The days when social media was just for fun are long gone; the world of advertising has gone beyond just television and print media.
In today’s world, one of the least challenging ways to get your target audience aware of your firm, your products, and your services is through social media.
For this article, we will be focusing on Instagram live videos.
What is Instagram Live?
There are lots of amazing features that come with Instagram. One of these fantastic features is Instagram Live.
This feature functions with Instagram stories; It makes it possible for an Instagram user to broadcast a live video to other people on Instagram.
What Effect Does Instagram Live have on Businesses?
To a lot of people, the Instagram live feature is simply a feature that helps Instagram users have a new level of fun. While it might be all about fun for some people, Instagram Live is an excellent tool for promoting your business on Instagram.
According to statistics, 500 million people make use of Instagram every day. Also, about 30 percent of people on Instagram have bought a product that they first noticed on Instagram.
What this means is that Instagram is an excellent platform for people who are looking to expand their business.
While Instagram is great for business, the Instagram live feature is even more beneficial. When you make use of Instagram Live, it automatically moves your content to a vantage position in stories and makes it easy for people to notice what you are doing.
Also, when you go Live, if your followers are yet to turn off their Instagram Live notification, they will get a notification every time you are live.
The Instagram Live option allows your followers to see what you are up to in real-time when streaming Live. You can also add the content you put up Live to your Story. This way, those that were not able to watch your feed Live will be able to have a look at it as it will be available for up to 24 hours.
How to Take Advantage of Instagram Live
It is one thing to know what Instagram Live can do and another to understand how to take advantage of its many benefits. At this point, I believe you already know how Instagram Live can be of help to you. The next thing to do is to discover how to make use of it to your advantage.
Let the steps below guide you on how to make use of Instagram Live for your business.
Have a Schedule: If you must get the best out of Instagram Live for your business, you will need a high level of consistency. You will need to go Live very frequently as this will go a long way in helping you reach more people.
Ensure that you go Live on Instagram as frequently as you want; it means you will need to come up with a schedule.
A simple example of this is if you have decided to go Live every Tuesday by 2 pm, you will need to get your audience aware of this development. This way, they will always look forward to your Instagram Live sessions every Tuesday.
You Should Have an Objective: Your Instagram Live sessions will be a total waste of time if you do not have a reason for them. If you get the best out of your Instagram Live sessions, you will need to have an objective. This objective will go a long way in keeping you guided.
Are you thinking of starting an Instagram Live session? What exactly do you want to achieve? There are lots of things you can accomplish with your Instagram Live sessions. You can improve on your relationship with your customers, make more sales of a particular product, or get more email signups.
An Instagram Live broadcast can target many things at once; you will be more effective if you choose a particular goal and stick to it for your broadcast.
When you decide your approach, you can come up with a call to action. You will also need to make up your mind on the length of your broadcast session.
Select a Pattern: This is the point where you select a format. The idea here is to choose a style that will increase your success rate via your Instagram Live sessions. When you have a pattern, your viewers will know what to look forward to every time you put up something.
Make Your Stream Trend: It is not enough to announce to your followers that you will be having a Live Instagram session. To get the most out of your Live Instagram sessions, you will need to promote it and make your followers expectant.
To get your followers aware of your Instagram Live sessions, you do not need to do much. You can send an email to all those on your list or announce that you will be having an Instagram Live session on your other social media accounts.
Get Your Instagram Story Camera Ready: To go on and have an Instagram Live session, you will need to get your Instagram story camera ready. To get this done, click on the camera icon located at the upper left corner of your phone screen.
If you are using Instagram Live for the first time, you will need to get your microphone access, as well as your phone’s camera-enabled.
Click on Instagram Live: As soon as you get your Instagram story camera ready, you will be able to create, as well as share nine kinds of content. These content types are;
Hands-free
Rewind
Superzoom
Focus
Music
Boomerang
Normal
Live
Type
Get Your Instagram Story Settings Configured: You must set up your Instagram story settings before going Live. You need to click on the Instagram story settings by tapping on the settings icon, which is located at the upper left corner of your phone screen.
