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Last updated: 1.6.23

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, businesses constantly seek innovative ways to promote their brand and connect with their audience. However, knowing where to focus your efforts can be challenging with the multitude of social media platforms available. 

You might wonder how to stand out from the crowd and effectively engage your audience. 

The answer could lie in an often-overlooked feature of one of the world’s most popular social media platforms: IGTV on Instagram. 

With its long-form video format, IGTV offers a unique opportunity for businesses to showcase their brand, connect with their audience, and drive business growth. 

Yet, many businesses are unsure of how to leverage this platform effectively. 

Imagine a future where your business is thriving on Instagram and leading the way in innovative, engaging content on IGTV.

A future where you’re reaching new audiences, building stronger relationships with your followers, and driving significant business growth. This future is within your reach.

This comprehensive guide explores how you can leverage IGTV for business growth. We’ll delve into creating engaging content, showcasing your brand, reaching new audiences, promoting your business, optimising your IGTV channel, and much more. 

By the end of this guide, you’ll have all the tools you need to make the most of IGTV and drive your business growth.

Introduction to IGTV

What is IGTV?

IGTV, or Instagram TV, is a feature on Instagram that allows users to upload long-form, vertical videos. 

It’s a platform that combines the best of Instagram’s photo-sharing capabilities with the power of video, similar to YouTube.

Why is IGTV important for businesses?

In the digital age, video content is king. IGTV provides businesses a platform to share engaging, high-quality video content directly with their followers. 

This can help to increase brand visibility, promote products and services, and connect with customers on a deeper level.

With Instagram now beating Snapchat in popularity, IGTV offers a unique opportunity for businesses to showcase their brand.

Breaking Down the Fourth Wall in Marketing with IGTV

Creating engaging content

IGTV is a platform that encourages creativity and engagement. It allows businesses to break down the fourth wall, a term borrowed from theatre that refers to the imaginary barrier between the audience and the performers. 

By breaking down this wall, businesses can invite their audience into their world, creating a sense of intimacy and connection that can be incredibly powerful.

Creating engaging content on IGTV involves more than just filming and uploading a video. It requires careful planning, creativity, and an understanding of your audience. 

What do they want to see? What kind of content will resonate with them? These are the questions you must ask yourself when planning your IGTV content.

One way to create engaging content is to showcase your brand’s personality. This could be through behind-the-scenes videos that show your team in action, Q&A sessions where you answer questions from your followers, or storytelling videos where you share your brand’s story. 

The key is to create authentic, relatable, and engaging content that showcases your brand’s unique personality.

Showcasing Your Brand

IGTV is a fantastic platform for showcasing your brand. It provides a space to share longer, more in-depth videos that give your audience a deeper insight into your brand, your values, and what you stand for.

One way to showcase your brand on IGTV is through behind-the-scenes content. This could be a tour of your office or workspace, a day in the life of a team member, or a behind-the-scenes look at how your products are made. 

This type of content can help to humanise your brand, showing the people and processes behind your products and services.

Another way to showcase your brand is through product sneak peeks. If you have a new product launching soon, you could create a series of IGTV videos that give your audience a sneak peek of the product. 

This can help to build anticipation and excitement for the product launch.

Finally, you could showcase your brand by sharing a day in the life of your CEO or another key figure in your company. 

This can help to humanise your brand, showing the people behind the business and giving your audience a deeper insight into your company culture and values.

Combining the Power of YouTube and Instagram

Reaching new audiences

IGTV, with its unique blend of YouTube’s long-form content and Instagram’s social networking features, provides businesses with an excellent opportunity to reach new audiences. 

This platform allows you to tap into Instagram’s vast user base while also taking advantage of the popularity of video content, much like YouTube.

Sharing your IGTV videos on both Instagram and YouTube can significantly increase your reach. Instagram’s algorithm favours content that keeps users on the platform for longer, which includes IGTV videos. 

This means that your IGTV content has a higher chance of being recommended to users, helping you reach a wider audience.

On the other hand, YouTube, with its 2 billion logged-in monthly users, offers an enormous potential audience for your content. 

By repurposing your IGTV videos for YouTube, you can reach a different demographic that may not be on Instagram, thereby attracting new followers and potential customers.

Remember, consistency is key when it comes to reaching new audiences. Regularly posting engaging, high-quality content on IGTV and YouTube will help you build a loyal audience over time.

