How to be a Pro at Instagram Video Marketing

With 70% of marketers claiming they will up their investments in video marketing, video content is evidently the in-thing today, particularly on Instagram. Therefore, if you don’t want to be trailing back, Instagram video marketing should be your central strategy.

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Why businesses should invest more in Instagram videos?

Since video format was first supported on Instagram in 2013, Instagram has been not only a mere photo-centric platform but also a site for exploding motions as well.

Indeed, a plethora of brands is touching on every single video-creating feature on Instagram. That’s why using still images in the absence of Instagram vivid clips would not help you to stand out in the crowd.

Plus, just like Youtube and the video-sharing platform Tiktok, the entry cost for Instagram video marketing is next-to-nothing. Seriously, you need nothing else but a smartphone and creative ideas. So why not?

Instagram video supported formats

There is no doubt that Instagram video has become a sharp tool for marketing. The evidence is that the platform nowadays allows users to upload videos of various lengths.

Regarding short content, you can create 15-second videos for your Instagram Stories or Reels. The videos that are a bit longer than that (I mean up to 2 minutes) you can publish under the native in-feed video.

For videos that are much longer, utilize IGTV then. IGTV enables you to upload 15-minute videos via your smartphone, or up to 1-hour if uploaded via the web.

Plus, if you already have a bunch of followers, you might love to opt for Instagram Lives, which allows you to live in real-time for up to 4 hours.

Well, so that means no matter if your video is short or long, Instagram got you covered from top-to-toes.

Winning tips for Instagram video marketing

There is an upset, yet not surprising fact: not many brands can make the best out of Instagram videos. But don’t worry! We got your back with these brilliant tips to optimize your video marketing effort on the platform.

Tutorial Video

Make sure you showcase the unique features of your products for the very first seconds. After the attention-grabbing intro, show viewers how your products can be used and that it’s second-to-none.

If you have a sophisticated product catalog and a lot of them complement each other well without your customers knowing about that, then you can create helpful tutorials just like @paulachoice did right there.

Xem bài viết này trên Instagram

Bài viết do Paula’s Choice Skincare (@paulaschoice) chia sẻ

By composing “how-to” videos like this one, Paula’s Choice shows that they not only hard-sell their products but also strive to help their customers to use these products properly.

Behind The Scene Video

It would be such a huge loss for brands to miss out on BTS in their Instagram video marketing campaigns. By filming your business operation on a regular basis, you can spread your authentic values to customers in the most personal manner.

@apple did a splendid job with its BTS in Las Cholitas Voladoras.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by apple (@apple)

Firstly, the brand demonstrated quite well its unique features for the new iPhone XS at that time. Who can tell any difference between the brand’s camera and a professional one?

Secondly, through this video, users can have a better grasp of Apple’s core values, which are creativity and professionalism.

Q&A Video

Q&A videos are a sharp tool for you to stimulate natural conversations with your customers. Simultaneously, this indicates that you care about them and will always be by their sides through thick and thin.

For this kind of content, we suggest you curate short-form content and save them under Instagram Highlights so that it’s the first thing viewers will see when they visit your profile.

By asking directly about the problems related to dishwasher usage, @boschhomeus allows its followers to engage intimately. Then as a guardian angel, the brand comes up with a boomerang clip to show that their product can solve customers’ pain points at ease.

Collaborate with Instagram influencers

A plurality of Instagram users are millennials and these people tend to imitate their idols. That’s why teaming up with Instagram influencers can help you to expand your reach and grow your sales significantly.

Looking at Lisa’s glassy skin, considering her credit, that’s quite an outstanding move MAC took to promote its make-up line.

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A post shared by LISA (@lalalalisa_m)

Usually, the videos uploaded by MAC themselves on Instagram received around 200 thousand views. The video uploaded on Lisa’s Instagram account reached 8.7 million views. Such an unbridgeable gap right there.

Hop on trends with Instagram Reels

As mentioned above, Instagram Reels allows users to create short-form video content and share it to Instagram Stories or feeds under 15-30 seconds clips.

Since the Instagram Reels algorithm favors genuine rather than branded content, it’s time for you to ride on the waves of trends to your advantage. Take a look at @sephorafrance, apparently, the brand has proved itself a real pro at the Reels game.

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A post shared by Sephora France (@sephorafrance)

Though many criticize Instagram Reels as a Tiktok copycat, we cannot deny its exponential growth. If you want to make the best out of this brand-new feature, there are still many other Instagram Reels tips for you to learn.

Create a series with IGTV

By contrast to Instagram Reels, IGTV is not a hub for bite-sized clips but actually a place for users to consume longer-form content. However, we do not recommend you to use up the maximum length, but keep them succinct and divide them into different series as @louboutin did below

Louboutin utilizes IGTV to curate multiple series to attract its viewers

As of writing this article, IGTV could help you boost visibility and discoverability for your products and services. Not to mention that Instagram Shopping now enables you to tag products to your IGTV at ease. By doing this, you will not only impress your audiences with stunning clips but also convince them to make a purchase right in-app.

UGC Video

Do you know that 80% of social media users said that user content generated (UGC) is more trustworthy than branded content?

Thus, if you want to appear more authentic and increase your brand loyalty, we suggest you encourage users to share their own videos. Here are 2 ways to approach it!

Include Hashtags in your videos

Hashtags are a crucial part of the Instagram experience regardless of daily users or business users. If being used properly, you can save a great deal of investment in marketing efforts.

Now, revisit the BTS tips we mentioned above from Apple. See the hashtag #ShotoniPhone located neatly right in the middle of the introduction of the video?

You can totally include a hashtag at the beginning of the video and incentivize your followers to use it

20.7 million, that’s the staggering number of videos and pictures this hashtag is mentioned.

Include a hashtag in your video could bring results beyond your expectation

Stay away from fancy words, make sure your hashtags are plain and can be used under any circumstances. Take this case of Apple, the hashtag gains massive popularity since anyone taking a photo or a video with their iPhone can use it.

Create AR effects so that people could use them in their videos

Basically, Spark AR Studio is a platform that allows users to create AR effects suitable for smartphones cameras.

You might find Spark AR something new but indeed many brands have already used it to their advantage. Since plenty of Instagram users are young adults, they love to try on any filter that makes their videos look cooler.

Dior simply created the above AR effect with a simple background and 3D effect of its fashionable sunglasses

Your AR effect doesn’t have to be sophisticated! Take a look at the AR effect brought to you by @dior above. As you can see, Dior created an AR effect to allow customers to try its high-fashion sunglasses on with a 3D experience.

Well, so if you are selling tangible items, we suggest you create an AR effect that empowers viewers to try your products on.

Conclusion

In brief, Instagram now enables you to publish video content in multiple formats and various lengths, from short to long to even the in-between.

That’s why Instagram video marketing should be put front-and-center when it comes to your overall marketing strategy. And we genuinely hope this article could help you to have some clues for your upcoming video marketing campaigns on the platform.