How Instagram TV Can Become Part of Your Social Media Marketing Plan
Instagram TV (IGTV) was released in June this year, and is still a pretty new platform to everyone. But interestingly, it can be used for a business as part of their social media strategy. Many companies are still trying to figure out exactly how to use it effectively and incorporate it into their marketing plan, to boost their brand awareness, but don’t you worry. We’re here to provide you with a list of 5 ways in which you can use IGTV effectively within your social media strategy.
1 – Give Your Audience an Inside Look at Your Brand
Buzzfeed is insanely popular across the globe and have many different sub-channels, one of which is dedicated to all things food; Tasty. They release short videos that are often compiled together that show step-by-step instructions on how to create a dish. They’re often cheap, quick, easy, and student friendly.
But on top of this they also release episodes of “Behind Tasty” which show the whole process of how they make a Tasty video. This is especially clever as a marketing plan for two main reasons. One being that they can get two videos out of one shoot, which is handy and a time saver, but it also gives its audience an inside look into the brand.
It gives the channel a personality and makes it easier for their audience to engage with them and know the brand inside and out.
#PROTIP – Don’t be afraid to show off every angle of your brand. More and more people are enjoying the transparency of “behind the scenes” footage. It gives the audience a chance to form a deeper relationship with your brand, and after all that’s what you want to be doing. Creating a relationship between your brand and your audience.
2 – Create a Branded Backdrop For IGTV Videos
Something that has become more popular on Instagram as of late is having an “Instagram Wall” to pose, record videos, and conduct interviews in-front of.
Having a branded wall somewhere in your office or recording space will make your videos recognisable and cohesive. Sephora has done this successfully. They have a gold shimmery wall that they record their videos in front of. This is a strong marketing strategy because as soon as their viewers see this they know they’re about to watch a Sephora video, and staying consistent with an aesthetic will boost your brand identity.
#PROTIP – Create a branded space for your videos and social posts! It doesn’t have to be huge and you don’t have to rent out another office space. It can just be a corner in your office that you decorate with the colours and themes of your individual brand. But you have to make sure to use it in all your videos in order for your audience to recognise it as you.
3 – Don’t be Scared of Vertical
One thing you learn almost instantaneously as you start to work in social media is that vertical videos are a no go. Until now.
Now is the time to start experimenting. Brands such as the Food Network and Sainsburys Twisted have dove head first into using vertical videos. Although only the former use IGTV, both are notorious for vertical footage.
Even so, this format is optimised for IGTV, and it makes it easy for their viewers to screen shot steps and ingredients, which is the entire niche for both brands.
#PROTIP – Make sure you’re editing your video content for the platform your publishing it on. Each platform has slightly different dimensions, and it can be uninviting for your audience if parts of the preview have been cut off and cropped.
4 – Keep Your Audience on its Toes
We all know and love Netflix, and they have done well for themselves. Buying Blockbuster and reinventing the way we watch and stream movies means they have redefined a night in. They love to get people talking about them when it comes to their social media strategy, including their IGTV.
They launched their channel with a one-hour long video of Cole Sprouse from the Netflix original show Riverdale eating a burger. Yep. You read that correctly, and if you haven’t watched that yet I seriously suggest you do! That is one hour of my life well spent.
Sound crazy? You’re not wrong, but the video got over 967K views and over 6.6K comments, and rising, so they clearly did something right, and honestly it was done well.
Taking this unique approach to advertising the show, instead of just creating a trailer, was designed to appeal to a young, digital audience that potentially grew up with Cole on TV, and it shows a different, and relatable side of him. And clearly it’s working.
#PROTIP – Think outside the box, don’t be afraid to get creative when it comes to your social media and IGTV channel. The platform is still very new, and using it for a business is a unique strategy. Now is the time to be creative and daring!
5 – Keep Your Audience Wanting More
By creating an IGTV series or segments, your audience will be tuned in for hours. MTV have done this with their Greatest Party Story Ever series, which simply has people talk about their greatest party stories… and who doesn’t want to watch that?
The series kicks off with a 43 second video from Jake Miller. They’ve also created videos for this segment with other people, including Travis Mils. Since strating that series they have added other clips to their IGTV, but every now and then come back to this series, which gives their audience something to look forward to and some kind of structure.
#PROTIP – Having segments and a series going on your IGTV lets your viewers know exactly what to expect from you. People like a routine, but this one allows you to vary from each episode whilst keeping them happy. Who knows what will happen on the next episode? Tune in to find out!
Even though I’ve already given you five brands who use IGTV effectively and some #PROTIPS on how to do it, here’s one more. Promoting your IGTV channel across your platforms boosts your brand awareness, and keeps everything cohesive and uniform. The ways in which IGTV can be used for a business are endless, much like all of social media. Now is the time to press record, start your own channel and get creative and daring! What are you waiting for?
