Facebook Live: 10 Tips for Brands

 
Chef Candice Kumai at Broccoli Rabe Launch

Chef Candice Kumai at Broccoli Rabe Launch

There is no one formula for a perfect Facebook Live broadcast, but there are plenty of things you can do to put your post in a position to succeed. We have an idea of what works and what doesn’t, and being the generous types, we’d like to share them with you.

1. Promote your broadcast in advance
In all likelihood, your post won’t be live for longer than 30 minutes. Give your followers or other interested parties a chance to set aside the time to tune in. Run an informative post a day or two ahead of time, clearly stating where and when the post will air.

2. Work with an influencer
Live posts are new to Facebook, but they’re not such a novelty that they can draw an audience on their own. Featuring an influencer is a great way to draw upon a passionate fan base in addition to your own, and choose a subject matter that will appeal to both. During our post with Keri Glassman, a celebrity nutritionist, we took care to emphasize practical strategies for eating healthy and staying fit, issues of real import to her followers.

3. Get the right equipment
The shaky camera is not a good look. Nor is poor sound quality. Make sure you have a tripod with an attachment for whatever device you’re recording on, as well as a microphone attachment. Test the shot in advance, and adjust levels based on the person or people in the video.

4. Location, location, location
Your location will set the tone for your broadcast. Consider lighting, noise pollution, and privacy as you scout locations. As part of our Broccoli Rabe campaign, our spokesperson Chef Candice Kumai interviewed Chef Wade Moises on the roof garden of his restaurant, Rosemary’s. Where better to conduct a healthy-cooking based interview than in a natural garden oasis in the middle of New York City?

5. Timing is everything
Schedule your broadcast for a time when people can actually tune in. Consider the fact that you might have followers in different time zones. Look at your page insights, determine where the bulk of your users live, and cater to that area. Lunchtime and post-work hours are ideal.

6. Check your WiFi!
It won’t matter how fantastic your location is if it doesn’t have a strong enough internet connection for a clear broadcast. If you’re unsure if you’ll have WiFi on location, invest in a portable hotspot.

7. Write a good headline
Your headline is your last chance to entice on-the-fence viewers to watch your broadcast. Keep it in the tone of the content of your video. Try to inform without being too matter-of-fact, or too cute.

8. Engage whenever possible
Don’t be a stranger, talk to your audience! It helps to have someone behind the camera monitoring the comments section for questions, and a little callout by name for good questions can go a long way toward encouraging more people to chime in.

9. Don’t rely on your audience to generate content.
As much as we’d all like to imagine that our presenters will be fielding nonstop questions from beginning to end of our broadcasts, that’s not always how it turns out. Especially If you’re doing an interview it doesn’t hurt to have a few planned topics while you’re waiting for the audience to get curious.

10. Promote it after the fact
If well executed, a live post should still hold interest for viewers even after it “goes off the air.” Take account of the subject matter contained in your post, and target users that will be interested. When we broadcasted Chef Kumai interviewing Chef Marc Forgione at his restaurant, we had success targeting fans of Marc’s restaurant, boosting our reach and exposing a new swath of users to our broadcast who may not have otherwise seen it. Stay on top of new questions that pop up, and have the influencer answer them in the comments section.

That’s it! You now know what we know. We wish you the best of luck in all your future broadcasts!

 
Erin Lackey