Instagram Video Guide – How Companies Should Post Videos on Instagram

Instagram videos are becoming increasingly popular for social media marketers. The number of Instagram videos created daily has increased more than four times in the last 12 months. Video marketing is no longer just for companies with large budgets. Take advantage of the increasing attention and expand your engagement with Instagram videos. Present yourself and your products in a different format and increase your sales.

Are you ready to learn how to build and implement an effective video marketing strategy for Instagram? We will show you the benefits of Instagram video, how to successfully create and publish your first video. Learn to optimize your content to generate more reach and clicks. 

Advantages of Instagram Videos 

Apps like TikTok and features like Instagram Reels show that videos are clearly one of the most popular formats in 2020. Find out why you should share videos on Instagram here: 

1. Growing Interest 

Studies show that the length of Instagram videos has increased by 80% in one year. This shows that users are becoming more and more interested in video content and are paying more attention to it. 

2. Strong Engagement 

According to a report from eMarketer, photos typically outperform video in terms of engagement. In turn, engagement grows much faster when it comes to videos than photos. “Engagement numbers for videos posted to top media publisher accounts worldwide increased by 53% year over year in May, surpassing the 46% growth rate seen for photos over the same timeframe,” the report says. 

3. Share the Story of Your Company 

Videos give you the opportunity to tell complex stories that often cannot be conveyed by a single image. Whether you’re trying to raise awareness of a campaign, promote your products, educate your audience, videos offer a much greater scope for storytelling than images.

4. Increasing Purchasing Power

Through videos, you have the ability to present your product in greater detail and give users a more accurate impression. This way your offers can convince faster and motivate potential customers to buy. Studies show that 84% of the people were convinced by a brand watching their video and made the decision to purchase a product or service.

1. Choose the Right Format

Since 2013 there have been some adjustments until Instagram videos became as they are today. No longer limited to 15 seconds, companies can now create high-quality videos up to 1 minute and generate high engagement! Plus, you don’t need a digital camera or expensive video equipment to do it. You can create engaging brand videos with your smartphone camera and video editing apps or an AI video generator!

Before we start creating videos, let’s take a quick look at the technical details:

Video format: MP4

Length: 3 seconds to 60 seconds, less than 50 MB (recommended); no limitation by Instagram

Format: square, portrait and landscape

Aspect ratio: a minimum of 1.91 : 1 and a maximum of 4 : 5

Oatly shows that it is not essential to stick to a format to get the attention of your followers. Though the oat milk producer shared both videos in different formats, each got a lot of attention, as the number of views reflects.

2. Post Your Video Directly through Instagram

Instagram allows you to record your videos directly from your app. A more popular way is to shoot your video in advance and upload it from your library. Simply tap the “+” symbol in the top left corner of the feed and select “Post”. Here you can simply scroll and select the desired video. 

Now you can either share your video with square aspect ratio, the default setting, or tap the format icon to view the image at full size.

You can also turn the video into a boomerang tapping on the boomerang icon. You need to have the Boomerang app installed to use this function though.

Another option is to upload several video clips, and then post them together as one video. Simply select a video, tap “Next” and then tap “Trim” at the bottom of the screen.

You can either trim the video by tapping the already selected video, or click the “+” symbol to select more clips to add to your Instagram video.

If you decide to add several clips to your Instagram video, you can trim them after you select “Next”. Remember that the total length of the video must not exceed 60 seconds when adding single clips. 

Tap “Next” and add filters as you like and set the cover image of your video.

Once you are done, click “Next” to go to the final settings of your post. Here you can tag people, add a location and add a suitable caption. Now your video is ready to be shared! 

Tips for Great Instagram Videos

Now you know how to share a video on Instagram. But how can you optimize your content and improve your ability to reach your audience? Check out the following 5 tips to find out!

1. Use an Eye-Catching Cover Image

In a world where the attention span is decreasing, it becomes a challenge to keep users engaged – especially when videos take longer. One way to improve your chances is to choose an appealing cover image.

Just as long as it takes to find a photo that fits into your feed, you should invest time choosing a good cover image for your video. Otherwise, the hard work that went into creating the video may have been in vain if the video doesn’t attract attention. Try to capture the overall message of the video as much as possible through the cover image. This increases the chance that a viewer will get stuck with the image.

A good example is a cover image from Tesla. The car manufacturer uses appealing images for their videos. In this way, the company generates an interest in knowing more about the story. With over 3.4 million views and more than 335 thousand likes, this is one of the company’s most successful piece of video content on Instagram.

2. Do Not Rely on Music

Instagram videos start playing automatically in the feed, but they do not automatically start playing sound. To hear the sound, users must tap on the video. Since you’re trying to attract attention in the first few seconds, it’s important to remember that videos must be clearly understood even without sound!

Even if a viewer does not get the overall impression, you should make sure that they can get the story of the Instagram video – even if it is muted. Adding subtitles to your videos is a great way to ensure that viewers can still turn on the video even if they are not able to listen.

The videos from BBC News show how content can be successful even without sound. If a user decides to listen to the video without sound, they can do so without a problem, as the text is also shown in the video for reading along. The video above has been viewed over 952 thousand times.

3. Focus on the First Seconds 

With so much more to see on Instagram, it is important to create video content that captures people’s attention within the first 3-5 seconds. 

With over 1.3 million views, Apple shows how a video can hit the right nerve within the first few seconds. Concentrate on the first few seconds and amaze your followers. This way you will most likely achieve better results and a higher level of engagement.

4. Adjust the Length to the Attention Span of Your Audience

Just because an Instagram video can be 60 seconds long doesn’t mean it should be. As with everything in social media, it’s hard to keep the user engaged over a longer period of time with videos.

Try experimenting with different video lengths to find a length that works best for your audience. If videos under 30 seconds test best, focus on shorter video content. However, if longer videos are more popular with your followers, stick with them.

Video content is an integral part of the H&M feed. The videos usually have a length of at least 15 seconds up to 1 minute. The videos show new collections or insights into production in general. The video above achieved over 454 thousand views and more than 34 thousand likes.

Set a Focus for Your Instagram video

There is really no limit what you can do with Instagram videos – so you should include them in your feed! It is a good idea to have a specific goal in mind before you create a video. Here are a few examples of successful video content:

1. Present Your Products 

Videos have the ability to convey a vast amount of information in a short period of time and thus are an enormous asset for companies selling products or services. Just think how much more detailed you can present a product in a 60-second video than in a picture!

In this video Adidas Original shows how you can successfully use a video to introduce a new product. The focus of the video lies entirely on the shoe and its product features, without any elaborate product staging. The clip receives the attention of the users and, in addition to over 744 thousand views, more than 102 thousand likes.

According to Hubspot, 64% of consumers are more willing to buy a product online after watching a video of it. Thus, using Instagram videos showing a product in action could be a huge opportunity to increase the ROI of your Instagram marketing!

2. Build Trust in Your Brand

Sharing Instagram videos that deliver your brand message or introduce your corporate culture is ideal for building trust with followers and customers.

Oatly’s Instagram profile is a good example of this. The oat milk producer often shares interesting video content about sustainability, which is relevant to the target group and offers added value. 

Is there a topic you want to educate your followers about? Maybe it is a make-up tutorial or a delicious recipe? No matter what you focus on, using Instagram videos to distribute short, entertaining content is a great strategy. 

Conclusion

Video marketing is no longer an “upcoming” content strategy. Instagram videos enjoy growing popularity among users and engagement is increasing. Use this powerful content format to communicate your brand history, present your offerings in more detail and build relationships with clients and potential customers.