Facebook has an algorithm (a piece of computer code) that determines the order in which updates appear in a newsfeed. And right now, Facebook’s current algorithm LOVES Facebook Live. I’m assuming the algorithm loves Facebook Live because Facebook’s users love live video.
In other words, I really suggest you start doing Facebook Lives! Doing a Live helps you show up in people’s newsfeed, and it’s what people want to see.
And yet, many of my fellow introverts aren’t super comfortable on camera, so the process of choosing one topic out of an infinity number of possibilities can just add to the overwhelmness of it all.
But instead of being overwhelmed, let’s get you started on doing Facebook Lives regularly because they’re a really great form of marketing.
Here’s 4 best practices for choosing a Facebook Live topic:
1. Choose something you can talk about easily. While I do suggest that Livers have notes they can refer to during their live, it’s going to be really boring for your viewers if you’re literally just reading a written essay. Part of Facebook Live’s appeal is that it can feel like a human to human conversation. So choose a topic you know a lot about and that you talk about easily without referencing your notes too often.
2. Tap into your passions. Enthusiasm and passion are infectious. For instance, let’s say you’re a vegetarian and you promote the vegetarian lifestyle. You don’t just have to talk about vegetarianism. You could do a Live about how important it is to drink water if it’s something you feel strongly about. Sure, it’s only indirectly related to vegetarianism, but it’s still under the overall health umbrella and you can tie the importance of drinking water to the importance of caring for your body, and how vegetarianism is a form of caring for your body as well. (Side note – I call myself a quasi vegetarian because I mainly eat veggies, but I also love me some cheese).
3. Do some brainstorming, then practice. I would totally recommend that you get a pack of playing cards and then spend 10 minutes writing down one Facebook Live topic on each card (don’t spend too much time thinking about it, just write the topics that come to mind). So the next time you’re paralyzed about what topic to choose for your next Facebook Live, just shuffle the cards and then pull one out. Another great thing about using a deck of cards is that you have a handy list of ideas to practice talking about whenever you have a free moment. This way you can get used to speaking about these topics ahead of time without the stress of knowing that you’re about to go Live the next day. Bonus: You can also use the pack of cards to determine your next blog post topic.
4. Make your Facebook Live subject something that can be tied to a:
a) blog post
b) lead magnet
c) product or service
In Facebook Lives you can post a link in the Live description, so it’s totally ok to end your Live with a call to action to “Check out the link in the description to get your free ___.”
Need a little more help choosing a topic?
Here’s 7 Facebook Live topic ideas:
• A walk through of your process. Do you draw? Do a Facebook Live where people can see you draw something in real time (this is popular!). If you teach people sales techniques, walk people through your pre-sales call routine.
• A Q&A. Fun fact – a Q&A was the nail on the coffin of my life coaching career. I had posted on Facebook and Twitter that I was going live to answer everyone’s questions on what it was like to work with a life coach. A few people showed up. 2 of them asked me about how they can become a life coach, and one person said she was also a life coach and was just stopping by to say Hi. I had already realized that I didn’t enjoy being a life coach, but this showed me that my audience just wasn’t interested. So, doing a Q&A can be a good way to learn what issues your audience is or isn’t facing.
• Teach. You can teach a time-worn tip, or something you just learned. If you’d like to check out someone who does this really well, go check out Mari Smith, a fellow social media marketer. She’s always sharing new tips and referencing the people she learned the tip from.
• A description of your journey. Your followers would love to learn more about you! Share your wins, and your failures, and let your fans get to know you. It’s a great way to develop the Know, Like, and Trust factor.
• FAQ. An FAQ can be about the common questions you get asked about your products, services, or your industry as a whole.
• Behind the scenes. I’ve seen Lives where we’re taken on a tour of someone’s studio, and it was pretty interesting. If you do a podcast you can do a Facebook Live where people watch you record it.
• Interviews. Currently only Facebook pages with verified accounts can do two-person interviews directly on their page, but there is a third-party website called Belive.tv that lets you do Facebook Live interviews.
And that’s it! If you haven’t done a Facebook Live before, you can get your free PDF on the tips and the tech of doing a Facebook Live.
