Setting up IGTV Marketing
Instagram’s IGTV, used for marketing stories, highlights and posts with video, has taken a huge step forward as Instagram has added IGTV Integration. It is now an integrated platform that can be a powerful launch pad for promoting any product or service. This is especially true for hotels and tourism destinations.
This blog shares several ideas and illustrations of how this can work.
For the integration to be complete, you first need to upload your video to IGTV. The video should be more that 1 minute long and can be as long as 1 hour for verified accounts. Other accounts have a maximum of 10 minutes.
To upload, just go to your Instagram account using your desktop browser, log in and follow the steps as outlined in Instagram Help.
Uploading Your Video to IGTV
- From a computer, open your web browser and go to Instagram.com.
- Go to your profile and click IGTV.
- Click Upload.
- Click and choose a video, or drag and drop a video file.
- Add a title and description.
- Soon — Click Post. But not right away
Source: https://help.instagram.com/225190788256708
On Your Smartphone
If you prefer to do this on your smartphone, download Filmr or the Instagram IGTV app.
Filmr is a more useful tool as it allows you to create and edit videos.
Link Instagram Post to IGTV Marketing Video
ON IGTV, Choose the Preview Post Option
Instagram gives you the option to share a 1-minute preview of your IGTV video to your feed.
Before you post the IGTV video (click Post item #6 above), click the Post a Preview Button on.
Now click Post #6 above
Now you have an IGTV video and a shorter version of it as a Post. The post will play and let your viewers “Watch Full IGTV Video”.
Stories & Highlights
About Stories
Instagram Stories are short 15-second teasers that may be images, videos and slideshows. Content in the story is live for 24 hours and then goes into an archive that is not visible. You can add text, drawings and emoticons to images or video clips in your stories. A story is an announcement that a new video or photo is on your site.
Anyone can tap your IG profile photo and your story displays.
Link Story & Highlight to Your IGTV
- Open the IGTV video you’d like to share to your story.
- Tap
.
Static IGTV Share does not tell the story.
- Tap Add video to your story. You can also add text, stickers or filters.
- When you’re ready to share it, tap Send To.
- Next to Your Story, tap Share.
A better way
Sharing your IGTV video to your stories’ channel may not be the best way to create a story.
The automated Share from IGTV is very basic as it just takes a snapshot of the video cover image. I
t does work but a better way is to upload a 15-second video that gives the flavor of the video and makes users want to see more.
Upload you video to your story (click on the + Sign under the Story button). Then:
- Click on the Link icon.
- Select the IGTV video you want to share.
- Select Done!
Your Promo Launch Platform
To see the Description on a smartphone, users click on the icon at the end of the title
Now you have a story that will announce your news and, if you like, you can promote it. Remember: it will disappear in 24 hours.
You can also Promote the Highlight at any time.
Both are teasers that link to your IGTV video.
Your post also links to IGTV (but you can’t promote it or the IGTV).
Clickable Links in IGTV
The great news is that you can include a clickable link in the IGTV Video description.
Users will see the link and can click on it to go to your website or wherever you link too.
To see the description, users just tap the arrow icon following the post title.
These IGTV links are open to all.
Unlike stories that require you to have 10,000 followers, IGTV videos can include links no matter how many followers you have.
IGTV Clickable links make Instagram a competitive business alternative to YouTube and others.
Marketing Clients with IGTV
This means you can promote your clients and your own business with high quality videos and clickable links on Instagram. Instagram marketers may offer clients a service that includes:
- Create and publish an IGTV video
- Create a post that links to IGTV
- A Story and Highlight
- Paid promotion of stories and highlights
- Syndication and social media promotion/advertising of any or all of these elements
- A service on client’s own website
- Your Influencer sites: Access to your influence, followers and promo reach
- Embed IGTV on a blog promoting the destination, package or product.
The list goes on. Your blog can be featured on Google News, which will create high authority with a quality brand footprint and expose the brand to a wide audience. Refer to our Instagram tutorials for ideas and tips on general insta-marketing.
Embed IGTV
Pros & Cons of Instagram TV
Pros
The beauty of IGTV is clickable links. Instagram is very restrictive about marketing on its platform. They do not allow links unless you are paying to promote a post. They restrict links as they want the site to be about sharing and not affiliate marketing, self promotion or overtly commercial. For this reason it has become a high authority trusted site.
Now with IGTV you can add links into the description and users may click to your site of clients you may be promoting. This puts IGTV on the same footing as YouTube and other what have always allowed links. Also with the ability to link your post preview, your story and highlights to your IGTV link you can have at least 3 links to the TV video. You can promote the story and highlight as teaser that will drive traffic to you TV video and allow users to click to your website.
Cons
The preview Post looks just like a regular post but it is actually just a preview of the TV version. It has the sane URL. You cant promote the post. Also you can not at this time promote the TV Video. This seems counter intuitive. Most other platforms allow you to promote your main video but NOT Instagram. At least not now! You can promote the Story and Highlight, but it is an indirect link- That is you promote the highlight and you can link it to the TV Video, But users then have two click (Story and IGTV), And the IGTV link is hidden and only visible if users click on the description. That may not be most effective.. You may be better off linking your promotion directly to ythe URL in the IGTV- If so its you may embed the IGTV in your blog (as above)
On the plus side you van promote everything off site. You may embed it blogs, syndicate it and share it on social media.
(C) Ian R. Clayton
Digital Media Author, Blogger – Videographer
Twitter
Recent Comments