Social Media Video: Instagram Videos for Businesses

Businesses are capitalising on using video for their?social media marketing?strategies. Recent studies have shown that approximately 54% of consumers want to see more?promotional video content?from brands and businesses they support. This, coupled with the increased video consumption habits brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, only reinforces the fact that video is the future of marketing.

One particular social media platform,?Instagram, is therefore worthy of your attention as a business owner or marketing manager. Instagram boasts more than 1 billion monthly active users, with multiple built-in video applications to make use of. This guide will tell you all there is to know about creating videos using Instagram and how we, as a video production and?video marketing specialist, can help you.

Types of Instagram Video

There are several different Instagram video types built into the whole application. It’s important to understand the key differences between each of them, as they boast unique specifications, limitations and unique features. Some are more suited to certain types of video marketing than others. Here is a brief rundown of each type of video on Instagram:

1. Instagram Feed Videos?– These are what you could call standard Instagram videos, viewable in users’ personal Instagram feeds. You’ll see them via scrolling the feed or browsing the ‘Explore’ tab. Many brands use feed Instagram videos to share more of their evergreen, clean-cut content. This ranges anywhere from 3 to 60 seconds.
2. Instagram Video Stories?– These vertical video snippets are typically less ‘well-groomed’ than feed videos; Instagram Stories tend to be more spontaneous and ‘on-the-fly’ by users. Each Story video can last up to 15 seconds.
3. Live Instagram Videos?– You can broadcast live streams to your followers via Instagram Live, interacting with your audience in real-time. Like Stories, Instagram Live videos are often more spontaneous and less polished than feed videos, but they still provide that organic, uncut feel.?Instagram Live videos can last anytime up to 60 minutes per stream.
4. IGTV Videos?– IGTV is a relatively new feature. IGTV provides a platform to showcase unique content for an ideal length of time, beyond a few seconds but without surpassing 10 minutes. Depending on your?video marketing strategy, advertising goals and business sector, you may benefit from using IGTV content to promote your business.

Above is a whiteboard animation video that we produced for an Italian building automation company.

Types of Instagram Social Media Video Ideas

Business owners will have different ideas of what to promote via?Instagram videos. Here are just a few suggestions:

* Entertaining videos to showcase brand personality, encouraging shares, likes, comments and follows

* Inspiring business videos to demonstrate your brand values and resonate with your audience

* Telling stories through video case studies or snippets to connect with people

* Educational video clips to teach your followers more about your business, products, services or ideas

* Promotional videos to draw more attention to your services or products, and, by extension, teasing and actively launching new lines, sales or discounts

* Sharing organic, behind-the-scenes content, giving followers a proverbial sneak peek into the inner workings of your business

* Organic videos where you actively encourage people to ask you questions, give feedback or respond to polls

Tips for Using Video on Instagram for Your Business

The above is just a small list of ideas, and it’s also important to bear the following tips in mind when creating and sharing?Instagram business videos:

1. Use vertical video?– while horizontal videos look more natural, IGTV and Instagram Stories are purely vertical, and mobile devices are held vertically nearly 95% of the time. So get comfortable with it.
2. Make a great first impression?– earn your customers’ attention within a split second with eye-catching, compelling video content.
3. Don’t rely on sound?– many people watch?social media videos?without toggling the mute button. Instagram feed videos automatically play without sound, so make sure your video works with or without it. Make sure you add captions too.
4. Make sure your branding is visible and not over-the-top?– stick to the same style, colour, font, format and tone in your Instagram videos.
5. Use tools when you create video content?– GIFs, text overlays, emojis, stickers and other design tools can help drive home your message in Instagram Stories.
6. Choose your cover photo wisely?– uploading Instagram videos means you can choose a cover photo. While feed videos play automatically, the cover photo is vital for enticing people to click and watch user-generated content via IGTV.
7. Use your insights wisely?– Instagram business profiles get free analytics, which will show how your videos are performing. Get an idea of what’s working and what’s not.

Social Media Video Production and Marketing Help

Instagram?video marketing?is fantastic for helping businesses reach their target audience and grow. However, it’s tricky to do, especially in an increasingly competitive market.

So for help standing out amongst your competitors and getting?social media video?that is perfectly suited to your brand and audience,?speak to Ginger Digital.?We are?video production and marketing experts?dedicated to helping you succeed through targeted, professional video content.