Just when creators started embracing Clubhouse worldwide, Instagram launched a stellar new update — Instagram Live Rooms!
Instagram is already a runner-up in the video forefront. It has a bountiful of features that support video capabilities like IGTV, Live, Stories, and yeah, the new sheriff in the town, Reels.
But as the name suggests, Instagram Live Room is an extended adaptation of Instagram Live. But what’s unique about it? Let’s find it out.
What are Instagram Live Rooms?
Simply put, Instagram Live is a broadcasting feature that shares your video with your followers. They can view it from the stories section. But unlike stories, you can save your live sessions and then post them as IGTV.
But Instagram live only supported one guest. The latest release of Instagram Live Rooms allows you to go live with 3 guests at the same time. This is a potential game changer for creators and marketers to collab with more people to create enriching content.
While this functionality isn’t completely new (webinar platforms have been doing this for years), it is a new function for Instagram and eliminates the technical prowess required to use other platforms.
Instagram also revealed that it was a highly requested feature in the pandemic. Its live feature played a pivotal role in connecting creators of all niches with their ardent follower base. They further announced newer integrations like badges and live shopping to show their full-fledged support towards the creator’s community.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CG74376jBsx/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Here’s how famous makeup artist, Arti Nayar, tested the Live Rooms feature with 3 other influencers. She later gave her testimony to Instagram, quoted below,
“Your following knows you individually, but what happens when four creators come together? That curiosity is what we want to keep alive. What was special about our Live Rooms stream is that all our different followers got the chance to see four of us talk about something we universally love.”
Now that you are all hyped up, let’s learn how to use it next.
How to use Instagram Live Rooms?
But before you go live, here’s a small hack to get more live audiences. Use an Instagram marketing tools to schedule your posts and stories announcing your live sessions.
This will ensure that your followers get to know about it well in advance and ease up their schedules to attend your live. Use countdown stickers on your stories for anticipating responses too. You can additionally start email marketing campaigns, inviting more views.
Let’s jump right into the execution phase now. To host an Instagram Live, follow the steps mentioned below:
- Open the Instagram camera and swipe right to select the Live option.
2. Type out a title for the live session by clicking on the left-aligned icon. Make sure your title is self-descriptive and catchy to entice your followers to watch your live. Tap on the Add Title button.
3. Click the Live icon to start the broadcast. Once live, click on the video icon. Send invites to guest profiles from the search bar. You can also select the invite requests from this section.
4. Once your session is over, tap on the close icon. Select Download video to save the live session to your camera roll. You can also share it as IGTV with the Share to IGTV option.
You can even crop it into smaller segments and post them as reels or videos after needful edits.
5 Instagram Live Rooms Ideas for Creators
Are you still holding back and pondering what to do on live? Wipe your brows, and try out these 5 killer ideas for your upcoming live session.
1. Interaction with Influencers
Influencer marketing is one of the most popular marketing techniques today, enough to be cited as one of the top content marketing trends for 2022. It’s because influencers have a concentrated follower base. A collab with the right influencer can double your exposure to a newer audience horizon.
We agree that not everyone can afford Kylie Jenner-like influencers to endorse a brand for mere seconds and pay millions. But you can definitely get in touch with distinguished micro-influencers in your niche.
You can go live with them and ask about their experience with your brands. You can invite them to share some tips or their daily routine. Creators can call out their friends and can perform famous challenges together. This will pique the interests of multiple follower bases. Such collabs even help creators for growing and making more money as influencers.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CPlT2iTBK-C/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Have a look at this Live with 3.9K+ views. Bumble is an online dating platform, and it hosted a live with the famous love coach, Francesca Hogi, and the News Not Noise author, Jessica Yellin. The session focused on the challenges of traditional dating and how Bumble changed its dynamics. Francesca also shared her insightful tips on the same.
2. Discussion Forums
Branding is not about blowing your trumpet and singing praises. It is about moving your audience subconsciously and influencing their decisions in your favor. But how do you do it?
One excellent way is to align your business goals with their beliefs and requirements. If you are a firm advocate of their ideologies, you might make the essential cut. And what is the best way to showcase your support other than live discussions?
