Facebook live videos are a great way to market your business to your followers, and even other Facebook users. When you are going to create a live video on Facebook, there are several things you can do to ensure you reach your customers in the most effective way, and keep their attention. Live videos are a fairly new tool to Facebook, but are extremely effective for the businesses that have been utilizing them. Here are the secrets to effectively using Facebook live videos to market your business and products:

Grab Their Attention in 5 Seconds

People don’t want to sit around for even one minute waiting for you to get to the point of your video. Be captivating from the beginning, and bring out your interesting anecdotes or shock factor within the first 5 seconds. If you can get your viewers interested in your video from the get-go, you are much more likely to have viewers until the end of your video. Don’t try to cram all the information in the beginning, but instead start with a clever one-liner, or an interesting bit of information.

Promote Before You Go Live

This one is so important! Promote your upcoming live video before the day you’re going live. Your followers will be glad to have a bit of information about what the purpose of your video is before jumping in. Not only that, but you are much more likely to have viewers if they have a heads up beforehand. Promoting your video before it’s live is a great way to ensure people will be ready and willing to watch!

Be Prepared & Personable

It’s a live video, so you have to be quick on your feet! You don’t always know what questions or comments will come in, or if there will be a glitch with your internet connection. However, you can control the amount of information you have on your topic, and how prepared you are. Don’t go into a Facebook live video without first preparing what the purpose is, and having an outline of where you want it to go. Be personable, so people don’t feel awkward watching your live videos! Laugh at yourself, and be prepared to put a smile on your face to make it something people will want to watch.

Include a Call-To-Action

Before you wrap up your video, include a call-to-action. This means you should include a blurb about your business and how you can help with whatever you just finished talking about. Give customers a way to contact you, besides Facebook. Sign off by giving your business’ phone number or email address so they have another method of contacting you. Let your customers know if you’re currently running a special and give them a time limit to receive that deal. This will give them the extra push they might need to give you a call and set up a service.

Analyze Your Results

Pay attention to how many people are watching your video. Take note of how many ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ you receive. You will likely find out which topics are most interesting to your followers. You will also know which days and times are the most effective for you to be creating Facebook live videos. Don’t forget to analyze your results so you can adjust as needed for future videos!

Facebook is a great tool for any and all business owners, and the live video feature is very interesting to followers. Keep them captivated by creating interesting live videos, and follow our tips when you do so!

For more insights on marketing strategy that actually works for small business, subscribe to the FreshLime Newsletter here. Connect with Jay Bean, Founder of FreshLime and Small Business Marketing Expert on LinkedIn and Twitter. And last of all, if any of these tips have helped you or if you have anything to add please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!