Looking for a guide to grow your business with IGTV marketing?
Instagram TV (IGTV) can be used by brands to boost their businesses even during the outbreak of COVID-19.
Corporate sales have plunged in the world but there are still chances for your brand to survive. This is easier by using social networks’ marketing features just like IGTV.
Video-sharing platforms are on the rise and almost all social platforms have the ability to share your videos as posts and stories.
In this post, I’m going to introduce IGTV’s usefulness for brands and the ways you can use it to grow your business.
This is particularly useful for the current financial recession we’re suffering in the wake of the coronavirus.
First, it’s good to look at top social media apps/sites/features related to videos to know how different IGTV is. Here are several important video-sharing features on different social networks:
YouTube: The #1 video-sharing platform
YouTube is certainly the top social platform for sharing videos. With up to a whopping 2 billion monthly users, YouTube can provide the greatest audience reach for your video content.
Almost all queries in Google will have several results from YouTube pages. This has made YouTube a great opportunity for video marketing.
This is why many brands try to share their branded videos on YouTube. Learning and entertaining can also be easily provided using both the site and app of YouTube
YouTube video specs
- Recommended dimensions: 426 x 240 (240p), 640 x 360 (360p), 854 x 480 (480p), 1280 x 720 (720p), 1920 x 1080 (1080p), 2560 x 1440 (1440p) and 3840 x 2160 (2160p)
- Video length: up to 15 minutes
- Aspect ratio: 16:9 (auto adds pillar boxing if 4:3)
It should be noted that you can request for longer video length limitation and wait for YouTube confirmation.
TikTok: Fastest-growing video-sharing app
TikTok is a Chinese video-sharing service that has recently hit one of the highest installation rates among social networks.
TikTok has almost 800 million active users and a great majority of them are Gen Z. So it’s the best opportunity for drawing the attention of teenagers.
TikTok video specs
- File size: up to 287.6MB for iOS users and 72MB for Android users
- Video length: up to 15 seconds
- Video dimensions: 1080 x 1920
- Recommended aspect ratios: 9:16, 1:1, or 16:9
TikTok’s video-sharing feature is now accessible only using smartphones, although its web page will show some popular videos.
Check out this post if you’re looking for the best TikTok tools.
Facebook: The #1 social media platform
Facebook is undoubtedly the largest social media service with around 2.5 billion users from across the world.
There are different ways of sharing videos on Facebook:
- Regular videos
- 360 video
- In-stream video ads
- Carousel video ads
- Cover video
So Facebook has provided marketers with a variety of choices. This is why around two-thirds of US businesses use Facebook’s video advertisements.
Facebook video specs
- Aspect ratio: 9:16 or 16:9
- File size: up to 4GB
- Video length: up to 240 Minutes
Facebook has a whopping 1.6 billion visits each day which makes it unrivaled among all social networks.
Instagram Stories and posts: Best for sharing your moment
Before IGTV, Instagram launched other video-sharing features. Pictures or videos of your moments can easily be shared using regular posts on Instagram.
Instagram regular posts video specs
- File size: up to 15MB
- Video length: up to 60 seconds
- Max video width is 1080 pixels wide
Although this is very short, you can upload several video clips and pictures in a single post.
Instagram Stories is also a fantastic feature by which you can share your videos.
Instagram Stories video specs
- Instagram story dimensions: 1080px by 1920px.
- Aspect ratio: 9:16
- Video length: up to 15 seconds
- File size: up to 4GB
In Stories, you can upload several videos to be displayed as a slide show. Stories will automatically disappear after 24 hours.
Instagram Stories has another type of video feature that is very popular among social users. Live videos are the most authentic means of interacting with users and showing them behind the scenes.
The length of Live videos on Instagram Stories can be up to 1 hour. This feature can be accessed using the Instagram app just by clicking on Your Story.
Why IGTV marketing?
Now that we’ve introduced several famous video sharing features you might ask what differences exist between IGTV and these apps.
IGTV is actually a separate video sharing application which its main capabilities are accessible using Instagram apps and the web page.
IGTV was first released on the 20th of June 2018 and is now so popular that it is being used in 30 languages.
IGTV video specs
- Video length (common users): 15 seconds to 10 minutes
- Video length (larger accounts and verified users): 15 seconds to 60 minutes
- File size (10-minute videos or less): 650MB
- File size (60-minute videos): 3.6GB
- Size of cover photo: 420px by 654px (11.55)
- File type: .MP4
- Video size: 9:16
- Video thumbnail/cover image: .JPG
- Minimum frame rate: 30 FPS
- Minimum resolution: 720 pixels
Instagram has also provided some updates on IGTV since its initial release.
