Looking for ways to use Facebook for your business? Facebook live streams can help expand your current audience and gain new customers.

In this article, you'll discover how three companies used Facebook Live streaming to generate sales and how to adapt their tactics for your own business.

# 1: Broadcasting a celebration

Results Fitness Santa Clarita decided to do a livestream of a flash mob to celebrate its 16th anniversary. Although the event seemed impromptu, it went into many weeks of planning. Here's how they did it.

Building an exciting story.

The gym owners, Rachel and Alwyn Cosgrove, kicked off the celebration by sharing their stories. To give a preview, they made different posts (part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4) during the first four days of the anniversary week.

The owners shared their stories, even leading up to the flash mob celebration.

In any case, do what you can to make it personal. Build a genuine relationship with your audience and they will be even more attentive to what you have to say when you do a live stream.

Plan the event.

Although Rachel and Alwyn needed to obtain permits from the city (among other requirements), the planning can be as simple as choosing a date and planning the event.

They also started a secret Facebook group for coordination. Fitness instructors, participants, and anyone involved with the flash mob itself were invited to the group. This made it easier to share rehearsal dates and other logistical aspects.

Building a live pre-party

To get their Facebook fans excited about the big surprise, Result Fitness broadcast a pre-party. Owners, employees, and customers were interviewed live.

Live broadcast

The flash mob lasted 9 minutes and garnered 360 views. With a live performance like this, interaction through comments is less likely. However, you can always interact with the audience.

Post the highlights

Rachel and Alwyn created a 3-minute highlight from the flash mob. It received 400 views on the day it was published.
[quote]Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us and to others who joined us on Facebook! Here is an edited version of last night's flash mob, originally streamed live here on Facebook. NOTE: The video volume has been reduced because it was very loud last night, and depending on your volume it may still be a bit loud. Please adjust your volume accordingly.[quote]

If you post a clip, or the event in its entirety, do some kind of follow-up. Thank those who attended and shared your party, too.

[success]Results: Because of the flash mob and all the Facebook interaction, membership at Results Fitness increased. People loved the fun and wanted to be part of the dance.[/success]

# 2: Online Sale

Funky Fairy is a UK-based online store that sells personalized embroidered gifts for children. Owner Vicki Stewart decided to hold a Facebook Live sale to clear out her remaining stock of personalized, named items.

Here's the process:

Planning and having a sale

Funky Fairy held three sales over four days. Each was a live broadcast on Facebook, lasting about 20 minutes. The first sale went well, Vicki held a second (the first and second had about 7,000 views) and then a third (which had about 10,000 views).
During the live stream, Vicki showed the names and available items for sale, and people commented requesting the names of what they wanted. If customers wanted an item that wasn't for sale, they were directed to the appropriate page.

To generate more sales of this type, try a live stream sale with a limited time, or a limited-stock or series sale. Whether it's summer, a weekend, or a clearance sale, always give a reason for the limitation.

Alternatively, if you are a consultant without physical inventory and you want to get more of a certain type of client on your list, offer a limited number of people who want to purchase the product.

Another option is to limit the sale only to people who are commenting during the live stream. You can then make a different offer available to those who are watching the replay.

Engage with the audience.

Whenever possible, interact with and respond to comments while you're live. If that's not an option, be sure to come back and comment afterward to make sure you've responded to everyone and met all the needs of your audience.

To avoid being negligent, the best solution is to have a moderator help you. The moderator doesn't have to be you. Ask a team member to respond to comments during your broadcast, and be mindful of comments that require your immediate attention.

Show the preparation of the products.

In addition to live streams, Vicki did a Facebook Live video showing a product being sewn. This helps give potential customers a better look at the process, so they invested more in the product they were thinking of buying.

Give a demonstration or showcase your workspace, and invite viewers into your space. It will increase sales, enthusiasm, and loyalty.

Repost and Repeat

If your Facebook Live goes well, repost it so people can see what they missed. Also, regarding the live stream, let people know about your next live video (you can even do your sales at a weekly or monthly event), because your audience is more likely to tune in. Build anticipation for what you'll offer next.

[success] Result: The response to Funky Fairy's sales was so incredible that Vicki had to expand her team.

# 3: Provide a space for questions and answers.

Liz Melville is an online business and Facebook coach who created the Busi-Moms Facebook group. The closed group serves as a support system for working mothers who are facing challenges. Liz provides her community with social media tips, guidance, and coaching. Every two weeks, she hosts a live Q&A session.

Create a group

Liz's technique is easy to replicate. She is very clear about her mission and she only accepts appropriate people into her group. Even though it is small, the members of this target group are very active. Liz's live videos achieve 100% reach in her target audience.

If you don't have a group ready, start a Facebook group as a haven for your customers.

Although group reach is better, you can also do live videos through Facebook on business pages (most US businesses have them), as well as within events for a group or page. So, if you have an active business page, you can try this there too.

Create a Community

Liz started the Busi-Mums community in September 2015, and began building in an organized manner in November 2015.

She typically posts a mix of content, but with regular themes: Mantra – Monday (focusing on what to do for the week), Tell Everyone – Tuesday (promoting offers, pages, etc.), Wisdom – Wednesday (sharing tips, tricks, and advice), and Fabulous Friday (sharing the week's successes).

Liz also shares tips on how to run an online business, use Facebook, make videos, and much more.

In her group, Liz offers advice and motivation. She also encourages members to get involved.

It's not enough to start a group and expect immediate results. Share motivational tips and images related to your group's theme. Also, encourage members to introduce themselves and get to know each other.

Promote your live stream, solicit questions, and answer them live on air.

Liz promotes her Facebook page in advance by sharing an image in the group. She also promotes it on her Facebook business page (with a link to join the group) and to her email list.

While Liz will answer questions asked during the live session, she also reviews questions in advance. She invites the community to post questions beforehand under the segment that promotes the live video.

Liz answers questions from her community on Facebook Live.

When you create an event for your broadcast, post a topic so people can ask questions that you can answer live. Also, interact with and respond to comments as best you can.

Remember to include a call to action.

Liz includes a call to action during her live video broadcasts. She suggests that viewers book a discovery session with her to review where they are with their online business, and provides a link to her online programmer.

Several times throughout your live stream, customers should know how to reach you (or schedule an interview) if they want your services.

[success] Result: By sharing her personality and knowledge via live video in her group, Liz has gained new clients.

In conclusion

Live streaming on Facebook can seem intimidating, but there's no easy solution. Create a sequence of steps, from planning and promotion to interaction and follow-up. When you see a purpose that will result in expanding your business, customer base, and bottom line, live streaming becomes much easier to implement.

What do you think? Have you ever done a live stream to generate more business? What did you do? What were the results? What were the most creative broadcasts you saw? Please share your thoughts in the comments.