Unique Ways to Promote Your Brand

IGTV offers businesses a unique platform to promote their brand. Unlike traditional advertising, which can often feel impersonal and sales-driven, IGTV allows you to connect with your audience more personally.

Creating high-quality, engaging video content is at the heart of successful IGTV promotion. This could include behind-the-scenes videos, product demonstrations, customer testimonials, or educational content. 

The aim is to provide value to your audience while subtly promoting your brand.

For instance, a behind-the-scenes video could give your audience a glimpse into your business’s day-to-day operations, humanising your brand and fostering a sense of trust. 

A product demonstration, on the other hand, could highlight the features and benefits of your product, persuading potential customers of its value.

Another unique way to promote your brand on IGTV is through collaborations. Partnering with influencers or other businesses in your industry can help you reach a wider audience and gain credibility.

Growing Your Brand’s Visibility with IGTV

Showcasing products or services

IGTV offers a unique platform for businesses to showcase their products or services more deeply and engagingly. 

Unlike traditional Instagram posts, IGTV allows longer videos, allowing you to delve deeper into the features and benefits of your offerings.

Product demonstrations are a powerful way to showcase your products on IGTV. These videos can highlight the unique features of your product, show it in action, and explain how it solves a problem or meets a need for your customers. 

This visual demonstration can be far more persuasive than static images or text descriptions.

Tutorials are another effective way to showcase your products or services. For example, a beauty brand could share a makeup tutorial using their products, or a tech company could share a tutorial on how to use their software. 

These tutorials demonstrate the value of your product and provide helpful content for your audience.

Customer testimonials can also be a powerful tool for showcasing your products or services. 

Sharing videos of real customers talking about their positive experiences with your product can build trust and persuade potential customers to purchase.

Sharing Behind-the-Scenes Content

Behind-the-scenes content can effectively build trust and authenticity with your audience. This type of content gives your audience a glimpse into the inner workings of your business, showing them the people and processes behind your products.

A behind-the-scenes tour of your office or workspace can give your audience a sense of working at your company. 

This can help to humanise your brand and build a stronger connection with your audience.

Sharing a day in the life of a team member can also be a great way to showcase your company’s culture and values. 

This type of content can help to build a stronger connection with your audience and attract potential employees who align with your company culture.

Sneak peeks of developing new products can also be exciting for your audience. This type of content can build anticipation for your new product and give your audience a sense of being part of your brand’s journey.

Providing Educational Content

Consumers highly value educational content and can position your brand as an authority in your industry. IGTV is an excellent platform for sharing educational content, thanks to its long-form video format.

How-to guides and tutorials can be incredibly useful for your audience. Educational content can provide value to your audience and build trust in your brand, whether it’s a guide on using your product, a tutorial on a related topic, or an informative video about your industry.

Promoting Your Business with IGTV

Showcasing products or services

IGTV offers an excellent platform for businesses to showcase their products or services more comprehensively. 

Unlike traditional Instagram posts, which are often limited to a single image or a short video, IGTV allows for longer videos, allowing you to delve deeper into the features and benefits of your offerings.

Product demonstrations on IGTV can be particularly practical. These can be detailed, showing the product from various angles, highlighting its unique features, and demonstrating how it works. 

This visual representation can help potential customers understand your product better and see its value.

Tutorials are another great way to showcase your products or services on IGTV. For instance, a software company could share a step-by-step tutorial on using their software, or a fashion brand could share a tutorial on how to style their clothing. 

These tutorials provide value to your audience and demonstrate the practical use of your products or services.

Customer testimonials on IGTV can also be a powerful tool for showcasing your products or services. Real customers sharing their experiences with your product can be far more persuasive than any sales copy.

Sharing Customer Testimonials

Customer testimonials are a powerful tool for promoting your business, and IGTV provides a unique platform for sharing these testimonials. 

Unlike traditional text-based testimonials, video testimonials can convey emotion and authenticity, making them more engaging and persuasive.

Sharing customer testimonials on IGTV can help to build trust with your audience. Seeing real customers talking about their positive experiences with your product can reassure potential customers about the quality of your products and services.

Moreover, video testimonials allow customers to share their stories in their own words, adding authenticity that can be hard to achieve with text-based testimonials. 

This authenticity can help to build trust with your audience and persuade potential customers to choose your business.