For example, from 2019, you can create one-minute previews of your videos to be shown on your profile and your followers’ feed as well.
This will greatly help you to be discovered and encourage your audience to “watch the full video on IGTV”.
Also, one of the best tools Instagram has offered is the “IGTV series feature”. Using this feature you can arrange your content like a collection to be released on a regular basis.
Considering all these features, IGTV marketing is a must in the world of digital and it would be hard to find a good alternative application for it.
Tips to use IGTV marketing
Video marketing is now a very competitive means of brand awareness and, therefore, you need to have a plan for it. IGTV marketing is a great option for you to generate more leads and convert them into sales.
Here are several tips which can help you grow your business using IGTV:
1. Define a video style for your brand
A lot of accounts on Instagram are constantly broadcasting content and it might be difficult to get ahead of this competition.
A unique style in content generation can significantly help you make your IGTV videos stand out.
Your tone of voice, background colors, video format, cover photos, and many other things give your IGTV videos a style. If you want to make your audience remember your brand, you need to think of a creative and unique style.
For example, Nivea has made a beautiful theme on its IGTV page just using a minimalistic background and a logo:
2. Republish your live videos using IGTV
Instagram live videos can’t be always so well-organized that your message is conveyed completely and accurately.
Also, not all your audience can watch it online so you need to republish your content to reach maximum views.
IGTV is a good choice for modifying and curating your live videos. Try to record your live videos, edit them, and share them using IGTV to repeat your message.
3. Make announcements by Instagram Stories
You can make an announcement for your IGTV videos by Instagram Stories in order to get maximum exposure.
Actually, many people won’t watch full-time videos because they’re always in a hurry. This is why you need to encourage them somehow.
Try to outline your IGTV videos’ content and share it in Stories to draw the attention of your audience.
You need to create a sense of urgency so that they feel they’ll lose an important thing if they don’t watch your full-time videos.
4. Create specific IGTV Series
One of the most important factors in digital marketing is consistency. A regular social presence is a must that will make your audience remember your brand.
This is why many brands use social media schedulers to have an automatic posting procedure. Instagram IGTV videos can also be scheduled using a Series feature.
Fortunately, you can create an IGTV Series in three different ways:
- Instagram app
- IGTV app
- Web page
If you haven’t already created an IGTV Series, you can “Create Your First Series” in all these three ways.
Then, select and add your videos to a specific IGTV Series. Try to define a focused and goal-oriented series to be able to manage them well.
You can also “Post a preview” of your videos to your Instagram feed to promote your IGTV content using 60-second previews.
5. Include influencers in your IGTV plans
Nowadays, one of the most effective techniques for growing businesses on social media is influencer marketing.
Many brands try to promote their social content with the help of influencers. Your IGTV videos can also get maximum views if you collaborate with influencers.
First and foremost, you have to think of finding niche influencers and then choose those who are better content creators. This can bring authenticity and help you appear like a thought leader.
6. Take advantage of user-generated videos
Despite many beneficial aspects of video content, they’re very expensive. You need to set aside a considerable marketing budget along with a lot of time and effort.
One way of reducing expenses is by using your followers’ content. Sharing user-generated content is a good way to have authenticity in content marketing.
You can ask your followers to create videos based on your style and contribute to your page. You can then edit these videos and share them as a separate IGTV Series.
You will get higher rates of engagement and reduce your costs by sharing user-generated videos on IGTV.
7. Cross-promote your IGTV videos on other networks
Apart from promoting IGTV videos using previews and Instagram Stories, you can use cross-promotion with other social services.
First of all, you can “Make Visible on Facebook” to cross-promote your Instagram content, especially IGTV videos on Facebook.
If you want to post your IGTV videos via Facebook you need to go to “Where Your Video Will Appear” and choose IGTV and also your Facebook Page below before clicking on Post.
It’s good to have callouts to your IGTV channel from:
- Email newsletters
- Facebook Page
You can also use “Copy Link” in your IGTV video menu and use the URL anywhere to share the video outside of Instagram.
Last but not least try not to republish YouTube videos on IGTV without editing the format of the videos, because they don’t look quite right!
Final word
I have explained the main aspects of IGTV marketing for your business. Of course, you should try to learn your competitors’ tricks and techniques too. Look out for the types of hashtags, style, video lengths, scheduling, etc. This will help you reach your audience more effectively.
Guest author: Tom Siani is an online marketing expert with more than 4 years of experience in the digital industry. He is also collaborating with some well-known brands in order to generate traffic, create sales funnels, and increase online sales. He has written a considerable number of articles about social media marketing, brand marketing, blogging, search visibility, etc.