Do you have problems with Instagram Live? If yes, read this article to the end.
Did you know that Live streaming increased by 70% on Instagram across the US from February to March of this year? 70%! With millions of people around the world following social distancing orders and spending more time at home, many have turned to Instagram Live as a new way to interact and connect with others. From POPSUGAR Fitness’ daily workouts to comedian Ziwe’s Thursday night comedy show, to Bread Ahead’s daily cooking tutorial, there’s no shortage of live entertainment you can turn to during quarantine, and it’s not just famous brands and celebrities. More live shares are shared, but so are small business owners.
English fashion company Never Fully Dressed has recently shared various live streams on the topics of candle making, crystal healing, and baby dressing, and business coach Fleur Emery often goes live with special guests for her live series Brain. Interviews Biscuits and Female Founders. So with everyone moving to Instagram Live – is this something you should be doing too? Yes, you guessed right! Because live streaming is great for creating entertainment, connecting directly with your followers, and building your brand. But if the thought of going live makes you anxious (“What if I make a mistake? What if no one shows up to my life?!”) – I understand, and that’s why I wrote this article for you.
Table of Contents
A step-by-step guide to having fun Lives on Instagram
Before we get into the “how” of creating an engaging Instagram Live, let’s first examine the “why.” Here are just some of the benefits: Instagram Live promotes your brand and gives people a chance to hear your voice and understand your brand’s unique qualities. After going live, you will have the number one position in the Story feed, which will increase visibility and the possibility of more people visiting to watch it.
Going live sends a notification to your followers and gives you another opportunity to increase visibility. Instagram Live creates a stronger connection between you and your audience. Live accelerates the recognition, interest, and trust factors with your followers – and let’s face it, this is your USP when going head-to-head with a competitor offering a very similar product/service to yours. Now let’s see how you should create your next Instagram live step by step.
Before starting Instagram Live:
1- Plan
What is the best way to look confident on Instagram Live and have content that will keep the audience with you from the beginning to the end of your life? While it may be tempting to quickly go live and start talking about your business right from the start, this content is unlikely to be engaging and effective. Remember: Even though the Instagram Live format is more balanced and intimate than the video you’ve already created for your main feed or IGTV, you still need to make sure your Live is organized.
By having pre-planned conversations and a clear beginning, middle, and end, you will eliminate the risk of losing the train of thought or talking too much about a certain topic. This doesn’t mean you have to follow a rigid script. All you need to include in your program is a catchy introduction that grabs people’s attention, 3-5 talking points, and a call to action to end the life. Planning will not only help your confidence a lot but also eliminate the fear factor associated with going live.
2- Let your followers know in advance
Before going live, announce the content you want to talk about with an Instagram story or a post on the main feed, build excitement among your followers, and give people a reason to join your life. For example, Ebony magazine excited fans for a live one-on-one chat with Game of Thrones actress Natalie Emmanuel with a main feed post, and used the Instagram Stories countdown sticker as a great tool to gain attention and presence. It’s your live stream.
Another great example of someone creating exciting pre- and post-live announcements is content creator Serena Kerrigan, who launched the Instagram dating live “Let’s F*cking Date” during quarantine.
Each week, Kerrigan goes on a virtual blind date on Live while followers join in and comment on Live. Before each live stream, he shares content on Instagram Stories, including show details and a countdown sticker to make sure no one misses it.
Valuable point! Having trouble finding ideas for your Instagram Lives? Not sure what your audience wants? Take away the stress and let your followers participate in this work! Give them options to choose from through Instagram Stories and use poll and question stickers. This way, you can measure interest in your topics and give your fans the feeling that their opinions are valued.
3- Make sure you have a good internet connection
One of the problems you may face when going live is a poor internet connection. To prevent this from happening, temporarily disconnect other devices from your WiFi or connect your phone directly to your internet router via an ethernet cable. With this, the possibility of your life being interrupted or its quality decreasing will be minimized and your feelings of confusion and stress will be reduced.
4- Put your phone in Do Not Disturb mode.
Another very useful tip for uninterrupted Instagram Live is to set your phone to Do Not Disturb mode. After building a strong app, checking your internet connection, and gathering your followers in one place, the only thing you don’t want is for your phone to ring while you’re life. Hard to bear thinking about, isn’t it? Instead, turn on the Do Not Disturb function on your device and if you plan to go live regularly, add it to a small checklist before you go live so you never forget.
5- Practice with a fake account
A useful tip if the idea of live Instagram bothers you is to create a sub-account. This account (which you can make private) allows you to practice your life and check that the sound works as it should and the lighting looks good. After finishing the work by pressing the download button in the upper left corner, save your programs and check it.
