IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding how Instagram Live works

Determining when to go live

Discovering how to interact on live videos

Broadcasting on a schedule

Quickly after they launched, Instagram stories dramatically changed the way people used Instagram. Given the popularity of stories, a live video option in Instagram stories seemed like a natural next step.

In this chapter, you find out how to go live and get tips for making your live broadcast more successful before, during, and after filming.

Getting Started with Live Videos

So, you’re ready to go live, but how do you even get to it? How do you use it? Its location is not exactly obvious. Follow these steps:

1. Open Instagram stories by swiping right or using the camera icon at the top of the newsfeed.

2. At the bottom of the screen, swipe Story to the left so you’re on Live or tap on the + icon at the top of the screen and choose Live.

   Figure 11-1a shows the Instagram Live screen.

3. When you’re ready to start, tap the shutter button with the live icon.

   Instagram checks your connection, and then you’re on! You’ll begin seeing Username Has Joined and the number of people who have joined.

4. Wait a minute or two before diving into your topic so that people have time to join.

   Greet as many people as possible. Say hi, calling them by their names or usernames. Make them feel welcome.

5. While you’re live, you can do the following:
   • Turn off comments by tapping the three dots in the comment bubble and then choosing the option to turn off from the pop-up screen, as shown in the center in Figure 11-1. However, we recommend that you keep them turned on for more interaction.
   • Add a face filter by tapping the face with stars icon.
   • Turn the camera from the front-facing selfie camera to the rear-facing camera to showcase what you’re seeing rather than showing your face. Tap the curved double arrow (shown on the left in Figure 11-1) to change the camera view.
   • Enter the name of your live broadcast by typing it in a comment and tapping Send. Then tap the comment and choose Pin Comment from the options menu. This pins the name to the top of the comment feed, where it acts like a title.
   • To keep track of your time, tap the Live button in the upper right. A timer appears.
   • To see the names of the people who have joined, tap the number to the right of the pink Live button. To kick people out of your Live broadcast, place an X by their name.

   

6. When you’re finished, tap the X in the upper-right corner, and then tap End Video.

7. After you end the video, you can view insights from the broadcast (including viewers reached, video shares, and more) plus save the live video to your device or share it to your feed (shown on the right in Figure 11-1).

   To view the video performance metrics, tap View Insights in the pop-up menu shown in Figure 11-1c.

8. To save the video to your device, tap View in Live Archive, select the recent video in the live archive screen by tapping it, and then tap the Download icon in the lower-right corner of the video viewer (refer to right image in Figure 11-1).

   You must have enough storage space on your mobile device to save the full video. If you don’t have enough storage space, only a portion or even none of the video will save.

9. To share the live video with your Instagram followers, tap Share from the pop-up screen after ending the live video (refer to the right image in Figure 11-1).

   A new post screen opens to enable you to post the live video on your feed with a caption and tags, as shown in Figure 11-2.

Instagram Live has a four-hour time limit. You’ll see a 15-second timer countdown when your time is almost up, and then the live broadcast ends. If possible, plan your schedule accordingly so as not to exceed that limit.

Developing a Game Plan

Now that you know how to physically tap all the buttons to record a live broadcast, it’s time to talk strategy. We recommend going on Instagram Live with forethought about what you’ll be doing. Here are a few tips to help you execute the best Instagram Live possible:

• Think of a topic that will interest your followers. Some ideas to consider: Showcase your family life, stream your child’s rehearsal, show off some of your vacation, share a holiday tradition.
• If you plan to talk on the live broadcast, jot down several talking points, but don’t memorize or look overly rehearsed. Live broadcasts are supposed to be a bit off the cuff.
• If possible, do a test video on your regular camera app where you plan to do the live broadcast, and at the same time of day. Check the lighting and the background. Make sure that you can get a decent signal in that location.
• Promote your live broadcast ahead of time. You can post about it in your Instagram stories, on Facebook, and on other social media.
• Be as interactive as possible with your followers during the broadcast. You can ask them questions in the chat, give a live tutorial to spark questions, or have your followers ask you questions in the comments so you can answer them verbally.
• Save your broadcast so you can repurpose it to other online media, and then publish your broadcast so it’s available for 24 hours. (We talk about cross-posting photos to Facebook in Chapter3.)

It’s often helpful to have a tripod to hold your camera steady and in place while filming live. Arkon Mounts (www.arkon.com) has several tripods available for less than $50.

Inviting Guests onto Your Live Broadcast

If being live on camera alone makes you nervous, or if you just want to include someone else in your video, Instagram allows you to invite up to three guests into the live show with you.

If guests have requested to join your livestream, tap the video camera icon with the + sign at the bottom of the live video screen and you’ll see the list of names. You can then add that user to the live video. Or, if you want to invite someone to join the live with you, tap the icon with the person and the right-facing arrow (next to the camera with the + sign) and type the name of the user you want to add or select them from the suggested list (see Figure 11-3).

When a single guest joins you on the live video, they’ll occupy half the screen, sharing their video and audio. If you have two guests, you’ll be in the upper half and they’ll split the lower half. If you have three guests, each person will have a quarter of the full screen.

Scheduling a Live Broadcast

If you want to go live in the future but not right now, you can schedule your live broadcast. On the iPhone, tap the calendar icon on the left side of the screen (refer to left image in Figure 11-1). In Android, tap on the + icon, choose the Live option, and then select the calendar icon to schedule the video. You’ll need to assign a video title and pick the start time and date. Then tap Schedule Live Video (iPhone) or Schedule Live (Android) to set up the scheduled broadcast, as shown in Figure 11-4.