During the pandemic, Facebook Live became a way to keep your business going. It sounds easy enough. Just push that little red “live” button, show what you are selling, and people will buy it. That’s exactly what I thought when I started selling jewelry on Facebook Live. I quickly learned there is A LOT more to it than just hitting the live button. So, I researched to find strategies I could put into practice to increase my engagement. During my research, I found Stacey McLachlan’s (2021) article, How to Create Facebook Live Videos that People Actually Want to Watch, to be very informative. In the article, she starts out by giving instructions on how to go live using the Facebook App, your computer, and in Messenger groups. She then goes on to give tips for using Facebook Live. There are many ways to increase your engagement on Facebook Live.
Here are my top 5:
1. Plan Ahead
Come prepared and have a purpose. For me in my business, I have jewelry picked out and set up, ready to show. Another way I plan ahead is to schedule my Facebook Live in advance through Facebook Producer. It helps keep me accountable to go live when I say I am going to be live.
Bonus: it saves me time by doing some of the work for me! When I schedule a Facebook Live in advance, Facebook sends notifications and reminders about the upcoming live to my viewers.
2. Actively Engage Your Viewers
One of the things that makes Facebook Live such a great tool is the ability to engage with them on the spot. Make your viewers feel important by saying hello to them by name as they tune-in to your live. I like to ask a question to get them to comment so I can have a conversation with them and not just talk at them. It makes them feel more connected.
Bonus: it helps your Facebook algorithm.
What makes Live videos so special is that they’re not a one-way street. Broadcasters can actively interact with their viewers in real-time.
Stacey McLachan
3. Add Captions
Did you know that as much as 85 percent of video views happen with the sound off? (Patel, 2016). I had never really thought about how many people watch videos without sound until I read that. Then I thought about how often I watch videos without sound. I do it all the time. In most cases, if there is no caption on the video, I keep scrolling to the next captioned video. Adding captions could very well be a game-changer to increasing engagement.
Bonus: it is simple to do! On your computer, click the live button. It will take you to your stream setup page. Go down to settings and click on the viewing tab, then turn on auto-generated captions.
4. Consistency is Key
This tip may be the most important. Have a schedule and stick to it. If your viewers know that you go live every Thursday at 3:00 p.m., they will keep coming back. If you go live at different times on different days of the week, your viewers will have no idea when to look for you. When I first started utilizing Facebook Live, I would go live different days at random times. I wasn’t getting very many if any viewers. Once I decided on certain days and times to go live, I started having viewers consistently.
Bonus: Facebook’s algorithm takes into account how often viewers come back to watch your lives.
5. Be Authentic
Be yourself! In a world filled with photoshopped images and selfie filters, people can spot fake a mile away. People viewing your live want to see the real, authentic you. They are usually looking for information or a product, but your personality, uniqueness, engagement is what will keep them coming back time and time again.
Bonus: When you are authentic, you gain your viewers’ trust and they will come back. As mentioned before, helps your Facebook algorithm.
There are many ways to increase engagement on Facebook Live. My top five ways are to plan ahead, actively engage with your viewers, add captions, be consistent, and be authentic. Doing these five things has helped me increase engagement on my Facebook Live jewelry shows.