The Benefits of Instagram’s Latest IGTV for Your Business
Earlier this year, Instagram launched its newest feature Instagram TV or, quite simply, IGTV. IGTV supports long-form, vertical, and full-screen videos between 15 seconds to 10 minutes in length — a great complement to the classic Instagram videos that are limited to one minute. IGTV also supports videos of up to 60 minutes; however, this is currently available only to verified or larger accounts.
IGTV can watch IGTV from within the Instagram app. Similar to traditional television, IGTV features “channels,” which are essentially the profiles of the video creators. Your channel is where people can watch the videos you’ve uploaded to IGTV.
IGTV opens up new avenues for businesses to further enhance their Instagram marketing strategy. What does IGTV mean for businesses? How can your business benefit from IGTV?
Why Your Business Needs an IGTV Channel
1. Boosts visibility of products and services
Instagram has long been established as being one of the most popular and effective social media platforms for businesses. With its support for long-form content through IGTV, this offers more opportunities to generate additional user traffic and therefore boosting the visibility of your products and services. Studies have also shown that online video viewership is steadily increasing, with a projected number surpassing 236 million in 2020 — this means that IGTV can go a long way in helping businesses extend their social media and video marketing effort and reach.
2. Opportunity to effectively educate and entertain audiences
Studies have shown that tutorial and demonstration videos are among the most popular types of video content, and marketers can leverage this with IGTV’s support for long-form content. IGTV allows you to better market your products by creating videos showcasing how to use them, how these can be incorporated to their lives, and how these products made a difference to some of your happy customers. You can also post explainer videos to introduce your business, to launch new products, or share the story of your brand.
3. Generates more opportunities for engagement and conversions
Video in marketing have long been considered the king of engagement and is also seen as an effective means to boost conversions. Without the usual 60 second time restriction, businesses have more room for creativity in showcasing their products and their brand on IGTV. The more creative and compelling the content, the better chances of generating engagement through likes, comments, and shares. Additionally, IGTV allows you to include clickable links in the description of your video, where you can direct your audiences to your landing pages.
4. Provides more opportunities for community building
For years, short videos of an average length of 2 minutes have been considered as the ideal video length. However, trends have recently changed, and there have been an increase in interest for long-form videos. Videos that are more than a minute long provide you more opportunities to build relationships and connections with your community. IGTV grants you the flexibility to create content that addresses your audience’s challenges, their interests, and more.
Using IGTV for Your Business
IGTV is a free app where anyone can create their own channel. Your existing Instagram business or personal account can serve as your IGTV channel. Videos posted on your Instagram feed are not automatically migrated to your IGTV channel, so you will need to re-upload or repurpose your existing videos to your channel.
Uploading videos to IGTV is fairly intuitive. You have the options to use the stand-alone IGTV app to upload, or use the Instagram app or website. Be sure to check IGTV’s video requirements before uploading — basically, your videos should be vertical, not landscape, with an aspect ratio of 9:16, since videos on IGTV are optimized for mobile viewing.
You can then add a title and a description to your video. Be sure to use relevant keywords and hashtags for better visibility and, if needed, a link to your landing page. You also have the option of sharing your IGTV video to your Facebook page.
For more detailed information about how to use IGTV, visit Instagram’s Help article here.
Wrapping It Up
IGTV combines the power of YouTube and Instagram in one platform, allowing businesses new opportunities for growth and promotion. Instagram is a booming platform with no signs of slowing down in the next few years. Early adopters of IGTV can gain considerable traction over the competition as the new feature is still in its early stages.
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