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45% of consumers say that they would like to see more live video from brands on social. That’s a HUGE statistic that shouldn’t be ignored.

Maybe you know the value of Instagram live, but you’re not sure where to start?

When you first hop on the live bandwagon, it can seem like a lot to juggle and there’s so many aspects that go into creating a successful Instagram live video.

Here’s some of my go-to tips for making sure your video stands out:

Clear Direction and Purpose

Go into your live with a clear understanding of what you’ll be talking about and the purpose behind the live. Outline a few ideas and then present those ideas to your audience in a Story poll or main post before you pick a topic. Involving your audience in the decision-making can help make them feel like they are an active part of your brand.

Promote It Prior

When you decide on your topic, date and time of your live video, it’s important to get the word out prior to hitting the “Go Live” button. Make a main profile post encouraging your audience to tune-in or catch the replay, as well as a Story video or series of photos leading up to the date. If you are accepting questions for a Q&A session, use the question sticker in Stories beforehand.

Test Quality

Most importantly, you must test the quality of your video and audio prior to going live – no one wants to watch a live with wind gusts and harsh lighting! Record a test video with your phone’s camera to make sure that the lighting is set and that no disruptive background noise is occurring.

Stick on Topic

Try not to veer off topic while you’re live. Audience members may join and begin talking about how good your hair looks or asking you about irrelevant items. As much as we all love a “good hair” compliment, this isn’t conducive to the quality content we’re here to serve our audience with. While it’s not a great idea to have a script that you stick to word-for-word (or you’ll sound a bit funny), setting up talking points can be the main ingredient to your success.

Be Yourself

It sounds cheesy, but it’s not. It’s so important that you stay true to yourself and not act, talk or dress a certain way that is out of alignment with what your audience is used to. Nothing will break trust quicker than an inauthentic, “produced” persona on live. Be yourself, laugh and encourage your audience members to do the same.

Invite Guests

Using Instagram Live With, you can invite another person into your live video and host a back-and-forth interview session, showcasing the talents of a colleague or someone in a complimentary niche. This allows both sets of followers to be notified when you are live, helping the both of you to garner new audience members and higher view counts.

Encourage Engagement

During the live video, encourage your audience members to comment in the comment box and ask you additional questions if there is a piece they don’t understand and need further clarification on, or if there is something that truly resonates with them and/or there is something they have tried out previously and would like to provide feedback on.

Creating a dialogue is key. When you’re about to wrap up your live video, encourage the viewers to Direct Message (DM) you if they have any further commentary or questions, emphasizing the fact that you love connecting with them.

Create a Post-Live Story

Once you’ve finished your live video, go to your Story where you can leave a post-live recap and encourage the audience to DM you with their thoughts about the live, continuing the conversation.

Save and Upload Elsewhere

Once you’ve hit that “End Live” button, you will be prompted to either delete your video, keep it up for 24 hours on your feed, and/or save a copy to your phone. I always suggest that you save a copy to your phone and upload the live to Facebook and other outlets where you would like more exposure. This can also help you promote your future live videos across platforms.

These tips are designed to get you started and encourage positive brainstorming around IG Live – if this is the first time you’ve experimented with live, I’d love to hear from you after you do your first video! 🙂 You can stay tuned to my Instagram @positivequation and catch me on consistent lives nearly every week!