APR. 5, 2021
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Instagram’s Live Rooms feature allows you to go live, just like before, but this time, you can invite up to three more guests to join you (previously, you could only have one guest along). This makes it all the more possible to reach a broader audience, engage with the community and drive conversions. And it offers ample opportunities to hold the types of sessions you couldn’t in the past. In this article, we’re going to cover some of the best ways for brands – and their guests – to use Live Rooms.
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Showcase Your Newest Shop Additions
Launching a brand new product? Debut it on Live Rooms! When choosing your three guests, think about the people who can best explain how and why the product was developed. Maybe one person can talk about who thought up the product idea, and another can explain how it came to be.
For example, if you run a makeup brand, you can have someone from the company explain how they came up with a new lipstick color. Then, you can have another employee discuss how they test for safety and effectiveness. Think about what customers want to know, though. For example, they probably don’t care how you priced the product, but they do care that it wasn’t tested on animals.
Demo Your Product
Any product that could use a demonstration – like makeup, sports gear, software, etc. – can benefit from Live Rooms. Not only will your audience see you showing off your product, but they’ll also see how other real people engage with it.
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Show your other guests how to use your product so your audience can see how it really works. This adds to social proof.
Why? You obviously know how to use a product your brand makes, but others don’t. Seeing guests engage with it by following your steps makes the content more authentic.
P.S. With the Live Shopping feature, your viewers can purchase the products you demo.
Host a Panel Session
Chances are that your brand stands for something, whether that’s animal rights, living in an eco-friendly way, or giving back to those in need. To get customers to see you as a leader in your niche, host a panel or Q&A session on a topic you want to get behind. Marketing your products doesn’t always mean shoving them in the faces of viewers. Instead, you can create content around the types of products you sell without using obvious “buy now!” messaging.
Consider this, too: by inviting experts in the field to be your Live Rooms guests, you can extend your reach because you’ll be tapping into their audiences as well. And your viewers will get different viewpoints that you may not have thought of on your own. Everybody wins!
Hold Customer Feedback Sessions
The best customer service is timely customer service, and Instagram Live Rooms let you engage with customers in real-time. Hold dedicated support sessions where customers can give you feedback, ask questions and even complain if that’s what they need to do. Invite guests who can answer all sorts of questions that you can’t. For example, someone from sales can handle questions about subscription tiers, while a tech representative can advise users on how to access a feature.
P.S. Don’t be afraid of negative feedback! Calmly and kindly handling an angry customer in real-time for the rest of your viewers to see can show that you’re poised and professional. It’ll also make prospective customers more confident to buy from you because they know their concerns won’t be ignored.
Livestream a Class
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With Live Rooms, you and your guests can host a class that your viewers can interact with. Each guest can take a portion of the class based on their expertise. For example, let’s say you sell clothing from an online boutique. You can show off your newest additions in the shop while your three guests can teach a class on how to style an outfit. One person can talk about accessories while another talks about finding a flattering fit, etc. And during it, viewers can write in with their questions for in-the-moment lessons.
The best part is that this tactic applies to almost any industry. Sell wine? Hold a wine tasting and food pairing. Sell fitness gear? Hold a how-to workout session.
Invite Customers On as Guests
If you truly want to impress your viewers, have real customers on to share their experiences with your brand. These don’t have to be 100% glowing reviews, either. For example, maybe one customer had a crummy start with your brand, but when your support team quickly made it right (by offering a replacement product or providing a steep discount on the next order), they became brand-loyal. Let them tell their story live. You can also have customers talk about unique ways they found to use your product or answer questions that the community has in real-time. Try to represent different segments of your audience. For example, if you sell clothing for the whole family, have a mom, a dad, and a teen on.
Collaborate With Other Brands
You don’t want to invite a direct competitor onto your Live Rooms stream, but what about inviting complementary brands? For example, let’s say you sell gourmet coffee. You could have brand owners from similar, non-competitive companies. Maybe one brand sells custom coffee mugs, another sells delicious non-dairy creamers and the third makes shippable baked goods (who doesn’t love a pastry with their coffee?).
You can use Live Rooms to showcase how your products go so well together, and each guest can take a turn directing viewers to their shop. Also, if you want to create a joint coupon code, you can track the effectiveness of the live session.
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