If your company hasn’t dialed in to IGTV yet, you’re missing a great opportunity to increase your brand awareness, attract more followers and grow your business. In case you’re not familiar with it, IGTV isn’t some big, fancy new television network, but it is a great way to network with your followers.
IGTV stands for Instagram TV, and it’s an app that allows you to upload long-form videos — up to 10 minutes long, which is considerably longer than the 15-second limit placed on Instagram Stories. IGTV was launched last year and can be accessed either as a standalone app or through the regular Instagram app. And, if you’re a bigger brand, you can become a verified user, which means you’ll be able to post videos that are up to an hour long.
The introduction of IGTV came as a surprise to many in the industry, and there’s been speculation over whether it’s the next YouTube or could even evolve into the David that slays the YouTube Goliath. As of now, the two channels are completely different animals; unlike YouTube, IGTV videos require a vertical format, which means you’re going to have to make separate videos for your IGTV channel or reformat your existing horizontal content.
And, while YouTube has fine-tuned its search-ability so you can find the exact video you’re looking for in just a few seconds, IGTV trails behind in search features. At the moment, the only way to search for content is by creator, not hashtags.
Still, there’s a lot of interest and excitement around IGTV as users start to learn what it can do. For brands, it represents one more opportunity to reach current customers and find new ones on a relatively uncluttered playing field. To make sure you’re making the most of your IGTV account, here’s a look at seven creative ways to use IGTV to grow your business.
No. 1: Create a Video Series
Just as you keep your blog populated with fresh content, you’ll want your IGTV channel to stay fresh and lively to keep viewers coming back. A video series is an effective way to drive traffic and increase interest in your channel.
What are your customers most interested in learning? What kinds of information can keep them coming back week after week? Instead of delivering a huge amount of information in one long video, IGTV is the perfect format for offering bite-sized chunks of information. Just as you can break down information from long-form blog posts into small social media pieces, you can deliver your how-to pointers and other types of information in a short-form series of videos.
As you create these series on a variety of topics, you’ll gradually build a library of useful information that can boost your visibility online and help drive traffic to your site.
No. 2: Offer a Webinar
What can you teach your customers in 10 minutes? Put a little thought into it and you might be surprised at how much you come up with. Creating a standalone segment designed for educational purposes will help cement your credibility. You can also use that information, along with the footage from your video series, to build a resource library.
No. 3: Do an Interview or Q&A
Who do your customers want to hear from? Talk to leaders in your industry or to experts within your own organization to create insightful, original videos. (Conferences are a great place to stock up on lots of short video segments from your industry’s rock stars; compile as many quick interviews as you can and worry about editing them later.)
If you’re not well-versed in the art of interviewing, follow some of these tips.
No. 4: Make a Behind-the-Scenes Video
The saying goes that “nobody wants to see how the sausage is made,” but you know what? Pretty much everyone wants to see how the chocolate is made. If you’re in an industry that makes for great visuals — like baking cookies or making chocolates or 3D printing cars or artificial limbs — then you have a definite advantage. Take viewers on a tour of what you do, and make them feel as if they are right there beside you. If you have a production company working for you, audit their work and provide recommendations to enhance videos for optimal aesthetic appeal.
If your business is less visual, it doesn’t mean you can’t make it fun to go behind the scenes. Sure, it’s probably going to take a little more thought and creativity, but you can do things like create a video introducing the team that keeps your business humming.
Make it fun. Make it snappy. Make it memorable. It gives viewers a chance to connect with faces behind the brand — and that makes it easier to connect with the brand.
No. 5: Make a Short Film
OK, so maybe you’re no Steven Spielberg, but come on … isn’t there a small part of you that wants to do the whole, “lights, camera, action!” thing? A short film is an entertaining way to send your brand’s message.
Whether you want to do a parody of a TV show or movie, or make a film of your staff trying to solve a workplace mystery in 10 minutes or less, there’s an unlimited supply of plot lines you can develop and run with.
No. 6: Turn Your FAQs Into Video
Those FAQs on your website just got another shot at stardom. Turning your FAQs into video can be another creative way to draw attention to your brand while still getting across that necessary information.
There are several ways you can approach FAQ videos; you can have one person addressing a question that appears on the screen; you can have one person asking the question and the other one answering; you can even make a short play or skit out of the question and answer. After all, this is your channel, so you can approach it any way you’d like.
Just make sure that you don’t forget to actually give useful information as you create something imaginative and memorable.
No. 7: Let Your Customers Get to Know You
The great thing about video is that it allows viewers to see you as you really are. That means you can play up whatever quality you want to emphasize: If you want to be recognized as an authority on a specific topic, you can take a more serious tone. If you’re better known for your quirky out-of-the-box thinking, then video is the perfect way to capture that.
Keep in mind that the more entertaining the video, the more likely it is to resonate with viewers. As video becomes more prevalent as a form of content, it needs to be truly amazing for it to stand out.
Kick-Start Your IGTV Initiatives
If you haven’t yet jumped aboard the IGTV platform, now’s the time to do it. Being able to plant yourself on the field before it gets too crowded is going to help you stand out and let you build traffic now, when there’s less noise to rise above.
Creating an IGTV channel is simple, and analytics are easy to follow and use. If you’re already using video, you can include IGTV as part of your video content strategy and grow your business as the popularity of this channel increases.
