IG Live: How It Boosts Online Visibility And How To Make The Most Of It

Videos have been a crucial part of digital marketing for many years now. From basic animations to live streaming and social media formats, videos have been embraced as an effective way to increase customer engagement. With Instagram Live, you can arouse people’s interest more.

Social media is a crowded place and a very competitive arena. If you want to stand out and create a different user experience for your target audience, use motion through live videos as a unique point in your marketing strategy. Using Instagram Live, in particular, will help grab your audience’s attention and focus their attention on what you have to say. And because IG Live videos are ephemeral, people will think that they need to grab the opportunity to hear what you have to say before it becomes inaccessible.

IG Live on IG Stories

Instagram Live, which is a part of Instagram Stories, took off in 2018. Initially, it was to allow users to broadcast videos in real-time to grow their Instagram following. What makes Instagram Live different from other video streaming features, like Facebook Live, is that the broadcast ends the moment the live feed stops. There are no replays.

With IG Live, you can easily reach your audience wherever they are with content that is unique, attention-grabbing, can increase awareness, and give people a glimpse of what it’s like to be a part of your brand. While it’s okay to let people find you by themselves, you need to hustle if you want to get a leg up on the competition. And to get your message across in a clear and real-time manner to your target audience, you need to reach them in the places where you will usually find them.

IG Live is an intelligent way of attracting, engaging, and inspiring your audience to take your desired action. With carefully curated videos posted on IG Live, you’ll be able to encourage users to find out more about your brand and take further action. Moreover, live videos can reach the right people with the right message and at the right moment.

What IG Live can do for your business?

Instagram reaches at least 1 billion active users on a daily basis. So, if you want to advertise or promote your brand to a wider customer base, it would be a wise decision to do it on IG – it’s where you’ll find the most users and where your marketing campaigns will have the most impact.

Here are four of the compelling benefits of IG Live.

1. Increases visibility

Around 70% of posts on Instagram don’t get viewed. That’s got to be a very expensive way to waste your marketing budget. With IG Live, your content will be placed at the top of the feeds. This means that posting an IG Live video takes your marketing effort a step further. Because live streams on Instagram are placed at the front of the storyline, this gives your videos more chances of getting viewed.

Live streams on IG are also highlighted, drawing more people to watch them. Aside from that, you can enable push notifications with IG Live, which means that all your followers will be alerted as soon as you start a live stream. This also means increasing awareness and reaching a wider audience. It’s definitely a great way to get your followers’ attention.

2. Establishes authenticity

One of the best things about IG Live is that it helps make your business more authentic – it helps make you look more legitimate – since it puts a face and personality on your business. It allows you to personally connect with your followers since IG Live is interactive, bringing your brand closer to your audience. It makes your business genuine and trustworthy, which matters a lot to most consumers. And because there are no pauses, no editing, you’ll be able to present your ideas to your audience in the most authentic way.

A study by Sprout Social reveals that people value a business’s transparency a lot. An estimated 86% of consumers will choose a competitor over a brand that lacks transparency.

3. Boosts engagement

IG Live is interactive and is done in real-time. This allows followers to personally ask questions that will help them make a buying decision. This increases engagement because people are more inclined to interact with you since they can get answers to their questions in real-time.

IG Live can last up to a full hour, giving you more time to engage with followers and potential customers. A survey shows that 1 in 3 consumers have become more interested in a brand after seeing a live streaming video about it.

How to make the most of IG Live?

If you want to increase your brand visibility and boost engagement, then Instagram Live is definitely one tool that you should include in your marketing arsenal.

Here are ways to incorporate IG Live into your marketing strategy.

1. Reach the right people with the right message

Using IG Live is what you need to strike the right message and reach your target audience in a popular and engaging manner. No matter who your audience is, you can organically reach them with whatever message through a live stream. Since IG Live is interactive, you can gather huge amounts of audience data that you can leverage to make better marketing decisions. You can engage with your followers and find out about the content that they are most likely interested in. This allows you to save a lot of money on marketing while reaching out to a wider audience as no other tool or ad can.

