Instagram Live Can Be the Best Tool You Have Used!

For several years, we have witnessed advertisements grow from newspapers and magazines to radio and television. Advertising grew rapidly, and marketers had ample opportunities to explore different ways to showcase their products and services. Advertisements started appearing on television in the form of videos and progressed to the internet. More options were explored wherein marketers placed their products in movies to gain more visibility. It wasn’t until social media opened its doors that marketers realized that the world of opportunities was vast.

Social media marketing became mainstream with various platforms offering marketers opportunities to grow their business, with Instagram being one among them. Instagram became the platform that every marketer used in the marketing strategy. More and more businesses started using the platform, and Instagram business account boomed. Businesses like to post content and tag loyal customers, which led to increased interest among Instagram followers. As more and more businesses made Instagram a tool to market their brand, several features were added to the platform for the benefit of users, marketers, and real Instagram followers. One such feature that has recently gained a lot of popularity is Instagram live.

What is Instagram Live?

In 2016, Instagram launched Instagram Live, a brilliant feature that lets users broadcast live videos in their feeds. Soon as the feature was launched, it was well-received by Instagram users. In the initial period, it was used to share life experiences, travel stories, vlogs, and more. It was a fun experience that engaged Instagram followers, but the business potential was still in doubt.

Most of the users now know what Instagram Live is. But if you are new to this social media platform, Instagram Live is just another feature on Instagram that allows the user to live-stream to their followers, and engage them in real-time. When you follow an account, you will be notified when a live video starts. Additionally, a ring around the profile picture on Instagram is highlighters, which shows that the account you follow has a Live story up. Real Instagram followers can tune in from there.

With Instagram Live, you can

• Stream video in real-time
• Engage your followers as they send Instagram likes and comments
• Save a replay of the video and upload on Instagram Stories
• Pin the best comments on top of the video

Every feature of Instagram Live offers a unique benefit to its user. As a marketer, it is up to you how you use these features.

How can you benefit from it?

Instagram offers the highest engagement when compared to any other social media platform. As long as you are competitive, you are bound to be on top of the market; and to be competitive, you must be up to date with the features of Instagram. Instagram Live is a feature that offers immense growth opportunities to its business users. From being able to engage your users in real-time, communicating with viewers, to marketing products and services, Instagram Live offers several benefits. Some of the benefits of using Instagram Live for your business include the following.

It offers more visibility

How many Instagram posts do you view in a day, and how many do you post? Did you know that nearly 70% of the posts do not reach the target customers? Well, that’s a lot of time and effort wasted, right? If you have invested a lot of money into the content and the strategy, that’s a waste of money as well. That’s where Instagram Stories come in. They place your content at the top of your follower’s feeds ensuring that your content is visible.

Instagram Live takes a step further. They are not only placed at the top of the follower’s feeds, but they are highlighted as well. It increases the chances of getting viewed as it increases interest of Instagram followers. To add to the benefit of visibility, Instagram Live is push-notification enabled meaning, if your follower has turned on the feature, they will be alerted when the live session starts. The feature significantly increases the number of views.

It creates a sense of urgency

What keeps people from turning away from Live streaming? Did you know that people have trouble turning away from Live content and they enjoy it due to the sense of urgency it creates? Take, for example, a life sports telecast. From the players to the audience, everyone experiences the same thing at the same time. You don’t know what happens next and this creates a sense of heightened curiosity and a sense of urgency to continue watching.

Instagram Live offers this heightened curiosity that makes the viewer more alert than regular video content. They continue to watch as they feel that if they turn away, they will miss something vital, and this keeps them invested in the Life feed. Well, this shows that they care!

It is authentic

The best part about a live session is that neither the viewers nor the people hosting it knows what will happen next. On that note, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the content in the Live feed is authentic. Authenticity helps to gain audience trust as it is difficult to fake things like the quality of the product, brand personality, and many other things that people now value.

Additionally, when compared to a regular feed, Instagram Live breaks the barrier between the host and the audience by having a conversation and interaction in real-time. Real-time conversation offers a face-to-face experience that is real, genuine, and personal which creates trust. Authenticity offers transparency which consumers value.

It increases engagement

Did you know that Instagram stories trigger more engagement than Instagram posts? Though stories and Live content are available for 24 hours they generate more engagement as they offer conversation. With Instagram Live, users DM instead of posting an Instagram Like, like in posts, and this offers potential for conversation and in turn increases engagement. Instagram Live offers two-way interaction. You can engage your viewers in a conversation, or respond to their comments as it is happening in real-time.

Imagine the real-time streaming of a production process. You not only increase visibility due to increased curiosity of people, but you also show them that your services are authentic. Your audience is glued to the feed to understand more about how the production process works, which creates a sense of urgency, and lastly, you can ask viewer questions or accept their questions and thus increase engagement.

How to leverage Instagram Live to benefit the business?

Instagram Live is a great tool, especially for businesses; small and big. Here are five ways in which you can leverage Instagram Live for business.

Product launch

Product launch always gets the audience curious. Imagine a product launch hosted on Instagram Live! That’s how you leverage the benefits of this feature. When you talk about a product launch, real Instagram followers are bound to view the live feed as it generates interest. The best way to get more views is to go live once before the product launch and create a buzz. Offer a sneak-peak! It keeps the followers interested and eager to find out more.

Instagram Live is a great opportunity to offer detailed information about the product, its key features, and its uses to the audience.

Q&A session

When you interact with your followers, you offer them an opportunity to trust you. Trust only helps in building a stronger relationship with your customers. A Q&A session does just that. You can host a Q&A session with your Instagram followers and interact with them directly to understand what they feel about your brand.

Use this time to listen to your customers, their concerns, and challenges. Encourage them to ask questions about your products and services and build trust by resolving their queries. When you converse in real-time using Instagram live, your flowers need not wait for their questions to be answered. They get answers to their questions immediately. Remember, a Q&A session works well only if you allow the viewers to post Instagram likes and comments.

Live streaming of Brand Events

Can you imagine the number of people you can reach out to when you host an event? A brand event can be exciting to be a part of. But it is only limited to the people who visit it. You can post pictures and get Instagram likes as well. Is that sufficient to keep the followers engaged? To generate an online buzz, you can live-stream the event by going live on Instagram. You can offer a sneak-peak to your real Instagram followers into the happenings at the event and keep them engaged.

Conduct an interview

If you are a brand, you would have worked with influencers or influential people in the industry. Did you know that an interview with one of the influencers on Instagram Live could increase your brand visibility? Influencers have their loyal followings, and if they come live on Instagram, it will lead to an increase in the number of viewers and followers as well.

Product tutorials

Another way you can leverage on Instagram Live to benefit your business is to offer your followers product tutorials. It is much easier to grasp and understand a product by watching a live feed where your viewers can communicate with you than read a lengthy text guide that comes with images. By using Instagram Live to offer product tutorials, you show that your business is authentic, and you keep your viewers engaged as well.

Instagram Live is a great feature that offers a lot of benefits to businesses. As a marketer, you can use it to increase engagement, increase brand awareness, adjust to having a social presence. If you know how to leverage this feature’s benefits, it must be a part of your marketing strategy.