Instagram Video: The Can’t-Miss Video Marketing Opportunity
Instagram has always been the social media marketing platform of choice for beautiful visual content. With their expansion into the Stories, Instagram Video, Reels, and Live formats, you’ve never had a more powerful opportunity to engage with people the way they love- over 91% of Instagram users watch video content on at least a weekly basis. If you’re looking for the right way to make this powerful content format work for your brand, it’s time to get busy. Here’s some tips from the team at Zebra 360 Digital Marketing Agency.
Introducing Instagram Video Formats
Before you get filming, it’s important to know what formats exist, and what it’s best used for. Let’s take a look.
Instagram Stories
Stories are short and snappy. Calling on the format Snapchat made famous, they’re 15-second glimpses into your brand that will leave the platform after 24-hours. They’ve become very sophisticated, allowing interactive elements, cute emojis, and even tags and stickers. It’s a short, sweet way to keep your brand on everyone’s minds.
How to make the most of it? Up to 50% of people say that they’ve visited a brand’s website or other links after viewing a compelling story. While it’s short and ephemeral, it’s still one of the platform’s most engaging features. Can you say organic traffic?
You can do anything from building basic brand awareness to showcasing products and humanising your brand with stories, so don’t waste this powerful opportunity.
Instagram Video
This is a newer platform feature, replacing the old IGTV. They post the same ways as images, and can be up to 60-minutes in length. Not that you need that long to leverage them for great online marketing results, of course! You can add captions, location data, and user and location tags. Once it’s out in the world, other people can engage with you, liking, commenting, and sharing.
Less ephemeral than stories, here’s your chance to create a lasting visual statement about what you do, why you do it, and what you have to offer. It’s a great way to build up a presence for your brand, and keep people in the loop about your most important developments.
Instagram Live
Stream video directly to your audience’s feeds. Going live is always an intimidating experience, but it’s a great way to boost your online presence, too. Think interviews, workshops, and other content that adds value to the viewer’s life. They can be shared for 30 days after the live broadcast, but then will be removed. What a great way to tantalise audiences and build fear of missing out on your valuable help.
The audience can react in real-time, and you can pin comments. Of course, it’s a great idea to have someone on-hand to moderate them, too! With Live Shopping and donation options, you can also use the Live feature to push sales and fundraise.
While Live Video is something of a niche content marketing strategy, it’s a powerful one when used correctly, so don’t forget it!
Instagram Reels
Another newer feature, reels are a series of static images in 15 to 30-second clips. As always, you have some effects and additions open to you, including access to their audio library. Caption, hashtag, and engage!
Making the Most of Instagram Video
Video has become one of the most compelling content types to use for marketing purposes, and Instagram brings you a beautiful opportunity to build on that power. Of course, it’s all in what you do with it!
Attention spans are short, so you need to be ready to engage from the get-go. It’s estimated that you have about three seconds to hook your audience before they scroll away, so make those opening moments work for you. Give the audience a reason to keep watching, even if it’s just a well-timed caption.
Don’t forget how tied the rise of video is to the swing to mobile devices, either. Vertical videos tend to be the best choice for everything but the longest videos, where viewers may be more inclined to tilt their phone to watch. Keeping content mobile-friendly means more viewers can enjoy- and that equates to a better ROI on your content.
Of course, the usual content marketing rules apply- add value, and do it regularly! Make it worth watching for the viewer. Entertain them, engage them, and maybe throw a little education into the mix. Keep things clear and simple, and always ask yourself what the viewer, not your business, gets out of the experience. People share what they like. And don’t let your video marketing slip to the bottom of your to-do pile, either. You will need to post regularly to keep audiences interested and your posts visible. Use smart metrics to help you decide when is the best time to reach your target audience.
Lastly, while creating video content can seem intimidating, especially as a smaller business, don’t forget to let your creativity shine. There’s a ton of native features to leverage, and even the smallest choices of sound, caption, or hashtag can have a big impact on the final result. It’s not all about the video itself!
Instagram is the perfect location for beautiful visual content, and with its expansion into the video arena, you have a super-powerful social media marketing tool right at your fingertips. If you’re not sure how to start crafting video marketing campaigns that speak to your audience, then let Zebra 360 Digital Marketing Agency help you get started today.