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Going live on Instagram & how to swipe up without 10k followers

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Put your hands up if going live on Instagram feels like your worst nightmare? 

Perhaps it’s the thought of being on the spot and allowing your followers to see and hear the unedited version of yourself.

But to connect with your students you need to get over yourself! Using video and going live is one of the best ways to connect.

You need to make your message bigger than your fear

When you start showing up on video consistently week after week the nerves will fade. Ultimately you need to realise the value of video is just too good to not use.

Don’t let fear stop you from going Live on Instagram. If you do, you’ll miss out.

What does it mean to go live on Instagram?

Going live means broadcasting live to your followers on Instagram. 

You’re not first filming and editing your video and then uploading it. Instead, you’re going live on video in the moment and your viewers are seeing and hearing you in the present moment. 

There’s literally NO censor.

Benefits of going live on Instagram

Going live on Instagram is so awesome is because it has so many benefits:

Increase your reach

Data backs up that 80% of audiences would rather watch a video than read a blog post and you will have better reach from your content from the additional visibility gained from Instagram. 

The Instagram algorithm is always changing and leaving us wondering how to get our content seen and heard. Instagram wants you to use video and they will reward you for using it by pushing your video content out further to your audience.

With live video, your followers will receive a notification as soon as you start your live to let them know they can join you. They simply click on the notification and there you are!

That’s pretty awesome for getting the followers who are online in that same moment to join you live. 

Your live video also sits within the Instagram Stories feature for 24 hours which means that you’ll get added visibility by appearing at the top of your followers’ feed for longer. 

Be more authentic in front of your followers

Going live on Instagram gives you the opportunity to be authentic in front of your audience. Live video is less polished and more off the cuff than a pre-recorded and edited video.

That may sound scary but it’s actually a good thing! Your audience can get a real sense of the real you which is a huge bonus for building your personal brand. 

Live video allows you to come across as a relatable teacher and people are much more likely to listen, connect and engage with you as a result. 

Boost engagement

When it comes to engagement, remember that live video is a two-way interaction and that is a huge benefit!

You can ask questions during your live and you can read out answers in the comments. Your viewers can ask you questions and you can reply in real-time as you see those questions pop up on your feed.

This is really the closest thing to having a real conversation with your followers.

So what do you need to make going live on Instagram happen?

Actually, you don’t need that much at all! You will need:

  • A smartphone with the Instagram app installed, so you can access the Live feature.
  • A Tripod. It doesn’t need to be fancy but it can make your live so much easier to watch and keeps the video smooth.
  • Good Lighting. Either in front of your window or use a lightbox or light run

How do you actually go live on Instagram? 

Good news: it’s super simple. 

Here’s how to go live on Instagram in a few simple steps: 

  1. Prepare. Know what you want to talk about. Write out a list of points you want to make. Maybe practice so you feel more comfortable when you go live
  2. Open Instagram. Tap the camera icon on the upper-left corner of your feed and open the Instagram Story Screen
  3. Swipe right on the bottom icons and select the Live option
  4. Make sure the camera is pointing to you!
  5. Take a deep breath and hit Go Live. You’re on the air!

During your broadcast, you can see the number of viewers appear at the top of your screen and as comments come in they will appear at the bottom

When you’re finished just tap the End button on the top right corner of your screen. You can then save it to your camera roll and then use snippets of that to post to your Instagram Story.

What should you talk about on an Instagram live?

So that’s all nice and easy but perhaps you’re wondering what you should actually go live about! Maybe you’re thinking “What do I say?” 

There are a few ways you can use Instagram live and here are some idea for you:

Share a story

This goes back to the whole authenticity thing.  This could be something that happened to you that day that has a relevant angle for your followers. Talk to your viewers like you are talking to someone you know face- to face. It’s casual and real.

Do a live yoga class or give a tutorial

Depending on the topic, sometimes explaining something live is way easier than trying to film and edit a tutorial, or trying to write a detailed caption.

You could go live to show viewers how a product or tool works, or to explain what a course, subscription, or event will look like.  

Answer questions

Instagram Live is perfect for running a Q&A session. This could be a simple “Ask me anything” style Q&A, or a Q&A that’s topic-specific, like “Ask me all your burning questions about using Instagram Live!” 

Go behind the ccenes

Take your followers behind the curtain of your Instagram! Going behind the scenes is perfect for an Instagram Live.  

You can go live from an event you’re attending or hosting, from a trip you’re on, from your home office. It goes a long way in building your personal brand and showing your followers the real you.  

Launch something

Go live to hype up your audience up about a new event, product, or course you’re launching. You can tease the launch on Instagram beforehand and tell your followers to join your live stream at a certain date and time to learn all the juicy details. 

Now you know what going live on Instagram is all about here my 11 top tips for a successful Instagram Live:

1. Promote your Instagram live in advance 

You want to make sure your followers know when you’re going live, so they can be around to tune in. Use Instagram Stories to promote your Instagram Live broadcasts. Post on stories a day or two in advance and then an hour or so before you actually go live

2. Ask your audience what they want to see beforehand 

When you’re promoting your upcoming Instagram Live in your story content, use the interactive question stickers to ask your followers what they want to hear about.  

