How to Grow Your Retail Business Using Facebook Live

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FACEBOOK LIVE FOR RETAILERS
HOW TO GROW YOUR RETAIL
BUSINESS USING FACEBOOK LIVE
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Are you struggling with your Facebook marketing
campaign? If you are, you are not alone. Many
retailers are missing out on what the social
media giant has to offer because they are not
using Facebook Live. Since its launch in April
2016, Facebook Live rose to overtake YouTube as
the 1 video streaming service on the Internet.
If you are not leveraging Facebook Live for your
small retail, you are missing out. But, what
are the benefits of Facebook Live? How can your
business benefit from what the streaming service
has to offer? Let us break down the basics of
Facebook Live for you. And, after weve shown
you the ins and out of the service, we will show
you how other retail services are using what
Facebook Live has to offer to grow their
business.
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What is Facebook Live?
If you are in any type of marketing,
understanding Facebook Live is crucial to your
success. Facebook Live made its way to the
social media scene on August 5, 2015. But, the
original streaming service was for celebrities
only. It wasnt until April 6, of 2016, that the
rest of the world got to see just how much live
video could offer the social media scene. Since
its launch over two years ago, live stream
searches have increased by 330, and 1 in every
5 videos is a live broadcast. In short, with
live video streaming services available to
Facebooks 1.47 billion daily users, your small
business cannot afford to ignore Facebook Live.
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Why Go Live?
First and foremost, Facebook controls who sees
what. And, Mark Zuckerberg recently made an
announcement that the algorithm will favor
meaningful interactions between friends and
family rather than engagement with brands. This
means that retailers need to work harder to
expand their organic reach. But how? In the
past, Facebooks priority was measured by time
spent on the site. With Facebooks new
philosophy, time is not so much of a
factor interactions are. Thus, the more
comments, likes, and shares, active
interactions, your posts get, the more likely
they are to reach your audience organically..
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• So how do you do this? Enter Facebook Live. The
  data supports that fact that live video streams
  lead to engagement.
• Facebook Live videos are watched 3xs longer than
  videos that are not live
• Facebook users comment 10xs more on live videos
  than other videos.
• Facebook Lives daily watch time has grown by
  more than 4xs since its launch.
• Simply put, Facebook Live beats the algorithm. It
  leads to the engagement your small business
  needs to reach potential customers naturally.
• But, it offers more than engagement. Facebook
  Live gives your retail store the opportunity to
  share their brand philosophy with their
  customers. When customers see the face of your
  business talking live about the company and its
  products, it gives them the personal connection
  they need to develop brand loyalty. These
  emotional connections create brand loyalty in
  82 of consumers.
• And, brand loyal customers are twice as valuable
  as even your most satisfied customers.
• Bottom lineFacebook Live extends your organic
  reach to create brand loyal customers. So, your
  small business needs to invest in its potential.

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Benefits of using Facebook Live vs.
Uploading Videos?

• A lot of retailers are apprehensive to use
  Facebook Live because of the fact that it is
  broadcasted live. The thought of messing up with
  people watching can be frightening. And, a major
  mess up recorded live can be damaging to any
  brand.
• But, nothing is stopping you from practicing
  before you go live so that you know what you
  want to say.
• And, as weve already discussed, Facebook Live
  videos trigger more engagement. Remember that
  engagement circumvents the algorithm for organic
  reach. This leads to more viewers.
• Theres no saying that your retail store cant
  create an excellent video and upload it to your
  Facebook page. Just remember, creating a video
  takes time and money. You either have to spend
  time away from your small business to create it
  yourself, or you have to pay someone else to
  create it.
• Live videos, on the other hand, are virtually
  free. You just need your phone and a Facebook
  page.
• So, to recap, theres no one saying you should
  avoid uploading really cool videos to your
  Facebook page. What we are saying is there are
  some excellent reasons to make Facebook Live a
  big part of your social media marketing
  strategy.
• A larger audience
• Less cost
• Higher engagement rate
• People love it

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How do I use Facebook Live?

• How do I use FacThe team at Facebook was sure to
  make using Facebook Live a simple process. You
  can master it in these 8 steps
• Open up the app and choose the news feed option
  in the bottom right-hand corner.
• Choose the camcorder icon under Whats on your
  mind? at the top of the page.
• When prompted, allow Facebook to access your
  camera and microphone.
• Choose your privacy settings. If you are posting
  for your brand, you will want to make this
  public. But, if youre going to practice you can
  select the more button and choose only me. Then
  you can practice a time or two before you
  actually go live. Just remember to delete your
  practice runs and change the settings back to
  public.

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1. Write your description. Make sure that it is
   something compelling and inviting. Your goal is
   to entice people to watch your live video.
2. Invite friends, choose your location, or add an
   activity.
3. Set up your camera. First and foremost, make sure
   it is facing the right way. Then you can go in
   and add filters, writings, drawings, etc. Get as
   creative as you want.
4. Click go live and start broadcasting.

