If you are interested in investing, we recommend that you consider what Instagram can give your brand in terms of engagement and visibility. Instagram offers the possibility of making live videos via iOS and Android smartphones. It is a fantastic way for getting famous, introducing new products and making sales. In this article, we will explain how to use Instagram videos for your social media marketing campaign.
How to use Instagram Live?
Here are the features a live show should have:
- Format: MP4;
- Length: from a few seconds to 1 minute;
- Orientation: vertical;
- Aspect ratio: 9:16.
Currently, there is only one way to start a Live on Instagram: open the app’s camera and select the Live option. In this way, a live video will start and all followers currently active will receive a notification.
Once the live broadcast has started, it will be possible to start presenting a product, giving news about your business or what you want. However, it is good to know some tricks:
- Unless you’ve made an appointment with your followers, it’s best to give them a few minutes to connect;
- Take advantage of the first few minutes of the Live to chat and entertain who is there before going directly to the heart of the Live;
- By touching the question mark icon, it will be possible to share the questions that are asked live: a great idea to increase engagement;
- To make the Live more beautiful or fun, you can add filters ;
- You can share images on the broadcast screen directly from the gallery;
- You can instantly share a live commentary.
Once the live broadcast has ended, click on “Finish.” The Live can be saved on the camera roll. In this way, it can be re-shared as a Story or on IGTV.
What to share on Instagram Live?
Just like Instagram Stories, Live lets you interact with your audience in a creative yet relaxed way. Let’s give you some examples.
1. Talk about or launch new products
Instagram Live is perfect for creating anticipation and curiosity. Many companies, large and small, choose this mode for the launch of new products.
It could be the case of an important fashion house that wants to show an exclusive preview of its collection and a business that has bought new products from a brand. For example, a hairdressing salon could do a live show showing the unboxing of a product line so that customers are encouraged to test them.
2. Use Instagram Live to promote
How to give value to your direct? By providing your followers something extra that could bring you more sales. In this sense, a Live is perfect for presenting products and offering discounts or promotional codes only to those who are following you at that moment. Doing so will generate curiosity around your brand for the next live broadcast.
3. Collect information
One of the most innovative ways to use Instagram Live is to create engagement to ask for email addresses from followers. If, for example, you want to schedule a live broadcast with a question and answer section, you can ask your followers to send their questions via email. In this way, you can add them to your newsletter by staying in touch with them to propose offers or products.
Tips for making great live videos on Instagram
We have already said how perfect Instagram video tools are for carrying out a marketing campaign. To have excellent results, you will have to turn to professionals. However, we believe that it is always helpful to understand firsthand what you are talking about. In this quick roundup, we want to focus on some handy tips for creating successful lives.
1. Advertise your Instagram live ahead of time
We have already mentioned the idea of announcing a Live a little in advance, but we want to focus more on this very important aspect. By strategically and regularly promoting Live shows, they bring views and good results in terms of engagement. If it’s working well, your followers will want to see you more and more often. The sticker is great because it allows followers to schedule a reminder for when the stream starts.
2. Go live when your followers are most active
Just like for the announcement, we have previously made a small mention also for this aspect. As you already know, Instagram will notify your followers of the live broadcast and you can take a few minutes to wait for everyone to be online. But how do you know when the majority of your audience is online? The best way is to study past statistics to give you more information on active users, age, gender, and geographical reference area.
Video creation for IGTV
IGTV is one of Instagram’s newest features. Launched as an independent video platform but linked to the profile, IGTV can post longer content but not necessarily visually curated like a post or a story.
Already adored by companies and influencers, IGTV allows you to show products or services, always putting creativity at the forefront. Here are the specs an IGTV video must have:
- Format: MP4;
- Length: 15 seconds to 10 minutes for small accounts; 15 seconds to 60 minutes for large and verified accounts;
- Size: 650MB for videos of less than 10 minutes; 3.6GB for videos longer than 60 minutes;
- Orientation: vertical, horizontal;
- Aspect ratio: 9:16 if vertical, 16: 9 if horizontal.
How to use IGTV videos on Instagram?
Before uploading a video to IGTV, you need to create your channel. To do this, it’s all very simple: just log in from the IGTV app (iOS and Android) with your Instagram username and password. Once entered, just click on “Create channel.”
If you do not want to download the IGTV app, you can still upload the videos to this platform from your Instagram account. Just go to the “Explore” section, tap on IGTV and then on the + symbol.
The app will open the camera roll giving you the option to select the video you want. Once the video has been uploaded, Instagram will ask you to enter some information. The process is very simple and very similar to what YouTube requires. Here’s what you need to enter:
- Title and description of the video;
- Relevant keywords (including hashtags and tags);
- Link;
- IGTV will then ask you to add a 1-minute preview and choose a cover photo.
As we have already said with regard to posts, it is advisable to make your own choices considering capturing the public’s attention in an immediate way. Once done, the video can be uploaded and, if desired, also posted on the feed.
IGTV allows you to check the statistics of the video through the “View insights” option. It is a very useful tool for companies with ongoing marketing campaigns. It is no coincidence that Instagram is investing heavily in this new feature that has already undergone design changes and implementations in the course of a short time.
One of the most recent, for example, is the ability to sort IGTV videos into thematic collections. To do this, select the“Add to series” option when uploading a video. From here, you can add a video to an existing series or create a new one.
What to share on IGTV?
As with Instagram Stories, IGTV also sets no limits on what you can share and how. You can advertise products, services, share news about your company and much more. The goal of this platform is to become something more like YouTube. It is no coincidence that many influencers – supported by major brands, have already switched to the channel. IGTV is, in fact, seen as a sort of extension of the Stories: an extra functionality to be exploited with the same philosophy that already distinguishes its brand.
Conclusion
You will have understood that Instagram videos are a vital tool for a successful marketing strategy. As we have seen, this social network evolves rapidly and offers more and more customizable and creative possibilities. Why not opt for Instagram marketing?
