By N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe

New Delhi, Aug 7 (IANSlife): In this day and age, having an online presence is not enough for you or your brand. With a plethora of options available for consumers on the Internet, the competition has surpassed normal and healthy levels; this calls for a cutting-edge position in the market.

There are tons of ways to do that but one of the easiest (and often overlooked) ways is through Instagram Lives. Live streams not only allow you to interact with your audience in real-time but also build a personal relationship with them. Being visual creatures, live video streaming piques our interest and increases our tendency to respond and engage with somebody even more.

Instagram's new update called Live Rooms allows you to co-host with 3 other people. This creates more opportunities, a wider reach, more engagement and more recognition for your brand if done right.

Here's a guide by Mehar Gulati, Founder, Scarlet Relations, to help get you started:

* One way to engage with your customers is by showing them Behind the Scenes -- some people find it really interesting when they see how the products they use are made, where they come from or how a person prepares for a particular event. It helps when people know that they're a part of something bigger.

* You can conduct a DIY workshop or a tutorial.

* Have a one-to-one conversation with one or more of your customers/followers by inviting them as a guest generates a sense of trust and comfort among people. Just getting to know your audience, their areas of interest, what they appreciate about your brand can prove to be very beneficial.

* Collaborating with an entity that people already recognize and follow allows you to reach a new audience base.

* Hosting fun Q&A sessions, game nights, talk shows or anything that gets everybody's creative juices flowing can be a fun way to interact with your audience.

"To spice things up, Instagram allows you to monetise these sessions as your supporters can buy support badges or donate to fundraisers while they're in these live rooms with you. To keep things light and fun, you can also just play around with cool filters! So take a leap of faith and jump on the Live Room bandwagon -- Happy Communicating!" says Gulati.