Stop Using Facebook Live! You're Killing Your Brand!

Ok, time for real talk. If you’ve been reading this blog long enough, you know I’m pretty direct with what you should and shouldn’t be doing in terms of marketing. So with that in mind…..

PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, STOP USING FACEBOOK LIVE!

Everyone seems to be going crazy for Facebook Live at the moment, because of the apparently incredible reach. (Or in real terms: "Instead of showing your post to only 1% of your network, now Facebook will show it to 2%!")

Every time I watch a live video for someone’s business , it’s the same thing - the person is talking off camera to someone else because they can’t remember what they were supposed to say or they’re like “erm errr...is the camera on..can anyone see me...hello, comment if you're there...alright, I think we're on....so today....we're going to talk about...oh wait, my little child just ran in....oh wait, the cat just jumped in front of the camera...." Seriously, GET TO THE POINT DAMMIT!

How do you think your potential customers view this? Do you think this hurts or helps your brand?

“But Josh, some social media guru on the internet says I have to do Facebook Live”

Stop doing whatever some “social media guru” tells you to. There’s more than one way to successfully market your company - you have to do what is right for you and your brand. There’s a reason why you never see me in a Facebook Live video - it’s because when you put a camera in front of me, I become a bumbling idiot. Because of this, I have to lean on other forms of advertising to successfully get my message to my followers.

Next time you have the urge to go live - ask yourself this. “Why?” Why should your followers take precious time out of their day to watch you? What do you really have to say that can’t be expressed in a graphic or photo? Is it really that important that you go live?

Long story short - I know Kelly Ripa makes it look easy, but unless you’re trained in the art of live TV (which is basically what Facebook Live is), then maybe you should stick to normal videos or postings. A poorly executed Facebook Live session hurts your marketing strategy, making your brand look unprofessional and unprepared.