As you probably know, almost every social media platform has a live streaming feature and by now, you have probably stayed to watch one or two. Video has been increasingly becoming more popular in the last few years, catapulted by our youngest platform, TikTok. 

In 2020 and 2021 we saw the rise of short videos like TikToks and Reels on Instagram. As those became more popular both platforms launched an update to be able to make longer TikToks and longer Reels. Towards the end of 2021, we saw a rise in live streaming as TikTok’s new update incorporated live streams into the explore feed. Now, people can enter a live stream and scroll through a series of never-ending live streams.

So, should you be live streaming? If you are trying to build a community around your business then, YES! Here are a few ideas of what to do when live streaming.

1. Q&A session. People love to ask questions and get answers in real-time so if you feel like you get a lot of questions in your comments or DMs, it might be a really good idea to have a Q&A session.
2. Behind the Scenes. This is your chance to show your customers the work that goes into your business and you would be surprised about what people find interesting to watch. Maybe a part of your process is satisfying to watch, or maybe people want to learn from you, either way, someone is likely to be interested.
3. Tutorial. A live tutorial can be one of the easiest ways to start going live because you would be doing something you know how to do and you do not have to rely on people to keep the conversation going. A tutorial on how to use one of your products could be super beneficial for you since it showcases your product and it is relevant to your business.
4. Interview/Collaboration. Going live with someone else can offer benefits for both you and the other person. Your live can be interview style where you, the other person, or both ask questions. You can even open up to questions from fans. Some platforms, like Instagram and Facebook, let separate accounts join the same live. This can help get more viewers to your live since you can leverage both of your audiences to bring people to you. 

If you are doing something completely different than this and it’s working well, keep doing what you are doing and let us know what it is! Remember that Social Media is supposed to be fun so remember when going live to just have fun! If you are having fun, you are doing it right.