Instagram has added a new option to boost live videos directly in the app, giving livestream creators a built-in way to grow their audiences and monetization potential. Announced September 30, 2026, the feature extends the boost option that already existed for posts, Stories, and Reels to livestreams.

As Instagram explains it, boosting a live video turns it into an ad: the live video is used as the ad creative, and the ad can be shown in Feed, Stories, and Instagram Reels. Creators can tap the Boost option inside the livestream composer, choose a target audience or use Instagram’s suggested audience, and set start and end times for their planned streams. Boosts can be set up just before going live or scheduled in advance. Instagram suggests scheduling at least two hours ahead to reduce ad delivery delays.

The key mechanic is timing: livestream boost promotions only run while the creator is broadcasting. The ads are designed to surface in-progress livestreams to currently active users, building a bigger live audience in the moment. That makes the feature a fit for planned broadcasts with a fixed start time, including interviews, product launches, creator Q and As, shopping sessions, and special announcements, where the creator already knows when the audience needs to show up.

Functionally, promoting an upcoming Instagram Live through Meta Ads Manager was already possible, so the new option is about workflow rather than capability: creators can now launch a promotion from the in-app composer instead of going through full campaign setup. A related development on the brand side is Instagram Live partnership ads, which let brands amplify creator livestreams as paid media, a setup that makes permissions and media planning pre-broadcast requirements for sponsored streams.

For creators, the takeaway is to treat big live moments like launches. If you go live regularly, pick your highest-value broadcasts, such as launches, AMAs, and shopping streams, and schedule a modest boost two hours out with a tight audience definition rather than boosting every session. And if you take brand deals around live content, sort out partnership-ad permissions before you go live, since the brand cannot amplify the stream after the fact without them.