or displaying their reaction in the comments section below the streaming window. This is a great opportunity for you to reply to recurring questions and ensure that the response is heard by as wide a number of people as possible. By organising such sessions regularly, you can improve customer outreach and customer service, which will establish stronger links with your existing customers and give an excellent impression to future potential customers.

3. Interact with Industry Peers

With Facebook Live you can also conduct live interviews with relevant industry professionals and broadcast this to your followers in real-time. If, for example, your brand sells clothes, why not feature an up-and-coming fashion designer or even a currently trending beauty vlogger in an interview for the benefit of your followers? As these people relate to your brand and what you do, they can talk about new trends, give relevant advice and respond to questions made by customers who are likely to have similar concerns and an interest in hearing what they have to say on the topic. Any pearls of wisdom gleaned in such interviews are likely to appeal to your audience, making your followers more likely to consume content, integrate such advice into their daily lives and subsequently share your content on their own social media channels.

Associating your company with knowledgeable figures in a given area via such interviews also lends more credibility to your brand… to avoid getting egg on your face, do ensure the invitee is an actual authority on the topics you’re going to cover. This kind of promotion isn’t a misguided celebrity endorsement for SodaStream, so getting a fashion vlogger to come on and discuss your recent exploits in the field of data analytics for eLearning could result in an embarrassing mishap that is best avoided.

4. Give an Inside View of your Company’s Daily Life

With some interviews, an interesting angle to take is to base them around your own workplace, giving followers and customers an insight into what the company is like from the inside. An example of this would be having a manager explain the manufacturing process of a particular product or even highlighting the profile of one of your employees as part of a weekly routine…. okay, getting Bob, your company’s monotone-voiced Production Manager, to describe in great detail the intricacies of fusing card stock and corrugated fibreboard for the mass production of cardboard boxes isn’t exactly going to win any Emmy nominations, so it’s important to be creative here too.

This form of livestream can be used not only to give an insight into the company’s internal culture, but it can draw your customers closer to you and allow you to gain credibility by giving them a sense of authenticity. There is a growing trend amongst consumers of wishing to feel a certain degree of trust in the companies they buy from. Companies that are seen to care about their employees can greatly boost their image. And interviews with management or highlighting employee achievements publicly aren’t the only means of improving your company’s rep. Customers and internet users love to know what happens behind the scenes in a company. After work drinks, work lunches, company outings, seasonal parties and all manner of work-related social events are perfect opportunities to promote the friendly atmosphere of your company on the inside and boost your reputation externally.

Even if it’s possible to film with your phone, bear in mind that the value such communication efforts can bring may make it worth investing in high-quality devices to produce high-quality videos in return. Additional factors, such as background noise and the speed of your internet connection are also really important to take into account.

So what do you think? Would you consider using Facebook Live for your company?