It’s no longer such a small world — the other day I listened in as two of our friends in the British a cappella group The King’s Singers conducted a conversation on Facebook live from Japan.  The 43 minute talk, which cost virtually nothing to produce, garnered almost 200 comments from around the world. It was fun to be part of this conversation, even though it was not exactly a private chat: Facebook showed it was viewed by over 8,000 people, and since it is now archived on their Facebook page as a video even more fans can see it.

Facebook Live is a new marketing tool that just debuted to the public on April 6. It is based on the idea of using smart phone technology to connect you to your shop’s Facebook fans. You can post notifications in advance of when you will be broadcasting live, and ask your friends, family and followers to plan to tune in.

At the time of the broadcast, you open the status bar of your Facebook page on your phone (doesn’t work on a non-mobile device) and tap on “What’s on your mind?”  You will then see the Live icon, which is a silhouette with a double halo. When you tap on that, you’ll be asked for permission for Facebook to use the camera — and then you’re in (as long as your Wifi signal is at least 4G). There will be a 3 second countdown to make sure you’re ready.

You might want to have your phone set up on a tripod, or some other device to steady it, if you plan to broadcast for long. And if more than one person is going to be part of the interview (which is a good idea), test in advance to make sure you’re both in the frame.

The most important aspect of a successful Facebook live broadcast is having something to say that people want to hear.  Is there a product you can demonstrate, or something that your customers would like the opportunity to ask questions about? If you are going to base the session on a Q & A format, ask a few friends or employees to plan to post questions to keep things rolling along. Keep your first session short until you are comfortable with format, and certain that you have a following. And don’t forget that you can go outside your store for a broadcast — just make sure that the content helps promote your shop.

Facebook came up with this new format because of the popularity of video in the Facebook feed.  Given that cute kids and pets are other popular features of Facebook, Facebook Live would be ideal for a pet shop or farm store — but it has potential for many other types of retailers as well.

Happy Retailing,
Carol “Orange” Schroeder