Hop on the bandwagon and gather your troops for relevant discussions. It can be about the latest trends and predictions in your niche. For instance, you can gather top UI/UX designers and talk about AI dominance in the design industry if you are heading a website developing agency.
Creators can also discuss current events and popular occasions like Pride month in June. They can talk about what steps they are taking at an individual level and at large to promote awareness actively. Discussions like these make you and brands more humane and receptive.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CQHNyNllQwX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
L’Oreal Paris hosted an Instagram Live room discussion on “Overcoming Obstacles and Achieving Self-Worth” to acknowledge differences and embrace them. The guests opened up and unraveled their journeys in supporting LGBQT+ communities. The session was a great success, with 23.5K+ views.
3. Q&A Sessions
Social media marketing is not a one-way street. It is built on the foundation of solid interactions. Businesses often resort to Q&A strategy to seek opinions and solve queries of their clients and followers.
Similarly, creators can host live to answer the most frequently asked questions by their followers. You can even feature top followers and get on live with them.
Here are some valuable tips for holding a successful Q&A session:
- Have the questionnaire ready beforehand
- Send them to your guests in advance, so they get time to prepare
- Make some time for real-time questions from the comment section
- Note the questions you couldn’t answer to cover them next time
- Put the Q&A sticker in stories when promoting the live session
Source: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMdNJtjpf_Y/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Here’s a live session of Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, and Alyssa Carson, the prolific Nasa astronaut. Adam asks her some interstellar questions about space travel and more about her astronaut life. It went down well with the space enthusiast followers with 11.4K+ views.
4. Product Demo
The winning trick to sales is to put out more demo videos. The Instagram live room is the perfect setup if you are on your launching spree. Team up with your folks and go for a live demo to show how your brand/offering is unique.
If you are a creator and are helping other businesses promote their brands, you should consider going live. This will make your followers take the necessary steps to use the same products as yours.
Giving live demos will help you highlight your unique selling points better. You can easily convey the essential aspects of your offerings and even take on spot queries and solve concerns from the interested lot.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CKemmaClLpL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Murad SkinCare went live with Hydrafacial treatment for a demo of Murad’s brand new Retinol Booster. It covered all the basic steps, their benefits, why, and how to use them the right way for best results. Isn’t that a smart way to promote your products?
5. Tutorial Alerts
Who doesn’t like learning something new, especially when it’s free? Businesses often go live for hands-on sessions and tutorials to educate their followers on their offerings. A DIY guide is another prominent tutorial on Instagram.
Let’s assume you are a professional baker and post eye-popping snaps of cakes on your Instagram feed. You can take a step forward and go live with other bakers and cake decorators for simple DIY icing tricks.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/tv/COypZAenllv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Here’s how Rare Beauty hosted an IG live room with 4 makeup artists to recreate Selena Gomez’s signature look. They also mentioned the list of products they used for this look so their followers can do a similar makeup without any professional help. The video got a whopping 36K+ views.
What’s next?
A survey of Livestream with New York Magazine suggests that 80% of people would rather watch live videos from brands than reading blogs. Such video marketing statistics effectively highlight its importance for branding. That’s why Instagram is vesting efforts in introducing more live utilities. Instagram Live Rooms is also planning to raise the guests’ limit from 3 to 10.
Along with creators, marketers are also embracing this feature wholeheartedly. Apart from the usual engagement benefits, a live session becomes the source of additional video content. You can crop the entire recording into numerous jaw-dropping clippings with video editing tools like Clipchamp. Post these clippings later on your feed to get traction from the ones who missed your live.
That’s like sorting a week worth of content in a few minutes. Isn’t that brilliant? Go ahead and start planning your live room session today itself. You got this!
Author Bio
Sweta Panigrahi is a Content Writer at SocialPilot, one of the best social media management tools. Her strongest pursuit is to capture social media happenings in her well-researched blogs. From codes to meme posts, her search history is a confounding mess. When not typing out blogs, you can find her in a sunny corner scribbling poems.