5 Ways Businesses Are Using Instagram Video
Last month, popular photo sharing mobile app Instagram introduced a new feature - Instagram video. Now, Instagram has updated it's app once again to allow previously recorded videos to be posted instead of just video shot through the mobile app - which means your brand has the opportunity to use high quality video's in your Instagram strategy. If you've been building your following on Instagram with photos, you should start incorporating videos into your strategy. Here are a few ideas on how to use Instagram videos, with some examples from major brands who are successful with Instagram video:
Share Behind The Scenes Action
Ben & Jerry's use Instagram video to give fans a behind the scenes look at production...
Starbucks goes behind the counter with Instagram video to show how their drinks are made:
Show Off Your Best Side
Use videos on Instagram to show off what sets you apart from your competition. Jeni's Ice Cream uses Instagram video to share what is different about their ice cream - it's made with fresh ingredients.
Give Product demonstrations
iPhone case brand Hitcase uses Instagram video to give product demonstrations like this one for it's chest mount:
Cover Events
Lululemon uses Instagram video to promote the fitness events they sponsor:
Instagram videos would also be great for customer testimonials, staff introductions, and quick tips or how to videos. Other brands that are succeeding on Instagram with video are Ford, General Electric, and Charity Water.
Instagram Video Tips
A few things to keep in mind if your business is going to use Instagram video:
Before you start filming videos and posting on Instagram, spend some time on the network and get to know how it works first.
Film and post videos that your followers will see value in and respond to, not something that is purely self serving (like a traditional commercial).
Work with a video production company to develop a series of Instagram videos to post periodically. Here at Talking Head Studio we offer reasonably priced hour long filming sessions in our studio or on location. These sessions are great for filming several high quality video clips to share on Instagram.
Make sure your URL is in your Instagram profile so that people can follow through to your website.
Use hashtags when uploading your video…as many as are relevant!
Be creative! Think outside the box and experiment.
Encourage the viewer to take action - whether it's liking the video, commenting, or sharing it on their social network.
Put your videos to work in other areas of your marketing strategy. Videos that you create for Instagram can be embedded on your website, uploaded to YouTube and shared for ranking in search engines and sharing on social media, or uploaded to Facebook for sharing.
How to embed an Instagram video into your website
When you're viewing the video on Instagram in a web browser, click the ellipsis icon at the bottom to the right of the comment box.
embed instagram video into your website
Click on embed and the embed code will pop up for you to copy and paste onto your website.
If your business is not using Instagram, you should know that the platform has over 130 million active users, and is particularly popular among adults aged 18-29, Latinos, African-Americans, women, and urbanites. Photos and videos are prime content that is engaged with the most, and the simplicity of the platform makes it effective. It also isn't as saturated by other businesses as Facebook is, and doesn't have a filtered algorithm to show content like Facebook does, so more people can see and discover your updates.
About Talking Head StudioHeadquartered in sunny Orlando, Florida, Talking Head Studio is offers our full-scale video production services to local businesses and national clients alike.