Providing Educational Content

Educational content is a powerful tool for positioning your business as a leader in your industry. 

By sharing educational content, you can demonstrate your expertise, provide value to your audience, and build trust in your brand.

IGTV is an excellent platform for sharing educational content. Its long-form video format allows you to delve deeper into topics and provide more comprehensive information than traditional Instagram posts.

This could be through how-to guides, tutorials, or informative videos about your industry. 

For instance, a marketing agency could share a tutorial on creating a social media strategy, or a health food brand could share informative videos about nutrition and healthy eating.

Optimising Your IGTV Channel

Creating a consistent theme

Creating a consistent theme for your IGTV channel can significantly strengthen your brand identity. 

This consistency extends to the visual aesthetics of your videos, the type of content you produce, and even the tone of voice used in your videos.

A consistent visual aesthetic could include using the same filters, colour schemes, or graphics in all your videos. 

This helps to make your content instantly recognisable to your audience and reinforces your brand identity.

Consistency in the type of content you produce is also important. If your audience knows they can always turn to your IGTV channel for educational content, behind-the-scenes insights, or product demonstrations, they’re more likely to return.

Finally, maintaining a consistent tone of voice in your videos can help to reinforce your brand personality. 

Whether your brand is fun and quirky, serious and professional, or warm and friendly, ensuring this personality shines through in all your videos can help to build a stronger connection with your audience.

Read this comprehensive guide for more tips on creating a consistent brand voice across your social media channels, including IGTV.

If you’re unsure about managing your IGTV channel, consider hiring a professional. To understand the costs involved, check out this article on how much you should pay someone to manage your social media.

Using Hashtags

Hashtags are a powerful tool for increasing the visibility of your IGTV videos. By using relevant hashtags, you can increase the likelihood of your videos being discovered by new audiences.

When choosing hashtags for your IGTV videos, it’s essential to consider relevance and searchability. 

Your hashtags should be relevant to your video’s content and your target audience’s interests. They should also be hashtags your target audience will likely search for.

Remember, while it’s important to use popular hashtags, using less popular, more niche hashtags can also be beneficial. 

These can be less competitive, increasing your chances of discovering your video.

Instagram is constantly evolving, even testing new ways to use hashtags. Stay updated with the latest trends to maximise your IGTV visibility.

Promoting Your IGTV Content on Other Platforms

Promoting your IGTV content on other social media platforms can help to increase your reach and attract new followers. 

This could be sharing a preview of your IGTV video on your Instagram feed, a link to your IGTV video on Twitter, or embedding your IGTV video on your website.

Sharing a preview of your IGTV video on your Instagram feed can help to generate interest and drive your followers to your IGTV channel. 

This can be particularly effective if you share a compelling clip that leaves your audience wanting more.

Sharing a link to your IGTV video on Twitter can help to reach a wider audience. This can be particularly effective if you have a large Twitter following or if your video is relevant to a trending topic.

Embedding your IGTV video on your website can help increase your video’s visibility and drive traffic to your IGTV channel. 

This can be particularly effective if your video is relevant to the content on your website or if you have a high-traffic website.

In addition to organic promotion, consider using paid media online to boost the reach of your IGTV content.

Connecting with Followers Using Longer Videos

Sharing tutorials

Tutorials are an excellent way to provide value to your audience and showcase your expertise. They offer practical, step-by-step guidance on how to do something, making them highly valuable to viewers. 

IGTV, with its long-form video format, provides the perfect platform for sharing more in-depth tutorials.

For instance, if you’re a tech company, you could share tutorials on how to use your software. You could share makeup tutorials using your products if you’re a beauty brand. 

These tutorials provide value to your audience and subtly promote your products.

Remember, the key to a successful tutorial is clarity and simplicity. Ensure your instructions are easy to follow, and consider using graphics or text overlays to reinforce key points.

Product Demos

Product demos are a powerful way to showcase your products and services. They allow you to demonstrate the features and benefits of your product, showing potential customers why they should choose your product over competitors.

IGTV is an excellent platform for sharing product demos. Its long-form video format lets you go into more detail than a traditional Instagram post, showing your product in action and explaining its features in depth.

For instance, if you’re a tech company, you could share a demo of your software in action. If you’re a fashion brand, you could share a demo of how to style one of your garments differently.

Remember, the key to a successful product demo is to focus on the benefits, not just the features. 

