2021 has been revolutionary for Instagram; the social giant announced they’ll be changing their video platform. Ever since 2016, the social media giant has been doubling down on video as it has iterated. They started with Video stories, moved to minute-long videos, and had recently implemented ‘Instagram TV’, a great way to share longer-form content, and ‘Reels’ (a Tik Tok copy cat by all accounts).
The average individual might look at the jump as a fun way to share more personal stories.
As the CEO of a video marketing company, I was elated to hear that my clients can share more about their companies with their customers. So how does Instagram help your company and your company’s exposure? And how can Instagram help your company?
Instagram Offers a Vast Video Marketing Audience
Instagram was founded in October 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. By December 2010, it had already hit one million users. In less than a year, that number shot up exponentially. By the following September, they hit 10 million users. The numbers attracted Facebook’s attention, and on April 9, 2012, Mark Zuckerberg purchased the company. Within two years of Instagram’s founding – by July 2012, they had 80 million users, and those numbers keep growing.
Making Attention-Grabbing Video Marketing Videos
Make sure your video marketing content on Instagram isn’t just good but great! That way, Instagram’s 1 Billion users will want to follow your company, like your material, tag friends in your videos… you get the picture (pun intended). The more people share, the greater the chances of your video going viral.
We should also note that “great” is a subjective word. You might love videos of cats falling off couches, but not everyone is going to be entertained by that. If you’ve been following my blogs, you know I’m all about knowing your target audience and showing them how your company or product will best serve them. You should also try to be polarizing. After all, every click will up your visibility – no matter the context.
These rules also need to be incorporated into your video marketing production!
If you’re a biotech, medical, or healthcare company looking to make an explainer video, I would like to recommend you use a whiteboard animation video. Companies that recognize the benefits of video marketing often hire Rip Media Group to make an entire series of whiteboard animation videos to post on social media. They want a cohesive look for the Instagram feed, and the animation professionals we hire help our clients achieve their marketing desires.
If you’re not going to be doing a series, consider sharing only a few seconds of your one-minute video. That way, you can tease people to click the youtube link in your profile (which will build youtube views). Taylor Swift’s marketing team used this tactic for her “Ready for It?” music video, which now amasses 128,000,000 views in just over a month. Teasing the release of your latest video is a great way to use video in marketing to streamline traffic to the full version of your video on your preferred platform.
OUr Special Instagram Tricks (SHHH DON'T TELL ANYONE)
1. Use the New Features
Instagram cares about engagement – showing engagement numbers to their ad partners helps them ask for more money. For this reason alone, Instagram is often incentivized to deliver increased engagement in each new area they enter to convince both users and ad reps that their investment is worthwhile! So, if you’ve been using Reels recently, you might have noticed that your engagement is a little higher than average.
As soon as Instagram launches a new way to share content (as they frequently do), jump on it immediately! Proactive sharing paired with great video marketing is a sure-fire way to drive conversions.
2. Use Brand Specific and Trending Hashtags
I love this one. Your company needs to have hashtags that are specific to your followers. #RipMediaGroup could be a great hashtag for my company, but if I want to host a hashtag contest (a photo or video contest), I might want to post something like #RMGContest. Or consider using a brand-specific hashtag with each of your advertising campaigns. The car company, Subaru, used #sharethelove for their “Share the Love” event, in which a percentage of their sales went to charity.
However, you still need to drive traffic in general. While your video is first starting to accumulate Instagram views, ride the wave of other successful posts. When a world-changing event, celebrity news, or other hot topics have their own hashtags, see how it can relate to a post you’d like to share about. When people search for #kimye or #hurricaneirma, your video will also pop up. At the same time, don’t use trending topics that do not relate to your video for marketing.
3. Interact With Your Followers
Instagram sets an algorithm based on activity. Interact (like or comment on their posts) with your active followers because they may also like and comment, causing your content to stick around longer and have more people view it. Instagram also allows their consumers to see what their friends are enjoying. So if your followers like one of your posts, others will notice.
Instagram is a social media app, after all. So, be social!! Instagram will reward you and your video marketing as a result.
4. Stream on Instagram or Use Stories
Instagram has invested heavily into video over the past four years. So, use their video features as often as possible. Streaming is a great way to create content in a way that doesn’t require any technical skill. Stories are a terrific way to create scarcity around promotions and events. You can even upload your marketing videos to your stories as part of your video marketing strategy!
Should Instagram Be Your Only Focus?
There are many social media companies out there, and I’m sure there will be more. Still, do you have to use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, etc.? You certainly don’t have to! There’s a lot to be said for targeting one market to create a better end product. In our opinion, Instagram is a good focus for most companies! Its simple style and growing focus on video make Instagram one of our number one choices for social media sharing platforms.
Instagram also makes it fun—ripping off Snapchat’s idea for photo filters, copying TikTok’s video interface, sending notifications for live videos, etc. Remember to use hashtags, stay active in responding to your followers and create engaging video content. If you’re wrestling with what “great” video marketing is, I’m happy to help you. Let’s evaluate the video marketing needs of your company and get moving on a production that’s going to make your company stand out.
There are many options out there, and Rip Media Group – as your video production company of choice – has its finger on the pulse. We can create your video – whether it’s whiteboard animation, 3D, 2D, or live-action – and give you a great ROI. After all, you wouldn’t want to trust your video marketing to just anyone.
Remember – your story starts here!