But to be able to connect with your followers through IG Live, first, you need to develop the best persona for your brand. Take a look at consumer insights to determine the right persona and voice that resonates with your brand. That way, there is consistency in all your marketing campaigns, including your live streams.

2. Think of live videos as conversations

For your IG Live stream to be effective in increasing your brand visibility and engagement, you need to plan your content carefully. You can’t just show up in a video and expect people to be interested in what you’re about to say right away. What you should do is acknowledge your viewers and encourage them to comment or react. That way, you’ll make people comfortable interacting with you.

Questions and requests for clarifications are great opportunities to show your followers that you’re interested in what they have to say about your brand. This will improve interactions with your audience, increasing brand visibility in the long run. So, always pay attention to what your viewers are commenting or asking.

3. Establish goals and KPIs

You’ll need to create goals and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to determine whether IG Live streams actually work for your business. KPIs are measurable values that tell a marketer whether it is achieving its key business objectives. These should reflect your business’ form of communication. This means that they absorb clear and relevant information, which should make KPI as valuable as the actions it inspires.

Your business should perform A/B split testing to determine what actually works and what does not for your brand. This is to ensure that you are making the most of your investment.

4. Be genuine and professional

The most important thing to keep in mind when creating live streams on any social media platform is to be as genuine and professional as possible. Live videos put a face on your brand, which means that you need to show your followers that you’re as human as can be. You need to be genuine and not talk sales if you want to truly connect with your audience. Allow yourself to show emotion in front of your viewers. Conversate with your viewers as if you’re talking to a friend or colleague. In other words, allow your true personality to shine through while maintaining professionalism at all times. This is how people will see your genuineness.

While Q & As are great for live streams, doing it all the time will bore your audience and cause them to skip your videos. Gather consumer insights and find out what most of your audience wants to learn about your brand. This can be a company overview, announcements, product demos, event promotions, and seasonal videos. You can tie two or more types of content together and come up with creative live streams every time.

5. Consider a live stream series

One way to be consistent in your IG Live streams is to feature an ongoing series. You can do it on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis and give your audience something to look forward to. If your business is selling clothes, you can post OOTD ideas per season. Post upcoming styles in a daily or weekly series to give your audience an idea of what they should look forward to from you. As part of the series, you can feature a Q & A live stream that will encourage your followers to ask whatever it is they want to know about your brand. Keep in mind that people appreciate content that is not only promotional but also informative and relevant.

6. Announce your live streams beforehand

In addition to planning your live streams well, you should also treat IG Live campaigns just like other in-person events and promote them to your audience so they know exactly the when, what, where, and why. You should also market your IG Live streams to your other social media channels and emails. You have to make sure that you target your promotions to the right audiences. Create an email campaign that will reach out to a specific segment of leads to build up their interest.

7. Engage with your viewers

IG Live allows businesses and their viewers to interact in real-time. While this means that you should answer questions, you don’t really need to do so with every comment. What’s important is you give your viewers real-time attention that will make them feel connected to you and your brand. However, you need to take control of the interactions so you don’t get caught off-guard. One way to do so is to have a staff reply to comments and take note of the ones that the presenter needs to answer.

8. Don’t forget to have fun

Make sure that your IG Live streams are fun and engaging so your viewers will look forward to the next session. Don’t be afraid to let your true self shine through. Also, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. If you make one, just acknowledge it, laugh at it, and move on. This is how you become authentic in front of your audience, which is something that they will truly appreciate about your brand.

At the end of your IG Live stream, conclude with a call to action that ties back to the goals you want to achieve at the start of the session. Just make sure that the CTA does not come off as too salesy or pushy.

Conclusion

IG Live videos are here to stay. This is why it’s important for you to master the art of creating beautiful and effective live streams that your audience will love. What’s good about IG Live streams is that they don’t need to be over-the-top or expensive to be effective. All you need to do is make sure they are creative, genuine, fun, and engaging.