Social distancing measures sparked the rise in popularity for a multitude of activities. Aside from puzzles and baking banana bread, Instagram Live became the unsung hero of quarantine entertainment. With the ability to stream live video from anywhere with the touch of a button, even top broadcast personalities are using Instagram Live to create content and much needed entertainment during this time of social distancing. Instagram Live allows social media users to interact with you and your brand, see your experiences as they happen in real-time and get their questions answered. Even better, Instagram notifies users when you go live and promotes it ahead of stories on users’ feeds, helping your brand maximize user engagement and organic reach online without spending big money on advertising.
Sounds great, right? With all that said, maximizing brand awareness and creating authentic and meaningful content with Instagram Live takes some planning. Here are our best tips on how to host a successful live.
Figure Out the Purpose of Your Live.
A successful live broadcast should bring viewers something that they can’t get through their regular social media feed. Brainstorm some ideas on how your video might deliver extra value to your audience. Some of our favorite ideas are product reveals, behind-the-scenes looks, Q&A sessions and special guest features!
Promote It Beforehand.
Let your followers know that you’ll be broadcasting three to four days in advance. Promoting too far in advance will likely lead your audience to forget or lose their initial excitement. Aside from utilizing Instagram stories and posts, think about promoting the details of your live broadcast on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to increase your reach and maximize the number of people tuning in.
Schedule It During A Peak Activity Time.
You can’t maximize visibility if your target audience isn’t active during the time you go live. Strategically plan a time to go live that aligns with when your audience is most active on Instagram. To figure this out, explore the audience tab in your Instagram insights, which will give you a summary of when your followers are most active throughout the day.
Practice!
While this might seem self-explanatory, once you go live, you’re live. The last thing you want to do is have users watch you learn how to work the platform and experiment with buttons and functions you’ve never used before. Play around with the functions beforehand and figure out what you might want to use during your broadcast.
The two-person Instagram Live function has become a popular feature for interviews and brand collaborations. If you decide to invite a guest to join, keep in mind that you can’t both join the live stream together. You have to go live first before you can invite them to join you on camera.
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