How To Use Videos For Instagram Marketing? A Guide For Businesses

How To Use Videos For Instagram Marketing? A Guide For Businesses

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Gone are the days when Instagram was just used to share pictures of your food and pets. In the last couple of years, Instagram has seen a tremendous spike in its user base, transforming it from a simple photo-sharing app that you used to stay in touch with your friends and family to a powerful marketing tool that your business can use to engage with its target audience.

With over a billion active monthly users and over 95 million pictures & videos being shared every day on Instagram, your business has a great opportunity to reach many people from all corners of the world. This is why it comes as no surprise that every business and brand today have their own Instagram page.

When you think you have a grasp on all different formats available, Instagram goes ahead and adds something new to its arsenal.

With so many updates on Instagram ranging from carousel posts to IGTV and the newly launched Reels, every brand has a host of different formats at their disposal.

With 15 seconds of video on Reels, 60 seconds on your feed, and longer videos on your IGTV, there is something out there for every type of content you want to put out. That’s not all, you can also go live on your Instagram page and then save the video on your profile for your audience to watch later. 

Various statistics and researches have shown that the engagement on video posts is higher than that on pictures. Brands have also reported a higher Return on Investment on videos and there has reportedly been an 80% increase in time spent watching Instagram videos!

This should convince you to incorporate more Instagram videos in your next social media marketing campaign. But just how do you effectively use videos on Instagram for marketing your business? 

Here are some tried and tested ways in which you can grow your business by using Instagram videos:

  1. Before you even decide to post an Instagram video on your profile, story, or IGTV, make sure you get your resolution and aspect ratio right. Each format of Instagram videos has different sizes and specs, and failing to adhere to these specs can create a pixelated or cropped video. The last thing you need on your profile is a video with important bits cropped off! Use an Instagram video editor to edit your videos and select your desired format to make sure your video is optimized as per the specific format.
  2. When creating a video for your profile or your IGTV, create a captivating thumbnail to catch your audience’s eye. Use bright colors, texts, and any other visuals that are cohesive with your brand’s color schemes and overall vision. Your thumbnail should be able to communicate the gist of your video without giving the whole story. Create enough mystery to tempt your audience and make them curious enough to watch the entire video.
  3. Each Instagram video has a predetermined length, so keep that in mind when creating content. Don’t put a 45-second video up on your stories (they have a max length of 15 seconds per video) as your audience might not tap to view the next slides and just drop off. Similarly, avoid putting up a 10-second video on your feed and use the new Reels feature instead! When creating a long-form video, add it to your IGTV.
  4. Instagram Live is a great way to interact with your audience in real-time and is perfect for Q&A sessions, product demonstrations, and collaborating with other Instagram creators while building an authentic connection with your audience. Live videos should be laidback and spontaneous, so have fun while you are on a live video with your audience. Use this space to give your audience a sneak peek and behind-the-scenes access to your brand and the people.
  5. Use Instagram videos along with captions to weave beautiful and captivating stories. When sharing videos on your profile, make full use of the 2,200 character limit in the captions to tell a story. Using longer captions not only helps you explain your video more but is a great way to increase retention time on each post. Build a continuation between your video and your caption and tie them together with an authentic story.
  6. Pay attention to your Instagram feed’s aesthetic and post visually appealing content. When posting videos on your feed or IGTV, keep a theme or color palette to have a consistent feed. The overall look of your feed should match the tonality and style of your brand and should appeal to your target audience. Whether you are going for calm and moody or young and fun, remember to stay consistent across your posts. You can use different apps and editors to add filters on your videos to change the look. 
  7. If your brand has pages on other social media platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube, use your Instagram page to cross-promote the other social media accounts. As mentioned in the previous points, create attractive thumbnails for your videos and make sure they fit the overall aesthetic of your page. Use a YouTube video editor to edit your YouTube videos and post them on your Instagram page. These video editors are very easy to use, even for absolute beginners, and do not require extensive designing skills.

To wrap up!

The boom in social media has changed the marketing landscape and if you want to be on top of your marketing game, use these tips and tricks and make Instagram videos a must-have in your social media strategy.

But remember, these tips will work for your brand only if you are consistent with your posts. Put up pictures and videos one to three times a day to stay visible and reach a wider audience. Be true to your brand’s values when creating content and don’t forget to interact with your audience and customers on every post. Happy Instagramming!

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