How to Use Instagram Live to Grow and Engage Your Followers

Instagram Live streams give brands unfiltered access to their audience, and vice versa.

Instagram Live is a subtype of Instagram Stories; you can use it to broadcast content in real-time. 

When the feature was first launched, the duration of such live feeds was concise, and this was updated so you could go live for up to 60 minutes in one stretch. In the latter half of 2020, this was increased to up to 4 hours of uninterrupted broadcasting time. If Reels is all about super short videos, IG Live can literally span hours! However, unless you save it onto your regular feed, it will disappear 24 hours after going on air.

This feature lets users stream live videos to their followers and it’s a great feature for building engagement, connecting directly with your audience and establishing your brand. 

Live videos are popular, and the trend shows us that they’re in fact here to stay. That’s why it’s so important that your brand understands how to use Instagram Live and leverage it for your audience.

Let’s walk through exactly how you can start using this service and a few ideas you can use to create an amazing Instagram Live stream today. 

Features of Instagram live

Questions 

You can collect questions from your audience by posting a question sticker in an Instagram Story before you go live. When you jump into your stream, you can access your viewers’ questions here. This is great for doing a simple live Q&A for people who are interested in what your brand has to offer.

Add a guest

This allows you and another user to share the live video. When you add a guest, both you and your guest will appear in the video via a split screen. So, if you want to bring a friend in to help showcase your product, you can!

Live Rooms

Live Rooms allows users to go live with up to 3 other people. Previously, it was only possible to co-host streams with one other person using the “Add a guest” option. With Live Rooms, users (and brands) can get a little bit more creative with their streams.

Face filters

Maybe not entirely professional, but who cares! You can get multiple face filters to help showcase how great you would look 80 years old.

Share a photo or video

You can show a picture or video from your camera roll and share it with your live audience. While it’s being shown, you can talk alongside it. This is great for brands that want to unveil a new product to their audience.

Add a comment

Use this field to add a comment to your stream or to turn off commenting. Comments can often offer insightful feedback or drive-up engagement.

Instagram Live ideas 

Collaborate with an industry influencer

Collaborating with industry influencers is a tried and true social media marketing method that can gain your brand followers. These are people who your target audience already recognizes and respects. When you work with them, they bring legitimate attention to your brand and introduce more interested consumers to your business.

Instagram Live video is the ideal platform for these collaborations. With the Add a guest and 

Live Room features, you can bring influencers on for whatever you had in mind creatively, and help sell your product.

Tutorial workshops

If your product or service requires an explanation before use, then you can use Instagram Live to help explain the service you provide. This can be a make-up tutorial or even guitar lessons. If you can teach it, you can broadcast it on an Instagram video stream!

Q&A

A great way to build engagement with your audience is by answering their questions. This is especially effective if you have leading thought personal in your organization.

Live Event

Maybe it’s just a party or fundraiser your company is hosting? But that’s a good opportunity to show your followers the human, fun-loving side of your brand.

Streaming at events also helps boost that all-powerful FOMO (fear of missing out) factor, helping to build publicity and anticipation for your next event. This is great if you want your followers to join you at another event later on. 

For example, Global Citizen is a non-profit organization with a mission to end extreme poverty by 2030. During the pandemic, the brand used Instagram Live to promote their #TogetherAtHome campaign—an effort to encourage social distancing in order to slow the spread of coronavirus.

To attract viewers, Global Citizen partnered with numerous celebrities to host an at-home concert series with artists like H.E.R. involved.

FAQs

How long can you go on Instagram live? 

You can be on Instagram Live for up to four hours. 

How many people can join an Instagram live? 

Thanks to the new feature Live Rooms, up to four people can join an Instagram Live to host.

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