When you’re trying to build up your interaction with your fans and followers,
There is no better post type to do right now on Facebook than a Facebook Live and here’s why…
Get more eyeballs on your page and your content
Build up the trust and relationship with your fans
Facebook Lives are the best and easiest way to do this.
Facebook not only gives Facebook Lives MUCH higher coverage than any other type of post, but it’s a great way to instantly connect with your audience.
In doing so, you’ll build up the relationship with your audience and get them to know, like and trust you.
Which in turn, will help you get more customers and team members.
Letting them see you, hear you and have an instant way of communicating back and forth with them has never been easier.
Having said that, there are some common mistakes that people make when doing Facebook Lives that can leave money on the table and mean you miss out, as well as not getting the right people to stick around.
I’ll be sharing with you the 6 mistakes you might be making, and how you can easily and quickly fix it so you can start creating better videos to get more interaction, get more sales and build a better brand for yourself.
So what are these mistakes and are you guilty of making them too (I know I am!)
6 Common Mistakes People Make When Doing A Facebook Live
Lots of people will start a Facebook Live and then wait for a couple of minutes before properly starting. The problem with this, is lots of people watch the replays rather than necessarily Live - and well...
...it's just a bit awkward!
When people are watching the replay, they don’t want to sit there waiting for a few minutes for you to get started with your content because you're more worriedabout having live viewers
So they may switch you off and you’ve lost them.
Solution
Start as if you would doing a recorded video
Start straight away!
Don’t wait for people to join as you don’t know if anyone will.
Regardless if you’re talking to yourself, or you have hundreds of viewers...
...begin anyway so it makes for better viewing.
Introduce yourself and tell them a little bit about yourself (for 1st time viewers)
Not everyone will know you, so give yourself a short introduction and what you do and why they should continue watching
While you're introducing yourself and doing a little intro to your video, this will give Facebook a little time to build your audience so you hopefully WILL then having some viewers while you're live.
I’ve made this mistake and something I struggle with too - I talk too much so getting the right length of your Live is also really important.
If it’s too long, people will get bored and switch off – which may mean that they miss out on your crucial content that’s going to help them.
Now I will say though, that if your video is with amazing relevant and engaging content, then length of video isn't an issue.
If it's great and people stick around, you'll actually be surprised at times I've sat and watched an hour long Facebook live cos it was so informative.
But for the majority of the time, try to keep your videos on the shorter side.
For people who watch LIVE, sometimes it doesn't matter how long it is, but for people watching the replay which will be the majority, then this is where people can be put off.
Solution
10-15 minutes long
10 minutes is a great length, as it allows Facebook time to build an audience for you, but isn’t too long for your viewers.
Let your audience know how long to expect the video to be as an extra tip,
That way they’ll have the expectation and can choose to stick around.
Set yourself a timer if you need help (just like I do ;-) to keep you on track and no getting too carried away. (As I mentioned, this is a struggle of mine to keep on track, moving on with my content, but when I keep them shorter, I see a much better view rate to the end)
Or if you rather do one amazing Facebook live once a week, then you can have it longer, but make sure you prepare in advance, and really give them the best of you!
This will come in time as you grow and develop.
Do you have a clear objective or goal in mind before you hit that Go Live button?
I didn't when I first started.
I'd just go live and show my products without much real thought of what I wanted people to do if they watched.
It was easy, they watch me and buy right?
The more I've learned over time, the more I now see the error in my old ways!
You might just be talking or telling people something valuable but no real view in mind of what next.
This is a critical thing to think about BEFORE you go live.
If you don’t know what you want at the end of it, how are your audience meant to know.
So before you share your content, have a think about what your objective is?
Here are some examples you may want to consider
- Send them to a blog post or web page
- To get engagement (e.g. 2-way conversation, comments, likes shares)
- Sell a product
- Recruitment post
- Get them to message you
So next time you plan to go live, take 5 minutes and think about what do you want your viewers to do.
Write it on a piece of paper in front of you as a reminder and prompt.
You'll see how to use this in number 6!
If you get a notification that someone you’re following is going Live, but you have no idea what their video is about, are you going to jump on to watch them?
Time is precious these days, so we need to give our audience a clear indication of what you’re going to be talking about.
Now you also do want to build up some curiosity sometimes to get their attention and want to click join...
But if it just says "Hey come hang with me!"
Who cares!
Why should I?
This is what your audience will be thinking to themselves.
What's in it for me? What will I learn or gain from this?
Solution
- Tell them what you’re going to be sharing with them today
- Label your Facebook Live with a curious and intriguing headline so it gets people's attention, or you can be direct too so they know instantly what they're getting
- Telling them early on in your video what you’re going to be sharing with them will help them know if they want to hang around and watch you
- Make it compelling and give a strong benefit to THEM as to what they’ll get out it, how will it help them?
