Instagram is a global community of smart, savvy, upmarket, and classy people counting to about 1 billion. Instagram recently launched IGTV — a platform, riding on the back of Instagram, for everyone to watch long-form video in vertical format.
For us businesses, creators, infopreneurs, and marketers, Instagram is about to take on YouTube.
But then, Instagram TV isn’t Youtube at all. It’s different in a few ways.
The way you create videos for Instagram TV is natural to the way you use your phone: keep it vertical.
Unlike, Instagram itself, your videos are not limited to a minute. You can do more than a minute length when it comes to videos, up to an hour for each video.
Just like Youtube, IGTV has channels. As a business, an individual, or a video creator, you’ll start by creating one.
Instagram users have deep pockets
Yes, IGTV will call for more content. You’ll now be required to create separate video (in vertical format) for sharing it on Instagram TV. While you might think it’s an additional strain on your already stretched resources, it’s worth taking that extra effort for Instagram.
Why, you ask? Instagram users have deep pockets. They are ever ready to spend. You need an audience like that for your business, don’t you?
According to a Pew Research, shared by Hootsuite:
“About 38 percent of adult Internet users who make less than $30,000 per year use Instagram, along with…
- 32 percent of those who bring in $30,000 to $49,999.
- 32 percent of those who earn between $50,000 and $74,999.
- 31 percent of those who make over $75,000 per year.”
That tells you everything you need to convince yourself that being active and promoting on Instagram (or Instagram TV) is worth it.
Say hello to more video
By 2019, 80% of all the content consumed on the Internet will be in the video format according to Gordon Tredgold of Inc.com. One single video is already worth 1.8 million words.
Plus, video is terrific for your business in various ways — for branding, marketing, sales, and for conversions as far as video sales letters and videos on landing pages are concerned.
Videos also help boost your conversions when you use them in emails (a 200-300% increase in click-through rate)
Younger, mobile-ready, hungry audiences
Instagram is full of younger folk. According to Statistics, Instagram mostly consists of 18- to 29-year-olds comprise 59 percent of users in the U.S., followed by the 30 to 49-year-olds accounting for 33 percent.
Instagram users tend to like amateurish, regular video content rather than content that’s professional, slick, and studio-like.
What that means for your business is that you can stop worrying about how you look on video, never mind about setting up a studio, swipe your camera phone open and start shooting to make a difference to your business — no matter where you are.
It’s new, and that’s an opportunity
Right away, starting on IGTV can give you or your business a head start with your IGTV channel. Not everyone has taken to IGTV yet since it just launched and what that means for your business is that you could very well be one of the first to get started.
This gives your business a long time to accrue viewers, followers, and a way for you to build your own community rather easier.
Try doing that on Youtube and you’ll find it very hard to surface to the top and build a community, comparatively.
Get some inspiration
Wondering how to get started with IGTV? See what some brands are already up to?
Petra Collins is a photographer and Videographer and is now using IGTV to bring awareness and create buzz for her horror show featuring Selena Gomez with short 30-second teasers. Zooey is a young style influencer and is using IGTV to show some behind-the-scenes material, Q & A sessions with her community, and to show her viewers how she shops.
National Geographic already has a popular Instagram profile with 88 million followers and IGTV is obviously a next step for them. The brand now uses IGTV much like it uses TV by showing their regular videos, live content, and also to screen some IGTV exclusives.
Prepare to advertise on IGTV
Instagram didn’t launch IGTV for nothing. While there’s no advertising products built to take advantage of content views yet, you can bet that special advertising formats (vertical videos mostly) will come to the advertising inventory on Instagram. IGTV will allow you to create and launch ads for brand awareness, reach, branding, and several other objectives.
But before you think of advertising, it really helps to build your own following for your brand channel on IGTV.
It’s an exciting time to be in business, to do video, to have a platform like IGTV (and YouTube) of course.
You have platforms. Now, are you going to work on video content for IGTV?
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