Live video burst onto the social media scene in March 2015 with the trendy new app called Periscope. For the first time, an easily accessible and usable platform gave regular users the ability to stream whatever they were doing live. Periscope reported it had surpassed 10 million accounts in the first four months. If that’s not an indication that the world was ready for live video, nothing is. Since then, other platforms have emerged, including Facebook Live and Instagram Live. While the novelty of Periscope seems to have dwindled under more prominent platforms, it paved the way for our modern social media usage. Live video is alive and well, and using it as a marketing tool is something you need to jump on.
Everything to Gain from Instagram Live
The world of social media is constantly changing, so jumping on trends is important. However, it’s still valuable to get in on some trends after they’ve diminished in popularity. In particular, Instagram Live has reached its hay day and is no longer “king” of the Gram, but it’s still a handy tool for any practice to use. In particular, here’s what you can get out of it:
- More follower interaction
- Engage with followers
- Promote brand hashtags and marketing
- Find new followers
- Double your audience by co-hosting with other colleagues and industry professionals
- Live video is prioritized in the news feed, so you’ll be more prominent
Building Hype
It’s important to let your audience know when you’re going live so you’ll have an audience when you are live. Confused? Think about it this way. If you don’t tell anyone you’re having a party, you’re not going to have a lot of people in attendance. Maybe just the few people who randomly saw the lights flashing in your home and got curious.
It’s the same with Instagram Live. Announce beforehand when you plan on going live and what you plan on doing in your live session. Also, consider directing your followers to a landing page on your website with more information. Not only do you get the word out about your Instagram Live event, but you’re driving people to your site as well. Double win!
Consider offering giveaways to help lure people to your live. Even just small-valued gift cards can be a significant boost to viewership. If your content is good enough, they’ll stick around even after the giveaways are over. When you start getting more of an audience for your live streams, you can start offering bigger incentives if you wish.
And, of course, don’t forget to remind your followers to turn on their Instagram Live notifications. Do this in advance so they’ll be ready for the show!
Your Practice and Instagram Live
Instagram Live is a prime opportunity to show your followers and patients what goes on behind the scenes. When you’re at conferences, go live to talk about what you’re learning, what you’re doing, and how it applies to those watching. Conduct a question-and-answer session, but make sure you get some questions ahead of time, just in case your audience is shy. Interview a coworker, a patient, or someone else of note. You can do many things to shine the light on your practice through live streams. No matter what you do on your live streams, remember to keep your audience as your focus and don’t go longer than is necessary.
We Got You
At Virginia Creative Group, we work to make your practice stand out the way it should. We are experts at social media marketing and can help your practice grow not only on your social media pages but also in your office. Ready to learn more? Let’s talk.
