Instagram is an ideal platform for sharing visually compelling stories. Indeed, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” and companies have profited greatly from marketing on Instagram. A video, however, is worth a thousand pictures. In this post, we’ll touch on the effectiveness of video marketing and get you started on using Instagram in particular.
Related: Getting Started on Instagram
Why Video Marketing?
Videos are invaluable to online marketing. Just consider this: 90% of online shoppers say they find a video helping in making shopping and buying decisions. 80% of Internet users recall watching a video ad in the past 30 days. If that weren’t enough, here’s the icing on the cake: Consumers are 64%more likely to buy a product or service after watching a video about it.
That’s why you may want to consider using Instagram video for your business as part of your marketing plan. Instagram video marketing is an ideal tool for small businesses, and it needn’t cost much—or, like these other great free marketing tools, anything at all. Read on for instructions and tips on how to post a video on Instagram and get the most from your company’s Instagram account!
Why Post Video to Instagram?
Instagram is best known for photos, but videos have been a huge hit on this mobile platform. When you post videos to Instagram related to your business or industry, you are taking advantage of mobile marketing for your business. Instagram videos create two times more engagement on average than Instagram photos do. They also have a higher rate of shares on Twitter and other platforms.
Companies taking note of this are hopping on the Instagram video bandwagon—of all brands on Instagram, 62% of them have shared at least one Instagram video. Why? Because Instagram videos are among the most effective methods of advertising.
You can use Instagram video in the same way that you use Instagram for business already. Whether you’re running an Instagram giveaway or just posting visually appealing content, the value is similar.
How to Post Videos to Instagram
When Instagram first launched its video feature in 2013, uploading videos wasn’t easy. Users were limited to a few seconds of video captured live on their mobile device. Now, users have more options. You can record video directly into the app or post pre-recorded videos from your camera roll. Instagram also now offers the ability to trim clips, edit videos, combine multiple videos into one, add filters, and more.
There are five methods of sharing videos on Instagram:
- Record a video through Instagram and post it right away
- Record a video on your mobile device and post it later
- Post a pre-recorded video file on Instagram
- Create and post a video with Boomerang
- Record a video on Instagram Stories
While all four methods are fairly simple, posting a pre-recorded video file is a bit more challenging. If you want a professional-grade video edited on a platform off of Instagram, it may require working around Instagram’s limited capabilities. Here’s how to post a video in each of the five ways.
1. How to Record a Video through Instagram
Recording and posting a video to Instagram is easy. Videos may be between three and sixty seconds long.To record and post, simply follow the below instructions or watch this video:
Step-by-step directions
- Tap the plus icon on the bottom of the Instagram app
- Tap “Video” on the bottom right.
- Record the video by holding down the red circle.
- Tap the blue “Next” button in the upper right.
Apply any of Instagram’s standard filters, add a caption, add your location, and/or tag other users before posting.
2. How to Record a Video on your Smartphone and Post to Instagram
You may also post any videos that have already been recorded on your mobile device. You will be presented with the same editing and filter options as you would have had you recorded the video from scratch. You can record a video on your smartphone outside of the Instagram app and post it to Instagram.
To do so follow these steps:
- Tap the plus sign icon on the bottom of the Instagram app
- Tap “Library” on the bottom left.
- Select the video from your camera roll.
- Tap “Next”
- Tap trim at the bottom to have the video meet the requirements of 60 seconds.
Tap Next to add filters, captions, locations, or to tag just as with the previous section.
3. How to Upload a Pre-Recorded Video to Instagram
Editing video on a mobile device is a bit of a pain because mobile devices do not have the quality or capability professional editing software does. For high-quality videos, we recommend filming and editing outside of Instagram.
While most of the time video recorded on Instagram will be good enough for your business, certain businesses like photographers, videographers, or real estate agents may opt to edit their video on computer software. If you’ve worked with a video professional for your business and want to upload an existing video, here’s how to do it.
In order to be uploaded to Instagram, your video must:
- Be rendered in a square aspect ratio. This means that the output has to be a square aspect ratio. The dimensions themselves don’t matter—the video can be 100×100 or 1000×1000 or anything else—so long as the ratio is equal.
- Be 60 seconds or less. Instagram limits video to 60 seconds.
- Be available on your smartphone or a file-sharing platform (ex. DropBox). You may only upload photos and video to Instagram from a mobile device—you can’t upload your video from a desktop computer.
To create a professional-grade video for Instagram, film and edit your footage as usual. Render it according to the specifications above before exporting it. Then simply save it to a location that can be accessed with your mobile device, or email it to yourself and download to your phone. You can then follow the steps in the second section on how to upload a pre-recorded video in your back to the second section You can even email it to yourself and download it to your phone. Easy!
4. How to Post a Boomerang to Instagram
In October of 2015, Instagram launched an app called Boomerang. Boomerangs aren’t entirely videos but they aren’t still photos either, so they are worth including in this post. Boomerangs are basically a burst of photos stitched together into a mini video, with no sounds, that plays forward and backward in a repeating loop.
There are two ways to post a Boomerang to Instagram:
- By creating a Boomerang in the app and posting it to Instagram from there, or
- Creating a Boomerang in Instagram
Note that both of these methods allow you to create Boomerangs without actually posting them if you don’t want to or want to post them later.
How to Post a Boomerang Video through the Boomerang App
Creating a Boomerang video is straightforward in the Boomerang app. Simply open the app and hold down the circle button. Boomerang will automatically take the photo burst.
How to Post a Boomerang on Instagram:
- Tap the camera icon in the top left corner of your Instagram home screen. (Or for a shortcut, swipe left to right from your home screen.)
- Tap “Boomerang” on the bottom right of your screen
- Tap the white circle in the middle to take your photo burst.
- Tap “Save” to save the Boomerang to your camera roll (to post to your Instagram feed), or tap “Next” to send the Boomerang to your Instagram Story or as a Direct Message to another user.
Visual only, you cannot create Boomerang videos with sound. These videos are meant to uniquely capture and convey a series of motions, so focus your target on something interesting. Subjects that make for good Boomerang videos: moving subjects, changing facial expressions, quick tutorials, etc.
5. How to Post Video Using Instagram Stories
Instagram’s latest video content tool is Instagram Stories, launched in August 2016. The Stories feature allows you to compile videos and/or pictures into an album that stays up for 24 hours. Stories videos can be up to 15 seconds long and you can post as many per day as you want. To post a video using Stories follow Boomerang instructions, but instead of clicking Boomerang click “normal”.
Just as with regular Instagram videos, your Stories videos can include sound, location, hashtags and filters to make your video unique.
Instagram video is a great marketing tool for your business. Have you used Instagram video successfully? Let us know in the comments below.
3 Comments
Hey there and thanks for commenting! At this time, there isn’t a way to filter out videos in an Instagram search, but if you do perform a hashtag search, you can easily identify the videos by the icon in the upper right of the thumbnail. I hope this helps!
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