In this article, you'll learn:
- How to set up your Instagram live connection.
- How to verify your broadcast on Instagram.
How to broadcast your live sale on your business’s Instagram account.
About Going Live on Instagram
Instagram is a popular photo-sharing app that can help retailers grow brand awareness by sharing their brand personality and products with followers and people exploring their feed.
With Instagram, retailers like you can promote your products in a friendly, authentic way. You can interact with existing followers, target new followers, and convert those followers into loyal customers.
In addition to posting items on your Instagram feed and stories, you can now broadcast your live sale feed to your business's Instagram account, allowing a new group of shoppers to watch, comment, and purchase items from your business.
How Going Live on Instagram Benefits Your Business
- Allow shoppers to cart items via comments and check out via their Instagram DMs.
- Reach new shoppers with an interactive shopping experience.
Before You Go Live
Ensure you've completed each of these steps in order before you attempt going live on Instagram for the first time:
- Convert your Instagram account to a business account.
- Connect your Instagram account to your Facebook page.
- In your Instagram app, allow access to direct messages so you can link shoppers to their carts.
- Connect your Facebook business page in CommentSold.
- Connect your Instagram account to CommentSold.
Best Practices for Going Live on Instagram
When going live on Instagram, there are some best practices to keep your business account in good standing with Instagram and reduce the potential for being locked out of your account.
- Enable two-factor authentication for the account.
- Keep your live sale streams free of spam and/or abusive content.
- Ensure live sale streams do not violate copyright policy.
- Maintain a high level of trust with Instagram (e.g., no recent account lockouts, blocks from other users, frequent password changes, etc.).
- When your business goes live, refrain from interacting with your Instagram account on a mobile device. Scrolling your feed or navigating the app using your business account can cause the live feed to end abruptly.
Step 1: Set Up Your Instagram Live Connection
You’ll need to set up your Instagram live connection in your CommentSold dashboard before you can go live on Instagram.
- Select Social Setup in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Select Instagram from the options listed at the top of the page.
- Locate and select the Connect Instagram Live button at the bottom of the page.
- You'll be redirected to the Instagram live connection login page. Enter your Instagram account Username and Password.
- Select the reCAPTCHA I'm not a robot checkbox.
- Select Login.
You'll be redirected back to CommentSold where you should see an Instagram Live Connected! confirmation message at the top of the page.
Step 2: Verify Instagram Live Connection Login Activity
When you set up your Instagram live connection in CommentSold, it creates a login activity in your Instagram account.
Since Instagram takes login activity seriously, it's important to let Instagram know you approve of this login by verifying it in your Instagram settings. This helps prevent Instagram from locking your account due to suspicious login activity.
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What if the location isn't where my business is located? The Instagram live connection uses a network of proxy servers that can have IP addresses (i.e., cities and/or states) that do not match your business’s location. In this case, we recommend you look at the location's time stamp to verify the recent activity is your business.
Step 3: Go Live on Instagram
Once you set up your Instagram live connection in CommentSold, you can proceed with going live on Instagram.
- Complete Step 1 and Step 2 on your Live Overview page as you usually would.
- On Step 3, select Choose Where to Go Live.
- Select Go Live Normally.
- In the Stream Targets section, select Instagram Live.
- Select Go Live in the bottom-right corner of the pop-up.
Congratulations—you are now live on your Instagram account! Shoppers can watch your live and comment just as they would if watching the live sale on your Facebook page or group.
What Your Shoppers Experience
Shoppers can navigate to your live sale by tapping your business's LIVE logo at the top of their Instagram feed or from your business's Instagram account page.
When shoppers comment SOLD for an item (e.g., SOLD 101 XL pink), they will receive an Instagram DM from your business linking them to their cart. If enabled, they can tap on the DM notification, or navigate to their DMs to view the message.
If a shopper comments to cart multiple items throughout the live sale, they can select Pay Now on the most recent DM from your business to view their full cart and check out.
Learn More
- Post Products to Instagram. Learn how to create a shoppable post on your Instagram feed.
- Selling Through Instagram Stories. Learn how to create shoppable Instagram stories where shoppers can comment "SOLD" and purchase from the app.
- Enable and Customize Instagram Auto-Replies. Learn how to customize the auto-reply shoppers receive when they comment on Instagram posts.