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How Retailers Can Use Facebook Live
Weekly Broadcast One really successful way to
use Facebook Live is to create weekly
broadcasts. Many small businesses from retailers
to restaurants go live weekly to highlight a
variety of different things. Restaurants share
tasting tips, highlight new menu items, or show
customers how their signature dishes are
prepared. Retailers model clothing, show off new
products or give fashion tips. The options are
endless. One really creative way to increase
engagement is to bring in expert guests in your
niche. Another way to increase engagement with
these weekly broadcasts is to end with a Q and A
session. Allow your audience to ask you
questions about how to use your products. Behind
the Scenes Take your customers behind the scenes
and show them how your business works. You could
walk viewers though opening the store
everything from unlocking the doors to firing up
the POS system. You could show viewers what you
have to do to set up the floor of your store. If
you own a small business that manufactures
products, you could go do a walk-through of a
products creation.
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Introduce Your Team Keep your team in the loop at
all times, and ask them to participate in your
videos. Keep your staff involved in customer
engagement. Show off people with exceptional
skills. Hey, this is Trisha. Shes our expert
in packaging. She makes sure that all of our
products are wrapped in environmentally friendly
packaging. If you are curious about how green our
company is, ask her. Show off what your staff
has to offer. The benefit will be two-fold.
First of all, your team will feel like they are
an important part of the company, and your
customers will strengthen their personal
connection with your brand. And, research shows
there is a 25 increase in sales when there is
employee and customer engagement.
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• Showcase Events
• Are you having a big sale? Go Live! Show your
  virtual customers how your brick and mortar
  customers are loving your products and your
  prices.
• Getting in a new shipment? Give your Live viewers
  a sneak peek of what is coming to the floor in a
  few days.
• Is a new product releasing? Share the unveiling
  on Facebook Live. Your viewers will get excited
  to be the first to see what you have to offer.
• How often should I go Live?
• The answer to this question will vary depending
  on your niche. Every niche is different, and
  every audience is diverse as well. So, whats
  right for a craft brewery is not necessarily
  whats right for a sporting goods store.
• What you can do is consider the following
  questions to help you determine when the
  appropriate time to go live is.
• What are my goals with this broadcast?
• Do I want to drive traffic to my website?
• Do I want people to walk through my doors?
• How do I define my audience?
• Am I promoting a particular product or just
  trying to build brand loyalty?

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Successful Examples of Retailers Nailing
Facebook Live
Before you dive in and try your first Live
broadcast, take a look at some successful
Facebook Live campaigns. These businesses have
mastered Facebook Lives potential, and they
could teach you a lot. Dunkin Donuts Dunkin
Donuts broke into the Facebook Live scene with a
sneak peak of the companys kitchen. Viewers
loved seeing how their favorite donuts were
made. Following the tours success, Dunkin
Donuts marketing team decided to go live for
National Donut Day. They offered viewers a free
donut with the purchase of a drink. The live
broadcast yielded them 33K views, 2,450
impressions, 567 shares, and over 900 comments.
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Take Away Make sure you schedule your Facebook
Live posts with what is trending. Add a little
bit of custom content to fit the theme of what
is trending, and you have a good chance of
reaching quite a few viewers. LuLaRoe This
clothing company has a unique niche. They sell
leggings and other clothing items but only
through exclusive Facebook parties. You have to
be cool enough to get to see their line of
clothing. LuLaRoe consultants have started using
Facebook Live during their parties to showcase
the latest lines of leggings. Consultants are
smart enough to save the most coveted patterns
for the end of the broadcast to keep comments
coming and viewing time high. The best part is
that if the pattern that viewers like is not
shown, they can move on to another LuLaRoe party
and watch another live stream. LuLaRoes
business model and marketing strategy has helped
it to become a billion-dollar company. And, its
recently secured a partnership with Disney to
make leggings featuring Disney characters. Take
Away Use Facebook Live to share your products
and save what viewers want to see for last. It
keeps them watching while you showcase your
entire line.
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Tough Mudder Tough Mudder is an extreme sports
competition venue. To promote one of their
races, the streamed Facebook Live videos of a
training event with fitness expert Coach T.
Mudd. The streaming event allowed those who know
of coach Mudd to connect with him. And, it
allowed those who didnt know of him to see a
persona paired with the brand. Take Away Use
Facebook Live to help viewers connect with your
brand. .
Patagonia Patagonias brand prides itself on
sustainable goods and its commitment to the
environment. To stay transparent, Patagonia used
Facebook Live to create the Footprint
Chronicles. The video series takes viewers
through Patagonias supply chain while it
examines its manufacturing process. The company
openly admits if anything can be improved, and
it invites users to do the same. Take Away Use
Facebook Live as a way to showcase how committed
you are to preserving your brand identity. Show
your customers that you are dedicated to staying
true to your word.
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Conclusion
Without a doubt, your business needs a Facebook
Live marketing strategy. The good news is, you
have all the information you need to start a
successful Facebook Live campaign. Now its up to
you to come up with an excellent idea for a Live
broadcast and share it with Facebooks 2 billion
viewers. Break a leg!
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