Ask them if they have any specific questions about the topic you’re going to be focusing on. Save their responses and make sure you address them during your live.  

5. Test your systems before you start 

A great Instagram Live session can be completely ruined by bad audio and visual quality, and an unreliable internet connection. 

Test everything before you go live. Your connection quality, the light in the room, and your audio. Play around until it’s just right. 

6. Go live on Instagram and Facebook at the same time

Why spend twice as long doing two separate live sessions when you can broadcast the same feed to both platforms? 

Do this by setting up your phone on a tripod for the Instagram Live, and use your laptop’s webcam for Facebook Live. Then get them both going at the same time!

Same broadcast, two different platforms, twice the exposure. 

7. Have a buffer period before you share your content 

Once you hit the Go Live button, give your audience a few minutes to join in.

Greet people by username as they appear on your screen. After a couple of minutes, start digging into the content you’ve planned to share. 

8. Engage your viewers

Don’t just talk at your phone screen. Say hi to users!

Answer their questions and acknowledge their comments. Ask them questions that they can respond to. 

9. Have a call to action 

You’ve got a captive audience during your Instagram Live. Use it to your advantage and have a call to action for your viewers to follow. 

You can use the pinned comment for this feature. Write out a short call to action and post it as a comment in your Instagram Live, then pin it to the screen so that it stays visible for the entire live session.

10. Recap your main points 

This is important if you’re using Instagram Live to launch something or provide a tutorial. Near the end of your live session, summarize the points you’ve covered.  

11. Download your live video when you’re done 

When you’ve tapped the End button always save the video file to your camera roll!

You can refer back to it to read viewer comments and questions (a great source of inspiration for future content) and you can use it create an IGTV video or edit it for other video content.

Here’s your challenge!

Go live and share your yoga journey with your audience. When you started yoga, why you started teaching and the challenges you have overcome.

Instagram’s swipe up feature

Did you know that you can use the swipe up feature in stories even if you don’t have 10k followers?

Now, as you probably know, when you see people saying in their Stories, “Swipe up,” what they’re doing is driving you to a website link.

Once you actually swipe up at the bottom of the screen, you’re going to be taken to that link.  This feature is only available to you if you have an Instagram business account, and if you have 10k followers.

You might have less than 10k followers but have a lot of content to share like blog posts, videos and podcast episodes.

Here is a little trick so you can also share the links to all of your amazing content:

The way that you’re going to access this feature is to post to IGTV. Pull up your phone and record a video. You can simply use the camera app on your phone, and make sure your video is at least 60 seconds long. 

With IGTV videos, they need to be at least 60 seconds and they can be up to 15 minutes when uploading from mobile, or up to 60 minutes when uploading from the web.  

Make your video a call to action. Talk about the thing you’re sending your viewer to whether it’s a new blog post, a podcast or a free masterclass.

Just give it at least 60 seconds and then save the video on your camera roll.  

Next, open up your Instagram profile and then head on over to the IGTV area right under your bio.

Click on the plus (+) symbol which is where you’re going to add a new video. All the videos that are on your camera roll that are at least 60 seconds are going to pop up. 

Select the video that you just filmed, hit ‘Next’, and then give it a title. You want to make the title interesting and pique their curiosity.

In the description include the link you want to drive people to right at the very top. Consider adding an emoji as well to really draw attention to it.  

As for a cover photo for your IGTV video, Instagram will automatically choose a thumbnail for you, but you can also choose an image from your camera roll or create something custom in Canva.

It’s time to hit post! After uploading, your IGTV library will update with your new video. 

Next, we’re going to add the link.

Go to the top where your title is and when someone taps it and the description appears, there’s your link! Add the video to your Stories.

Just because you’ve published it on IGTV doesn’t mean that people are going to see it in your Stories. 

You’re going to go to your Instagram Story record a quick video letting people know to swipe up to get access to what it is you are offering. 

Now add the swipe up link

At the top of your screen, you will see a link symbol. Go ahead and tap on that link symbol, and you should see an option for IGTV video. Once you hit IGTV video you will see the IGTV video you just uploaded. 

So you can link to your IGTV video in your Insta Story, even without 10,000 followers.  

Pretty cool, right? 

You can add some text to your story and even use a GIF that says ‘swipe up’.

Once you’ve got your story ready to go, and once you’ve made sure that you’ve linked to your latest IGTV video, you’re going to share to your story.  

Here’s how it’s going to look: 

At the very bottom, you’re going to see ‘Watch Video’. When someone swipes up on that, they will be brought to your latest IGTV video. This is where you have added the link leading out to whatever you want to promote.

And voilà, that is how you get swipe up on Instagram without 10k followers.  

>> Video Training: Going Live On Instagram & How To Swipe Up Without 10k Followers

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