Example:-
- You’re sharing them 5 tips on how they can be more productive in their business so they can get more done without being stuck to the computer all day
- If you’re in the makeup industry - share 3 tips on how to get the perfect Xmas Party look, or how to do a smokey eye
- Health & Wellness - 4 Ways to Fit in Exercise in their day when limited to time due to work or kids
You can see, that by telling them, they’ll know if it’s something they’re interested in (which it should be if you’ve got the right people Liking your business page (read this post on how to get the right people to your page if you’re struggling with this)
To get more people seeing your content, when you don’t ask for people to Like, shares or comments etc. they won’t necessarily know to do this.
Don’t assume they will do this off their own back.
When your Facebook lives don't get any engagement, Facebook will show it to less people.
They'll think it's not very good!
It could be great, you just missed out a couple of steps to encourage engagement.
You see this more and more nowadays with people as we've all learned together with different ways to encourage comments etc.
The more interaction you get, the more Facebook will see it's good stuff and show it to more people.
The first 48 hours of a video is crucial and when it gets the most visibility, so utilise what you can and get asking!
Here's a few different ways you can do it:-
Solution
Tell them where the reaction buttons are and share button (people might be new to Facebook Lives and not know where the buttons are)
Ask them to comment with their name and where they’re from when they join so you can give shout outs and say Hello (people love a personal shout out, it makes them feel special and shows you’re a real person.
You can go back after you've finished and reply to them to say Hey!)
Asking them to share with their friends (after you’ve told them what it’s about) will help get more visibility to your content for free and tell Facebook your content is relevant and therefore they will show it to more people.
If you see someone share while you're live, say THANK YOU and use their name! Again, people love shout outs and to hear their name, so appreciate them and it'll encourage others to do the same.
Ask questions throughout your live or ask for people to leave a number or emoji if they agree with you, or if they're finding value in your video, whatever you want.
It gets them to engage and you can condition them with your style. For example if you like doing "Drop a 1 if you're new or a 2 if you've seen me before" or you can do emojis as they're fun.
The point of using numbers of emojis is it's quicker to type.
But alternatively, if people write out a sentence, you can get a lot of insight and ideas for your business by asking them to write something.
Have some fun with it, play around with different things to see what works with your audience but just DON'T FORGET TO ASK! ;-)
Finally, and one of the most crucial things and biggest mistakes I see...
Not giving a call to action - next steps!
Similarly to number 3 & 5, when you’re speaking to your audience, if you don’t tell them what you want them do, how are they to know?
They're not mind readers!
Go back to number 3 with your clear objective and tell them what you’re wanting from them.
Are you wanting them to click on a link to go to your product page?
Sign up for a webinar or training?
Read a blog post?
Join your email list with a free resource (lead magnet)?
That's why having a goal and objective set out, when you get to the end, you know exactly what to say with what you want them to do.
This is what a call to action is (in case you weren't sure) - clear steps on the next move in the process.
TELL THEM exactly what you want them to do once you’ve finished your Live video.
You’ll be amazed just by giving a simple instruction, how many more people will go and do what you’re wanting.
Bonus Tips to make your FB Lives even better
Give an open loop to your next training/video
- If you’re doing another video in a few days, let them know what’s coming (a little teaser), let people know why they should come back and watch it and what’s in it for them?
Once your video is finished - you can go back and reply to any comments so you don't miss any and it also add to the engagement!
Review your metrics after a few days to see how many people viewed it and for how long (can only be done from a business page but it is so useful).
This is great as you’ll be able to retarget them later. (I’ll be covering this in a later blog post to help show you how to do this)
If you want to get your Facebook Live seen by more people, boost your Live to your fans (you need over 1k to do this to just your fans),
Alternatively, choose a couple of relevant hashtags & keywords so it’s the right audience.
3 days at £5 a day is sufficient so you can gauge if it’s good content.
If you do 2 Facebook lives a week, this will dramatically build up your audience and authority and your page and your business will see a huge growth.
This is a great way of attracting people to you and your business.
It is also something really duplicable for your network marketing team so share with them these steps and your whole downline will be rocking their FB Lives.
Hopefully you have got some ideas of how to improve your Facebook lives and get more engagement and make them work better for you with selling your products or attraction new prospects to your business.
Sometimes, it's the small tweaks that can make the biggest difference.
If you want to learn more about how to make your Facebook Lives super effective and working well for you to give you more engagement, building more trust with your audience and essentially getting more results...
Inside my free Brilliantly You Business Hub, I have a free Fab Facebook Live Checklist that I'd love to give you.
You'll get the low down on knowing exactly what to do before, during and after your Lives to get more bang for your buck by doing less but achieving more!
Hope you found this useful, feel free to share this with your friends who also could use some help with their Facebook lives! And drop a comment below with which one out of these 6 have you made before and which are going to change first?
(I made all 6 so you're not alone!)
Talk soon
Jenny
