Facebook Live for a Business That Has Never Filmed Anything

Why live video, and why now

Last month Facebook changed its News Feed to favour posts that start conversations between people, and warned that business pages should expect their reach to fall.

In explaining the change, it singled out live video. People tend to comment while a broadcast is running, and conversation among viewers is what the new ranking rewards.

That makes live video one of the few things a business page can do that works with the change rather than against it.

But most small businesses have never filmed anything, and going live sounds like the riskiest possible way to start.

What makes a first broadcast low risk

A first broadcast does not need to be clever. It needs to be short, planned and useful.

• A topic you know cold, one you could talk about for an hour.
• A plan of three points, written on a card behind the phone.
• A phone on a stand, never held at arm's length.
• Light falling on your face from a window or a lamp in front.
• A second person reading the comments and answering them.
• An announcement a day ahead, so people know when to look.

The fifth matters more than it sounds. Unanswered questions make a broadcast feel empty, and whoever is on camera will find it hard to read comments and talk at the same time.

Two formats that work first time

The easiest first broadcast is answering questions. Pick three that customers ask every week and answer each one properly, the way you would at the counter.

The second is a short look behind the scenes: the workshop, the kitchen, a delivery arriving, a job being prepared. People are curious about the parts of a business they never see.

Both work because you already know the material. Nobody needs a script to describe their own work.

Leave anything that depends on luck for later, such as a product launch or a demonstration with only one chance to work.

Light, sound and the phone

Picture quality matters less than people fear. Sound and light matter more.

Face a window or a bright lamp. With a window behind you, the phone exposes for the daylight and you become a silhouette.

Keep the phone close enough to hear you clearly, and switch off music, fans and anything that hums. A small clip-on microphone that plugs into the phone costs little and helps a lot.

Use Wi-Fi or a strong signal, plug the phone in if the battery is low, and turn on do not disturb so a call does not interrupt you.

Rehearse where nobody can see

Facebook lets you go live from a personal profile with the audience set to only me. Nobody else sees it, which makes it an ideal rehearsal.

Run through the whole thing once: the introduction, the three points, a comment read out and answered, the goodbye. Then watch it back.

You will notice the things that matter: whether you can be heard and whether the light works. You will also notice every um and er. Fix the first two and forgive the rest.

A worked example

An independent paint store in a suburban shopping plaza had a Facebook page used mostly for posting sales.

After last month's change, those posts seemed to reach fewer people, so the owner decided to try a live broadcast.

The topic chose itself: three questions customers asked at the tinting counter every week. How much paint a room takes, when a primer is needed, and which finish suits a bathroom.

It was announced the day before and filmed on a quiet weekday afternoon, on a phone clamped to a stand beside the tinting counter.

It ran about fifteen minutes, and a staff member read out the comments as they came in.

Regular customers asked questions of their own, and the owner answered each by name. The saved video stayed on the page, and people kept asking things underneath it for days.

The next broadcast is already planned, with questions taken from those comments.

During the broadcast

Start by saying who you are and what the next fifteen minutes will cover. People join late, so repeat it once or twice along the way.

Greet commenters by name and answer their questions on air. That is the conversation Facebook is looking for, and it is what keeps viewers watching.

Do not ask people to like, share or comment in return for anything. Facebook has said it will demote posts that bait engagement that way.

Stay on long enough for people to find you, ten minutes at least, and finish with one clear next step: the shop's hours, a link to book, or the date of the next broadcast.

After it ends

When the broadcast finishes, it becomes an ordinary video on your page. Many of the people who see it will see it there, later.

Edit the description so it says what the video covers, and choose a thumbnail that does not catch you mid-blink.

Answer comments that arrive afterwards, just as you did during the broadcast.

And keep the best questions. They are the next broadcast, and probably a page on your website too.

The counter-case

Live video does not suit every business. Work involving clients' privacy, or anything that cannot be shown, is better explained in writing.

A page with few followers will draw a small live audience, and that is fine. The saved video still does its job afterwards.

And someone who truly dreads the camera should not be pushed in front of it. Another member of staff may be a better presenter, or a short recorded video a better start.

But for most businesses with something to show or questions to answer, one planned fifteen-minute broadcast is a small risk worth taking.

The first broadcast

1. Choose three questions customers ask every week.
2. Write them on a card behind the phone.
3. Set the phone on a stand facing the light.
4. Rehearse privately on your own profile first.
5. Announce the time a day ahead.
6. Ask a colleague to read out comments.
7. Answer every comment afterwards too.

Step four is the one that removes the fear. Once you have seen yourself on screen and heard the sound, the real broadcast is a repeat, not a gamble.

Where live video fits among everything else a page can do is covered in business pages after the News Feed change.

Frequently asked questions

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.