Facebook’s Live feature recently passed YouTube as the most watched video platform.

Why is that important? Well, video is one of the top marketing trends for small businesses in 2017. And when used effectively, video marketing is an important — and powerful — part in getting your funeral home’s message out into the community. Video also can help your funeral home establish lasting emotional connections with your families.

So what exactly is Facebook Live? And more importantly, how does it help funeral professionals? Let’s start with the basics.

What is Facebook Live?

Last year, Facebook made its live video streaming feature available to everyone. It lets anyone — people, brands, and businesses — instantly share a live video to Facebook’s 1.1 billion daily active users.

The best part is that it’s really easy to use. You can go “Live” with just a few clicks. Here’s how:

• Step 1: Log on to your Facebook Page or profile. Click on your status bar as if you were updating a new status.
• Step 2: Click on the Live icon. Facebook will ask to access your phone’s camera.
• Step 3: Choose your share settings. You can make videos available to everyone, or just certain followers.
• Step 4: After selecting your sharing settings, you can then write a short description of your video.
• Step 5: Click the blue ‘Go Live’ button. That’s it! Your video will then be streamed to your followers.

As soon as you start streaming live, your video will appear in followers’ News Feeds, and they will be notified that you are currently live. From there they can comment, like, and share your video.

Why it Makes Sense for Businesses

Facebook has found that videos are viewed more than 4 billion times per day, and as a result, they’ve started giving priority to live videos, meaning your video will appear higher up in someone’s News Feed as opposed to a regular video or ad.

Facebook Live also makes it easier than ever to connect with people in your community. You get to interact with your audience in real time, breaking down the barriers and limitations of traditional marketing.

When comparing video marketing to traditional marketing, statistics show video wins every time.

How Can your Funeral Home Use It?

So how can a funeral home use Facebook Live? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

• Educational events. Many families have never planned a funeral before, and it’s important for funeral professionals to educate families on the value of a funeral and the different services available to them. You can live stream educational events for families who weren’t able to attend, or you can even host your own from the comfort of your office. You can also directly respond to your audiences’ comments as they leave them.
• Volunteer and community events. If your funeral home regularly gives back to the community, start sharing through Facebook Live. It will help in deepening your relationship with families within the community.
• Just for fun. Video is so powerful for businesses because it helps humanize your brand to your audience. People like to do business with someone they feel they know, and Facebook Live will allow you to share more about yourself to families.

Other Facebook Live Tips

Are you ready to start using Facebook Live for your funeral home? Here are some tips to help get you started:

• Plan ahead of time. It’s a good idea to make sure you have a plan of what you’ll be streaming, as well as testing out things like lighting and sound conditions. Drafting a quick plan can help you focus on the goal of your video.
• Promote ahead of time. You’ll also want to let your audience know you’ll be going live ahead of time. That way they will know exactly when to tune in.
• Have a strong connection. The quality of your video will be determined by your internet connection. Make sure you have a strong signal or are connected to WiFi before going live to make sure your video doesn’t cut out.
• Write a good description. Your video description will help families understand what your video is about. The more compelling your description, the more families will stop scrolling to watch your video.
• Ask viewers to subscribe to live notifications. At the end of your first video, remind your audience to subscribe for live notifications. Facebook will then notify them the next time your funeral home is going live.