Facebook live has proven to be a great tool for interacting with followers on a more personal level. Lives feel conversational and allow followers to learn a little about an influencer’s life (yes, that means you) in real time as it happens. However, people are people, and mistakes are bound to happen. Here are seven common Facebook live mistakes to avoid the next time you sit down to talk to your followers:
1. Making it too short
Make sure that when you’re on Facebook live, you’ve prepared enough content to fill a good amount of time. No one wants to sit on a Facebook live for two minutes. If they’ve tuned in, they want to hear what you have to say, so make sure you have enough of it. Anywhere from five to fifteen, or even more minutes is great, as long as you have something of value to communicate.
2. Being too focused on sales
Facebook Live isn’t just a tool for boosting revenue for your business. It is perfectly okay to talk about your new product or some old favorites but make sure that isn’t the whole point of your live. Talk about your plans for the day, your favorite food, or even how you get ready in the morning. Insert that sales pitch subtly, so that your followers don’t feel as overwhelmed.
3. Not having a clear heading/description
When you begin a live, Facebook gives you the option to include a heading and description. This is essential for reaching a wider audience who may not know about your business or brand and come across your video. If they have no idea what you’re going to talk about, they will be less likely to tune in. Make the title exciting and intriguing and get ready for the viewers to hop on!
4. Low quality
When beginning your live, make sure you’re using a high quality recording tool (an updated smartphone is fine!) and are in good lighting. If your followers can’t see or hear you, they probably won’t tune in for the whole video. Be sure to test everything beforehand to make sure it’s all set and ready to go off without a hitch!
5. Close the live to only close friends
Double-check before you begin your live video that you have opened it to the public and not just your Facebook friends or followers. You want to maximize your reach and having a limited audience is certainly not going to help.
6. Long, awkward pauses
This goes along with planning your content for your live before you hop on. Viewers want to hear you talk about you and your life, not sit awkwardly because you don’t know what else to say. Obviously natural pauses are appropriate, but if they are longer than 10 seconds, you might want to think of something new to say–or answer questions!
7. Have no audience
Broadcast the time and subject of your live weeks before it happens. Make sure your followers know when it is happening and what it’s about. Nothing is worse than putting in all the work to only have no one tune in! Promote it on your other social media pages and get everyone excited! Though remember, it can be saved to your page, so people can tune in later. Don’t get too discouraged if only 3 or 4 people are on at the time of the live.
Facebook Live is a great tool for building a following and increasing engagement. Take these tools to improve your skills and make your next live the best one yet!