Instagram is one of the most popular networks with over a billion users. It’s a nice place for businesses to reach a lot of people. But at the same time, it is highly competitive. There are over 25 million businesses already on the network and Instagram is constantly decreasing the reach of posts. This makes it harder for businesses to reach people organically.
The best way to counter this is by creating video content. Videos generate more engagement than other types of content. You can also include more information in a video, than in a still image. This is why I have made a list of my top Instagram video marketing tips to help you get started…
Keep videos short
Instagram videos are naturally short, as in-feed posts can be a maximum of 60 seconds long. But I want you to make them shorter as a study found that the ideal length for video posts is only 26 seconds.
Therefore, instead of taking advantage of the full-length Instagram offers, limit your videos to around 60 seconds.
This will ensure you get more likes, comments, and views. People prefer watching short videos as there is so much content to consume on Instagram. On top of that, they have accounts on other platforms like Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn where they have more content to look at. They will only watch your videos fully if you keep them short.
For some ideas check out the Califia Farms videos.
Embed video: https://www.instagram.com/p/CAK2oxllXdY/
They regularly publish short and educative videos like this one. You can make something like this with good software for editing videos and a camera.
Add thumbnails
Instagram users have the option to turn off autoplay when browsing their Instagram feed on mobile data. These people will instead see a thumbnail. This thumbnail can make a massive difference in the number of people who click the play button and watch your video. So, make sure you add a thumbnail to every video you create.
The thumbnail should do two things…
- Attract attention: This will help your video stand out in the feed.
- Get people to click play: This will help you get more views.
Put an ample amount of time to create it. There are several good image editors out there that can help you create these thumbnails. They even have templates to quicken the process.
For some ideas to create thumbnails, check out the Marketo Engage Instagram account.
They regularly add attractive thumbnails to their videos. They tease the contents of the video to convince people to click play.
Make a good first impression
The people who don’t have autoplay turned off will watch the video immediately. This is why you should make a powerful impression in the first few seconds. Instead of having an intro, go straight to the important bits. If you feel that you need an intro, you can keep it very short (just a few seconds). It should also be immensely interesting.
Use influencer marketing
Instagram is the best network for influencer marketing. But if you combine influencer marketing with video marketing you can take it to the next level. This is why when you team up with influencers you need to get them to create video content. This could be a tutorial on how to use your product or just a video of them using your product. Even a video of them unboxing the product will help.
An example is this one where Natacha Oceane teamed up with Gymshark.
Embed video: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBgV8udDtSB/
It’s an educational video where Natacha promotes a product from Gymshark. This type of content will attract more views and at the same time generate more sales.
If you want to get the most out of influencer marketing, make sure you only team up with influencers with high levels of engagement from real followers. You can find them with a tool like SocialBook.
Add subtitles
85% of Facebook videos are watched on mute. This is why if you don’t optimize your videos for mute views, more people will quit watching them. One way to do this is by adding subtitles. When you add subtitles people will be able to view your video even with mute turned on. So, you will get more views.
Some accounts that use this technique, don’t even add any speech to their videos. They just add some background tunes and have subtitles that give context like in the aforementioned video from Califia Farms.
Adding subtitles is easy as there are several tools that can help you do this. But if you don’t have the time, you can hire someone on a site like Fiverr or Upwork to help you out.
Add call to actions
If you run an ecommerce store, you can tag products in your videos. So, take advantage of this as Instagram doesn’t allow you to add links in in-feed posts.
Tagging products in videos can work better than asking people to click on the link in bio. They can simply visit the landing page through the post. There’s no need to leave the post and go to your Instagram profile page.
Once you implement this technique, you will see more traffic and sales.
You can also share links in stories, but you need to have more than 10,000 followers.
Create different video types
Instagram isn’t just about in-feed videos and stories anymore. There are other video formats like Reels and IGTV that are slowly getting very popular. Make sure you take advantage of them if you want to reach more people.
Conclusion
These are the top 7 Instagram video marketing tips you should know. Creating Instagram video content and optimizing them takes more work than creating images. But if you implement them, you will see an increase in reach, engagement, and sales.
