IGTV Videos: The Future of Video Content on Instagram

So, you’ve heard about IGTV and its untapped potential as a platform for video content, and you’re thinking about diving in. Welcome aboard! IGTV videos are becoming a major player in the social media universe, opening vast new avenues for creators and businesses to connect with their audience in more dynamic and engaging ways. 

In the fast-paced and constantly evolving world of social media, staying ahead means keeping an eye on the horizon and exploring new platforms as they emerge. IGTV, with its unique, in-depth, and vertical content, seems to be the next big thing!

If you need to not just survive, but thrive in this video revolution, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we explore the potential of IGTV and provide actionable tips on creating engaging IGTV videos that resonate with your audience.

How to create engaging IGTV videos

Creating engaging IGTV videos can be a game-changer for your online presence, giving your brand a powerful visual voice. Building upon the basics of strong visuals and sound quality, there are additional components to bear in mind. 

The first one is the title of your IGTV video. A creative, catchy title can attract viewers’ attention and pique their curiosity to watch your video. Your title should be succinct yet descriptive enough, encapsulating the essence of your video while also standing out among the multitude of IGTV videos. 

Another essential component is your video’s length. While IGTV allows you to post long-form content, research suggests that the optimal video length for maintaining user engagement lies somewhere between 3 to 5 minutes. Use this timeframe to entrust your message without overwhelming your audience. 

Also, it’s crucial to maintain consistency in your video format. Whether you choose vertical (9:16 aspect ratio) or horizontal (16:9 aspect ratio), be sure to stick with it across your videos. This consistency aids in creating a seamless viewer experience and establishes a recognizable visual style for your IGTV channel. 

Furthermore, don’t forget to add a clickable call to action in your IGTV videos. This could be directing viewers to your website, asking them to subscribe or to participate in a poll. An effective call to action can convert viewers into active participants, increasing user engagement. 

Lastly, promotion is key to driving engagement. By posting a preview of your IGTV video on your Instagram feed, you alert your followers about your new content and direct them seamlessly to your IGTV channel. Equally significant is the use of IGTV’s analytics tool, IGTV Insights, to monitor your video’s performance, giving you input on what works and what doesn’t to refine your future IGTV videos. 

In summary, there are several ways to create engaging IGTV videos. It is a process that requires creativity, strategy, and sustained efforts. But with insight-driven approaches and consistency in your content production, IGTV can be an effective platform for video content, multiplying your audience, and increasing user engagement.

Benefits of using IGTV for video content

IGTV’s potential as a platform for video content is undeniable due to several reasons. Firstly, IGTV provides an extensive reach for your content, with businesses reporting up to 300% growth in their outreach when they utilized IGTV. Your IGTV content gets linked to your Instagram account, meaning your followers can directly view your videos, hence boosting your visibility. You can even add an IGTV preview to your Instagram feed, attracting more viewers and promoting your video content more effectively.

One of the standout features that IGTV offers is its support for long-form content. The platform accommodates videos ranging from 15 seconds to 10 minutes for regular accounts, and up to an hour for verified ones. This flexible range helps you tailor your content length to suit your target audience’s viewing habits and preferences. But perhaps IGTV’s most significant advantage stems from its embedded nature in Instagram—an app already installed on millions of phones worldwide.

This convenient access is further complimented by the fact that IGTV videos do not disappear after 24 hours like Instagram Stories. The longevity of the content you upload provides more opportunities for engagement, thereby ensuring that your content remains relevant for a more extended period and continues to attract views.

You can even take this a step further by adding subtitles to your IGTV videos. This simple addition can improve audience retention, especially considering the considerable number of users who browse with low or muted volume.

To succeed on IGTV, it’s also crucial to monitor your video’s performance by utilizing analytics. Keep your video length between 3-5 minutes for optimal engagement, maintain consistency in your video format (vertical or horizontal), and ensure regular promotion of your videos on your feed to keep your audience coming back for more. With these strategies in place, IGTV can become an indispensable tool in your digital marketing arsenal. 

Tips for growing your audience on IGTV

Seizing the potential of IGTV videos as a platform for sharing content requires strategic planning. With the right tactics, you can use IGTV to boost user engagement and foster a growing audience. Here’s how: 

1. Utilize IGTV Previews: An IGTV preview can be an effective way to drive traffic to your full-length videos. These previews can be added to your Instagram feed, resembling regular posts. This can intrigue viewers, thereby teasing their curiosity and encouraging them to view the entire video on IGTV. 

2. Craft Creative Titles: In the realm of digital content, the importance of a captivating title can hardly be overstated. To attract views and improve your visibility, endeavor to design creative, intriguing titles for your IGTV videos. This will help draw viewers in and illicit their curiosity to watch and engage with your content. 

3. Incorporate Subtitles: Adding subtitles to your IGTV videos can significantly enhance audience retention. Remember, many users consume content with low or muted volume settings, especially when scrolling through public spaces. Subtitles will help these users understand your video content without needing to turn up the volume. Thus, incorporating them can help you to attract and retain a wider audience segment. 

4. Leverage the Linking Benefit of IGTV: IGTV is inherently linked to Instagram accounts, and creating content on IGTV conveniently notifies your Instagram following. This feature broadens your content’s reach and visibility, making your IGTV videos more accessible to a wider audience. 

5. Monitor Video Performance: Continual analysis to assess your strategies’ effectiveness is essential. By keeping track of your video performance insights, you can identify what resonates with your audience and what doesn’t. This information can guide your future content ensuring it keeps your audience engaged and interested. 

6. Share your IGTV Video Everywhere: In addition to sharing a preview on your Instagram feed, consider sharing your video to other connected platforms. You can also create a clickable link to your IGTV videos in Instagram Stories. This strategy not only broadens the reach of your content but also helps attract cross-platform followers. 

Implementing these strategies can help you harness the potential of IGTV for sharing video content, and dramatically increase your engagement rates and target audience growth.

Read more: Top Trends Shaping the Future of Digital Marketing