December 9, 2019 By pauline B Leave a Comment

3 Facebook Live Tips to Drive Last Minute Shoppers In

Christmas is 2 weeks away 😱 and, for some, that means one thing: It’s time to START shopping! The good news? While these last-minute customers might be stressed out, you have the chance to save the day. Stores are about to get slammed with crazed consumers, so I want to give you 3 Facebook Live tips that will have them running to your store.

Consider the following before you hit the Live button…

Meet them where they are.
Join their (stressed out) internal dialog. They know they’re behind the holiday 8-ball here. Let them know it’s ok. Hit Live and supportively say, “Hey, if you’re stressed out only a couple weeks to check gifts off your list, spent hours scrolling and adding to your Amazon cart, and still have little to show for it, I’ve got you and I’ve made it super simple.”

Limit options.
Give only 3-5 gift idea suggestions. Don’t overwhelm customers by listing every item you have in-store. Fewer options mean fewer decisions for the customer to make – it’s science. Pick your top 3 selling items (or top 3 items you need to move) and share a few simple reasons why they are the perfect gift.

Make it simple.
Give them the price and the how, when, and where they can buy it. Period, done. If you can gift wrap it to save them time, great. If you can set it aside with a simple comment on the Live video or post, even better. Whatever you can do to make it a simple no brainer, do it.

That’s it! Three simple tips to help your stressed-out, last-minute holiday shoppers take note of (and action on!) your Live and run into your store. 😁

Psst… Before you go, are you more of a Buddy the Elf or the Grinch? Let me know in a comment below.

via GIPHY

November 18, 2019 By Jessica Austin Leave a Comment

Use FB Live For Game-Changing Small Business Saturday Results

Launched less than 10 years ago, Small Business Saturday is now a full-blown movement. It encourages people to shop locally, gives a boost to holiday sales, and connects your community. As you and your business prepare for the big day, make sure social media is an integral part of your strategy. I want to pass along one easy tip to take your SBS social to the next level: Facebook LIVE!

Going live increases Reach and Engagement, and produces great content that lives on after it is live. It’s an easy way to connect directly with your Followers and share what is happening in your business and at your store. We know it can be intimidating to go Live, but we promise it’s worth it. All you need is your phone (and decent lighting!). Here are some good times to hit that little red button:

👉 The Night Before: Walk through the store showing new products, products part of a special SBS promo or sale, or Event activities (food? drinks? giveaways?).

👉 During: Broadcast throughout the day highlighting must-have products, engaged customers, or fun Event happenings.

👉 After: Hop on Live to say thanks to everyone who attended and what SBS means to you and your business.

Just as you connect with your physical community on SBS, take the opportunity to extend that connection to your social following as well.

**Pro Tip: You can pre-schedule some of the “Lives” (such as the Before video), using Facebook Premiere. After you upload your video and add pertinent info, choose Premiere instead of Publish Now!

June 28, 2016 By Crystal 10 Comments

5 Steps to a Great Facebook Live Video

Facebook Live is a great way to connect with customers on a personal level. They are able to see your face, hear you talk, and see your store and products.

We get a lot of retailers who tell us that they don’t like to see photos or videos of themselves, but your customers DO want to see you! You are the face of your store – and a beautiful face, at that! We know it can be intimidating to broadcast live, but there are a few things you can do to set yourself up for success.

Tell people about the live broadcast ahead of time.

If you want people to tune in to your broadcast, you need to let them know when and where they can find it. Start posting about your live broadcast a few days before, and let customers know that they simply need to be logged in to Facebook and they should get a notification when your broadcast goes live. If not, they can go to your page and click on the live stream to tune in. If someone misses your broadcast, they won’t have to completely miss out. You broadcast will stay on your wall, and even have its own URL so that you can share it in email and on other social media platforms.

Make sure you have the right person on camera.

The person who is the face of your live broadcasts should be passionate and knowledgeable about your brand and products. It’s great to show the store owner or manager in videos to make a connection with customers, but passionate employees can get in front of the camera, as well.

Social Edge member Maureen of Skirt recently did a live broadcast to personally thank her customers for helping the store get to 10,000 likes on Facebook. Simply shot on a smart phone, the video helped to show how genuine the owner is, and got more than 180 reactions!

Share an offer.

An easy way to drive traffic and track sales is to share an offer in your Facebook Live stream. Write the offer on a piece of paper and be sure that the camera gets a good shot of it. And don’t forget the deadline! By offering this exclusive promotion only on your Facebook Live stream, you will easily be able to tie the promotion to the sales it creates.

Promote the video.

The day after your live stream, promote your live stream by boosting it via. the Facebook Ads Manager. Choose to promote only to your fans, who already trust your brand and will be more likely to purchase based on watching a video.

Bloomtastic, a Social Edge Member and florist, spent $100 promoting one of their Facebook Live streams. The results were the sale of 32 products which equaled just under $3,000 in sales. Promoting on Facebook is an investment, but one that can have a huge pay out.

Create a great description.

Before your broadcast, Facebook allows you to create a description that will later be displayed with the video on your wall. Be sure that it gives a short but accurate description of what the video will cover, including brand name of products, if possible.

Have a Facebook Live video you want to share?

Leave a link in a comment below, I’d love to see it! And if you haven’t filmed one yet, I challenge you to do one this week, take action!