During Instagram Live
1. Be yourself
While it’s important to know your Live format and what you want to talk about, Instagram Live isn’t about reading a script. The reason people join Instagram Live is because of the instant connection it creates with another human being, and this has never been more true than now, during a global pandemic where people want 1:1 communication and interaction with others. Yes, this communication is still done through smartphone screens, but the more authentic you are as a live streamer, the more impact you can have on your audience.
So how can you best achieve this goal?
Be willing to be vulnerable, talk to the camera like you would a colleague, and don’t be afraid to show your personality. This doesn’t mean you have to cry live or talk about mundane things that are completely irrelevant to your audience – you don’t! – But don’t be afraid to express your feelings and talk about how you feel. Whether it’s about the impact of COVID-19 on your business, how to balance your work and personal life, or discussing how you take care of your mental health – if you feel comfortable talking about it, Do not hesitate to share it with your audience.
2. Take the audience with you
One of the cool things about Instagram Live is the real-time conversation you can have with your participants. To prevent it from becoming boring, you have the option to “turn off comments” and also activate “turn off requests to go live”. Remember this from someone whose mom asked them to go live multiple times…it can be very distracting!
By saying this, encourage questions and input from your audience as much as possible. Answering questions and thanking viewers for their comments creates an instant connection and makes your audience feel appreciated and connected to your brand. If the thought of getting too many questions worries you, you can always let your followers know at the beginning of the broadcast that there will be an opportunity for questions at the end.
Valuable point! If you’re hosting a Live Q&A, share the question sticker on your Instagram story before going live. Then after you go live, you can tap the question mark at the bottom of your screen and start answering the questions you’ve entered. It’s an easy way to review the answers and your Q&A will appear seamlessly!
3. Share images/videos
A great way to make your Instagram live more interesting is by using some additional images or slides to make your live points stand out. You can easily share an image or video on your play screen by tapping the camera roll icon in the right corner of the screen. If you’re sharing an informative or informative Instagram Live, you can share explanatory slides or a screencast recorded from your mobile phone. This CarLive turns your Instagram into engaging content ready to be shared on IGTV, which makes people all over the world follow along with it.
4. CTA placement
Whether your Instagram Live is a Q&A with a guest, an introduction to you and your business, or a short tutorial, make sure your audience does something at the end. Sometimes it may be appropriate to direct your audience to your product or service. However, try to avoid Instagram Live which is obviously for sale. Instead, encourage interaction. Ask people to check out other videos in your IGTV collection or send you a DM with other questions about the topic you’re discussing.
This kind of genuine engagement will keep your fans coming back for more. They won’t feel like your life is an opportunity to create controversy, and they’ll be waiting for an opportunity to learn from you and connect with you better. For example, at the end of this life, pin a comment for viewers to tell them how they can connect with you and encourage them to check out other lives.
5. Enjoy!
With a program in hand, the most important thing to remember is to have fun! When your fans open their Instagram app and see you live, they expect to see more of you, your personality, and your valuable content. Draw the line at monotonous, over-selling content. Instead, have a positive and confident attitude, as this will encourage your followers to stick with you until the end of your life if you make a small mistake or when you’re speaking You clap, don’t worry, and don’t stress…it happens to the best of us too! Plus, your audience appreciates your authenticity and reliability.
That’s exactly what Instagram Live is all about. Important point! Remember, your Instagram Live doesn’t have to be long. If you can fit a lot of valuable content into a 10 or 15-minute live session, that’s fantastic! Being concise will keep your audience with you for a long time.
After Instagram Live
1- Don’t forget to advertise
Going Instagram Live is a big deal, so don’t forget to promote it as much as possible after you’re done. Just like when you excited the atmosphere before the live, you can share the key and interesting points of the life after the live-in Instagram stories!
Highlights, funny moments, thought-provoking questions – you can share it all in a “round-up” on Instagram Live to catch the attention of anyone who missed watching it in time. Remember Serena Kerrigan from Let ‘F*cking, mentioned above? Well, not only does he do a brilliant job of getting his audience excited before Live, but he also does a great job of sharing tons of content after Live.
He takes screenshots of all the DMs, comments, and stories that his audience shares and sends to him after the new life, and shares them in his stories to maintain more excitement.
2- Save the live on your IGTV
Until recently, Instagram Live was only available for 24 hours. And if you didn’t download it quickly, you would have no way to access that content. However, in a very cool recent update, Instagram now allows users to permanently save Instagram Lives to IGTV (yes!).