If you do this, you will come across Instagram, “Story Controls.”
By making use of the first control, you will be able to stop certain people from noticing your stories. You can also go on to select who is allowed to respond to whatever you post on your Instagram story.
Individuals are allowed to choose those that can reply to their posts. If you run a business, you will have to set up your Instagram stories in a way that everyone that follows you can interact with you.
Go Live: After going through all the steps above, you are finally ready to go Live. To begin a Live video on Instagram, you have to click on “Start Live Video.” Once you do this, Instagram will send a notification to those that follow you on Instagram.
If you are not sure you are Live on Instagram, you can double-check by looking out for the Live icon located in the upper left part of your phone screen.
Alter Camera Views: It is usual for every smartphone to come with two cameras. There is one camera in front of the phone and another at the back of the phone.
On Instagram Live, you can switch from one camera to the other. It can be done in the same way you can change from one camera to the next while making a video call.
You can take advantage of this to let your audience know what is happening in your environment.
How to Make Use of Instagram Live to Promote Your Business
Instagram Live is a feature on Instagram that is open to virtually everyone. You might know your way around this feature but still not know how to use it in promoting a business.
To promote your business with the Instagram Live feature, go through the tips below.
Promote the Launch of a product: When your firm releases a new product, one way you can get your followers on Instagram to be aware of the newly released product is to promote it on Instagram Live. Although there are other ways to market your new product on Instagram, this is one of the trusted ways to do so.
Live makes it possible to talk about your newly released product while the world watches.
Get the best out of this; you can go Live on Instagram for about 15 minutes to launch your new product or service.
On Instagram Live, make your audience know what the product is all about, how much it is sold for, what it can do for them, where it can be bought and when it will be released officially.
Organize Giveaways: There are lots of ways to engage with your audience by making use of Instagram Live to promote your business. While these many ways can sometimes be complex, one way to engage your followers on Instagram Live without putting in so much effort is to offer them freebies.
A lot of people might be slow to admit this, but everyone loves freebies. So long you are giving out freebies, you will not struggle to engage your followers on Instagram Live.
If you are not sure how to get your freebies into the most deserving hands, you can organize an Instagram Live contest. The contest will get a lot of people to follow you and also make them aware of all your products and services.
With the contest you organize on Instagram, you can choose those that deserve to get gifts.
Show Your Followers How a Product Works: It is good to make your followers on Instagram know that you have a new product. That, however, is not good enough as there is a lot that Instagram Live can do in promoting your business.
The average person is interested in “how to” use certain products. So, to keep your followers engaged, you can teach them how to use your new product on Instagram Live video. There is no particular length for this video. It can be long and full of explanations or short and rich in simple tips.
When teaching people how to use a product on Instagram Live, let them know what the many benefits of the product are, the various ways they can get the best out of the product, and who is eligible to make use of the product.
Let Followers Know Events Your Company has been attending or hosting: You can get your followers on Instagram attached to your Instagram Live feature by letting them into the world beyond the products and services you offer them. You can do this by allowing your audience to know of the conferences you have been attending or hosting.
Is your firm planning a lecture soon, and you are throwing it open to the public? If yes, you can let your audience on Instagram participate in this lecture from the comfort of their homes.
Carryout an Interview: The method of carrying out an Instagram live session for interviews is also known as collaborating. It is an excellent format for anyone that is broadcasting on Instagram Live session to grow their followership.
It is usually a situation that everyone gets to benefit from as you make your followers aware of the existence of your collaborators. They, in turn, introduce you to their followers.
Launch a New Product: One way to get the best out of Instagram Live is always to have something new to share with your followers. If your business has just discovered something new, you can let your audience become aware of this by putting it up on Instagram Live.
Organize a Question and Answer Moment: Allow your viewers to ask you questions in real-time and respond to these questions honestly. Doing this will help your viewers know more about your business, helping you build your customer relationship and business credibility.
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