Everything’s Coming Up Video! New Ways to Call, Collaborate, and More
The visual content trend is only getting stronger. This week, we have 3 new social media features that focus on video. Instagram’s Live Rooms give us a new way to collaborate, TikTok’s Q&A feature encourages easy responses to your audience, and WhatsApp’s video calling on desktop could mean trouble for Zoom.
Get A Live Room: Collaborating From Home
For the last year, many of us haven’t been in the same room as our colleagues and business partners. We’ve had to find new ways of communicating and collaborating to keep these relationships going. The latest option from Instagram, Live Rooms, allows you to take Instagram Live to the next level, by adding up to 3 other users to your broadcast. This is a great new way to engage your followers with Q&As, tutorials, interviews, or anything else you can think of.
So why go live with other users? One reason is that you can provide valuable content to your following. Q&As and interviews can give your audience tips and perspective related to your product, making them more likely to go to your brand when they’re looking for information. You’ll also have your account boosted to someone else’s following, which could gain you some new followers and interest in your brand. Finally, if you have an Instagram Shop, remember that you can tag products within a live video. With someone else’s following tuned in, this is a surefire way to get new eyes on your products.
What does this mean for Gainesville Businesses?
If you feel like you’re not doing enough with your social media, this is an easy step to make engaging, unique content for your Instagram profile. So how can you pull this off? Reach out to an influencer, business, or other account and make a plan to collaborate together. Talk about possible topics and the value you can bring to one another. Lead up to your Live Room session by getting your audience engaged. Call out the user you’ll be teaming up with, state the day and time you’ll be going live, and ask your followers what they’d like to know.
On the day of, get yourself in front of some natural light with a clean background and go live! Instagram Live is not about getting everything perfect. Go in with some topics or an outline, but not a script. Allow some pauses for thinking and switching topics – it’ll save you from talking over each other. And when it’s done, get brainstorming about what you can do next! People who enjoyed what you have to say will be more likely to check out your account and tune in again.
We Asked, TikTok Answered: Q&As for Creators and Businesses
TikTok’s Q&A feature is now available to all creator and business accounts! To activate this feature on your account, you’ll have to navigate to your settings and privacy page, select “Creator”, and then select “Turn on Q&A”. This will allow you to easily see your audience’s questions, respond to them through videos or comments, and have it all summarized on your profile. You’ll know what information your audience is looking for and be able to engage with them in exactly the right way.
Let’s break down how TikTok’s Q&A works. First, when users comment on a TikTok video, they’ll be able to designate whether their comment is a question for the creator. The creator can then respond with a new video, which can feature the question as a sticker and link back to the original video. While in a live video, creators will see questions pop up as they come in and be able to give a quick response. The questions and responses will also be available on a new Q&A tab on your profile!
What does this mean for Gainesville Businesses?
This feature is a great way to encourage questions from your following and engage them with information they care about. It’ll give you consistent ideas for new content. When you’re done answering a quick question, feel free to expand on it in some original videos. This tool will provide insight into what your audience is thinking, so use it to shape your TikTok strategy.
Producing content for TikTok can feel intimidating to start. A lot of businesses want to get into TikTok because of its younger audience but just aren’t confident about making relatable video content. If this sounds like you, give yourself some inspiration by following TikTok’s new business account and searching for small businesses similar to yours. You can also gain some insights from TikTok’s free Ready Set Grow Summit on March 24th!
WhatsApp Takes It To The Big Screen: Desktop Video Calling
WhatsApp continues to prove that it’s not just another messaging app. Do we use it for family group chats? Sure, but WhatsApp has also been growing as a platform for small businesses. Their latest feature is another that rides the line of professional and personal: Video calling for desktop. We’re definitely going to see people using this to connect with family and friends over distances, but it also has utility for connecting coworkers while working from home.
As working from home became the norm for many U.S. businesses, Zoom was the standout star for meetings and culture hours. Google revamped its video calling to make it a more viable option, and now WhatsApp is joining the game. The advantage that WhatsApp might have is in video calling between businesses and clients. If you’re already having a conversation with a client or customer on WhatsApp, calling them from your computer will be quicker and easier than switching over to Zoom or Google Meet.
What does this mean for Gainesville Businesses?
Desktop video calling is definitely going to be interesting on a personal and professional level. We’re excited to try this to connect with our families and friends, and for collaborating with our team while working from home. As far as normal business operations go, this might not be useful for every small business. We’re recommending giving this a try if you need to meet with your clients to provide services or offer consultations.
This means if you provide a B2B service, WhatsApp video calls might be worth exploring. Try using video calling with your employees or a trusted colleague to start. Compare the platform with other means of calling your clients, such as Zoom and Google Meet. Even if it isn’t the right tool for connecting with clients, we’re happy to have another option for connecting together even while we’re apart.
Ok, now what?
Now that you’re up to date with the latest industry news, it’s time to invest in a team that specializes in all things social media and digital marketing. We can help! Liquid Creative is a full-service marketing agency ready to help your business operate to its fullest potential without missing a beat.
