Facebook Live empowers retailers to start a live sale directly on their Facebook page. Since this method of going live happens separately from CommentSold, there are a few differences worth noting:
- Retailers will need to create a product selection before the live sale and manually link that product selection once live. There is no option to create an on-the-fly selection.
- Shoppers will not see a live sale overlay at the top of the live sale video feed.
- Retailers will be responsible for letting shoppers know which CommentSold identifier (e.g., SOLD 102, SOLD 103) and variant(s) to include in comments to cart a product.
Even though retailers will start and end their live sale directly on Facebook, CommentSold will still read the live sale comments and, if formatted correctly, will cart and invoice shoppers for their claimed products.
Step 1: Create a Product Selection
A product selection contains all the items you plan to feature in your live sale. You will want to create this selection ahead of your live sale as you'll need to link it to your live sale post once you go live.
- Select Products in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Locate an item you wish to add to your product selection, then select the three-dot icon to the far right of the item row.
- Select Create Product Selection.
- On the following pop-up, complete the following:
- Product Selection Name. Give your product selection a name. For Shop the Look posts, you'll need to copy this name exactly, so it might make sense to keep it straightforward.
- Identifier. You can change the identifier shoppers type when claiming an item in a live sale or social post (e.g., SOLD 102 small). We recommend you keep this identifier three digits to avoid confusion when a shopper adds a variant, like a size (e.g., 12, 32, etc.).
- Locate additional items you wish to add, then select Select.
- Select Save Product Selection at the bottom of the pop-up to save your selection.
- You can link the selection to a post you've already created, or you can link it at a later time.
- Select Products in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Select the checkbox to the left of each product you wish to include in your product selection.
- At the top of the product listing, select the green Selected drop-down.
- Select Create a Product Selection.
- On the following pop-up, complete the following:
- Product Selection Name. Give your product selection a name. For Shop the Look posts, you'll need to copy this name exactly, so it might make sense to keep it straightforward.
- Identifier. You can change the identifier shoppers type when claiming an item in a live sale or social post (e.g., SOLD 102 small). We recommend you keep this identifier three digits to avoid confusion when a shopper adds a variant, like a size (e.g., 12, 32, etc.).
- Select Save Product Selection at the bottom of the pop-up to save your selection.
- You can link the selection to a post you've already created, or you can link it at a later time.
You can quickly view items in your newly created product selection by expanding the selection on the main Products listing.
If you wish to change the order of items for a live sale, simply drag and drop the items until they're in the preferred order.
Step 2: Print Your Live Helpers
Live Helpers are sheets of paper that display a product's identifier (e.g., SOLD 101) and the corresponding variants. You can hold up these sheets of paper, write their information on a small whiteboard, and/or call out the information as you talk about the product.
How you communicate this information is up to you; however, your shoppers will need to know this information to comment and claim the product. You can print live helpers from your Product listing.
- Select Products in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Locate the product selection you will feature in your live sale and select the three-dot icon on the far right of the row.
- Select Print Live Helpers from the drop-down list.
- Your live helpers will open in a new tab.
- If you're on a Windows device, hold down CTRL + P on your keyboard, then select Print.
- If you're on a Mac device, hold down ⌘ + P on your keyboard, then select Print.
Step 3: Start and Link Your Facebook Live Sale
You will need to link your product selection to your live sale post for CommentSold to read shoppers' comments.
There are two ways to do this: add the product selection name to your post description or manually link the selection to your live sale in CommentSold. We walk through both options below.
With this option, you'll need to include your exact product selection name preceded by a # sign (e.g., #WeddingGuest, #SummerSale, etc.).
- On your Facebook business page, locate the Create option and select Live.
- Select Select at the bottom of the Go Live section.
- Ensure you've selected your business page from the Choose where to post drop-down in the left-side menu.
- From the When are you going live? drop-down, select Now.
- Enter a Title for the Facebook live sale on the right side of the page.
- In the description field, enter your post description and add your product selection name preceded by a # sign (e.g., #WeddingGuest, #SummerSale, etc.).
- Don't know your product selection name? You can copy it from your Product listing and paste it into your description field. It's important to make sure you enter the name exactly as it appears in CommentSold (e.g., spaces vs. no spaces), or CommentSold will be unable to link the selection to your post.
- Under Video Source, select Webcam.
- Confirm your Camera and Microphone options if using devices other than your default.
- When ready, select Go Live in the bottom-left corner of the page.
Once you have gone live on Facebook, you can head to CommentSold to manually link your live sale feed to the product selection.
- On your Facebook business page, locate the Create options and select Live.
- Select Select at the bottom of the Go Live section.
- Ensure you've selected your business page from the Choose where to post drop-down in the left-side menu.
- From the When are you going live? drop-down, select Now.
- Enter a title and description for the Facebook live sale on the right side of the page.
- Under Video Source, select Webcam.
- Confirm your Camera and Microphone options if using devices other than your default.
- When ready, select Go Live in the bottom-left corner of the page.
- On your CommentSold dashboard, select Products in the side menu.
- Locate your product selection and select the three-dot icon on the far right of the row.
- Select Link to Post from the drop-down list.
- On the Page tab, locate the live sale feed and select Link.
You are now live! Proceed with your live sale just as you would via CommentSold. Make sure to pause throughout the sale to remind shoppers how they can comment to claim products.
If you have a behind-the-scenes team, we recommend you have them monitor the post comments for any shopper questions. You can also enable Facebook comment auto-replies so that shoppers are automatically notified when they cart a product, incorrectly comment (i.e., forget to include the variant when claiming), and more.
When you are ready to end your live sale, select End Live Video in the bottom-left corner of the page. Facebook will keep the live sale post on your Facebook page unless you choose to delete it. This acts similar to a Live Replay, allowing shoppers to watch the sale at a time that works for them and still comment to claim products.
Learn More
- Connect Your Facebook Account. Learn how to connect your Facebook account, page, and Messenger in order to take advantage of social selling and Messenger notifications.
- Create a Product Selection. Learn how to create a curated collection of products that you can feature in a live sale or Facebook post.
- Enable and Customize Auto-Replies for Facebook Comments. Learn how to enable and customize a variety of replies that will automatically send to shoppers via Messenger whenever they take a particular action in Facebook comments.