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Live Rooms are a new feature of Instagram that builds on the existing capability of being able to go Live with a single person. Now, you can go live with up to three other people (four including yourself).

Here’s what the new interface looks like:

Although Live Rooms may seem like only a tiny upgrade, its implications are more impactful than you might initially think. Read on as we explore how your brand can get creative and incorporate Live Rooms into your existing social strategy.

Going Live With Multiple Influencers

As a brand, going live with an influencer is savvy marketing. You gain the ability to access their followers directly and in real-time. Utilizing live broadcasts in addition to traditional sponsorships is a surefire strategy for success.

With Live Rooms, you might think that you simply gain the ability to double or triple the number of influencer audiences who are watching your broadcast—and you would be technically correct. However, there are a few important psychological benefits of having multiple influencers on with you at the same time:

  • It’s more natural and fun. If you do it right, a one-on-one session can certainly be entertaining, but keeping the conversation interesting can take some work. Interviewing someone one-on-one requires lots of planning to ensure there is no dead air (awkward pauses). With three or four people involved, it’s a more conversational environment, meaning your broadcast is naturally more interesting to listen to.
  • Users are more likely to tune into broadcasts that feature multiple influencers whom they follow. Quality over quantity—but if you have the chance to harness both quality and quantity, take it.
  • Opportunities for cross-promotion abound. Influencers are more likely to want to work with you if they know there’s a chance they will gain new followers from the broadcast. Since there will likely be interest overlap between whichever influencers you have on, influencers will get more benefits than they would with a one-on-one broadcast.

 

If you’re brand new to Instagram Live, perhaps get your feet wet with one-on-one sessions to start. But once you gain some experience, harnessing the power of Live Rooms should be high up on your list of priorities.

Going Live With Other Brands

Co-brand partnerships are a fantastic way to leverage two audiences instead of one. If you’re partnered with another brand, conducting Instagram broadcasts is only natural, and it’s a marketing avenue that you should certainly be exploring.

Now, with Instagram Live Rooms, there’s even more room for collaboration between brands. If you have three- or four-way deals, that’s great—but don’t be afraid to get creative.

For example, is there an opportunity to connect with a related brand that is relevant to your vertical, but not a direct competitor? A representative from this third party can join the Live Room to add expert analysis and opinion—while also picking up some exposure for themselves at the same time. When everyone is on the same page, everyone wins.

Hold Topical Discussions Within Your Niche

As a brand, you’re on Instagram to market yourself. But Instagram users don’t like being hounded with advertisements everywhere they go. Excessive advertising may very well turn users away from your brand—and result in the polar opposite outcome of what you were trying to accomplish.

So, make sure to throw in purely topical Live Rooms discussions from time to time. Even if you don’t directly market your products and services in the Live Room, you’re still getting exposure. And whoever is tuning in will naturally gravitate towards whatever you’re trying to promote in a general sense.

Holding topical discussions also makes it easier to get influencers on your team. Smart influencers know that their followers don’t love excessive advertising, so they try to avoid it. By avoiding excessive advertising yourself, you meet them on their level, and they’ll be all the more receptive to your requests to connect as a result of that.

Host Interview Panels

Casual conversation is great—but there’s also a place for a more rigid format. Users love the interview format as it allows them to really know what an influencer thinks about a certain topic. The focus is on the influencers and their opinions—nothing else.

Influencers also generally love to give interviews because it gives them the ability to showcase their personalities. You’ll find that if the topic of discussion is the influencer, it will be easier to get them to work with you. If you have a decent audience yourself, all the better. 

Interview panels do not provide a ton of opportunity for outright promotion—so think of them along the same lines as topical discussion panels, but with one key difference: not every influencer is a great candidate to interview. Unless the questions you pose revolve around the lives of the influencers, significant subject matter experience or knowhow is generally desired. 

As such, be sure to discuss potential questions ahead of time—so that the influencers aren’t put on the spot, finding themselves awkwardly unable to provide interesting or insightful answers.

How to use Instagram Live Rooms

How To Get Started With Instagram’s Live Rooms in 4 Easy Steps

Step 1: Open Instagram Stories.

Step 2: Swipe left until you reach the “Live” icon.

Step 3: Tap the “Live” icon and set a title for your Instagram Live Room. (You will start broadcasting immediately afterward, so make sure you’re ready!)

Step 4: Tap the video icon at the bottom of the screen. Then, search for your guests and send them an invite. Note that you can invite guests one at a time, or all at once.

Where We See Instagram Live Rooms Heading

Instagram Live Rooms are a clear attempt by Instagram to get on the real-time, live content trend. This type of content is on the come up. Apps such as Clubhouse are exploding in popularity—despite its simplicity, as of March 2021, the app has over 10M+ users, and it isn’t even open to the public yet.

So, get started with Instagram Live Rooms as quickly as possible. Like we mentioned, don’t jump straight in without a game plan. But if you can figure things out now, you’ll have a jumpstart on your competitors, which will make your promotion that much more effective. 

(And even once your competitors finally get up to speed, you’ll still have a huge advantage over them because of your experience.)