Show your audience how your product can solve a problem or improve their life, rather than just listing its features.

Interviews with Industry Experts

Interviews with industry experts can help to position your business as a leader in your industry. They provide valuable insights and advice, making them highly valuable to your audience.

IGTV, with its long-form video format, is the perfect platform for sharing interviews. You can delve deeper into topics, ask more in-depth questions, and provide more value to your audience than a traditional Instagram post.

For instance, if you’re a marketing agency, you could interview a leading marketing expert about the latest trends in digital marketing. 

If you’re a health food brand, you could interview a nutritionist about the benefits of a healthy diet.

Remember, the key to a successful interview is preparation. Ensure you thoroughly research your interviewee and your topic and prepare a list of questions that will provide value to your audience.

Encouraging and Responding to Comments

One of the critical aspects of social media, including IGTV, is interaction. Encouraging your audience to leave comments on your IGTV videos and taking the time to respond can significantly enhance the connection with your audience. 

It also increases engagement on your videos, which can help to boost their visibility on the platform.

You can encourage comments by asking questions in your videos, prompting viewers to share their thoughts or experiences. 

Make sure to monitor the comments section and respond promptly. This interaction shows your audience that you value their input and helps to build a community around your brand.

Using IGTV’s Interactive Features

IGTV has several interactive features that can help increase engagement and drive traffic to your website or other social media platforms. 

For instance, you can add clickable links in the video description. This can be particularly useful to direct viewers to your online store, a blog post, or any other relevant webpage.

In addition, IGTV allows you to add a poll or Q&A to your video. These features can be used to gather feedback, understand your audience’s preferences, or simply engage your viewers in a fun and interactive way.

Collaborating with Other Brands or Influencers

Collaborations can be a great way to reach a wider audience and bring fresh content to your IGTV channel. 

This could involve creating a joint video with another brand with a similar target audience. 

For instance, a fitness clothing brand could collaborate with a health food brand to create a video about workouts and nutrition tips.

Alternatively, you could collaborate with an influencer in your industry. This could involve interviewing the influencer, having them take over your IGTV for a day, or creating a product review or demonstration. 

Influencer collaborations can help to increase your brand’s credibility and reach a wider audience.

Businesses That Have Successfully Used Igtv For Marketing

Many businesses have successfully used IGTV for marketing. Here are some examples:

  1. Social Media Examiner reports that businesses in the fashion, beauty, and food industries successfully use IGTV to reach their audience on Instagram (1).
  2. Skillslab.io notes that businesses can use IGTV to showcase their products or services, share behind-the-scenes content, or provide educational content (2).
  3. Social Media Examiner suggests using IGTV to grow your brand’s visibility with a new Instagram audience. Businesses can use IGTV to showcase their products or services, share behind-the-scenes content, or provide educational content (3).
  4. Grow Real Followers provides tips on using IGTV to effectively promote your business on Instagram. Strategies include creating engaging content, using hashtags, and promoting your IGTV content on other social media platforms (4).
  5. Digital Stand suggests businesses can leverage IGTV to break down the fourth wall in marketing and completely transform the customer experience. Businesses can let customers into their world by creating fun and engaging content that showcases their brand (5).

Overall, businesses in various industries have successfully used IGTV for marketing by creating engaging content, showcasing their products or services, and providing educational content. 

By leveraging the unique features of IGTV, businesses can reach their audience on Instagram in a new and exciting way.

In Summary

IGTV offers a unique and powerful tool for businesses looking to grow and promote their brand. 

You can build a stronger connection with your followers and drive business growth by creating engaging content, showcasing your products and services, reaching new audiences, and optimising your IGTV channel.

Remember, consistency and authenticity are the keys to success on IGTV, as with any social media platform. 

Regularly post high-quality, engaging content that reflects your brand personality, and don’t be afraid to show the human side of your business. 

Engage with your audience, respond to comments, and use IGTV’s interactive features to build a community around your brand.

Collaborations with other brands or influencers can also be a great way to reach a wider audience and bring fresh content to your IGTV channel. And don’t forget to promote your IGTV content on other platforms to increase your reach.

With these strategies, you’re well-equipped to leverage IGTV for business growth. So why wait? Start exploring the potential of IGTV today and watch your business thrive.

As you start exploring the potential of IGTV today, keep an eye on the future trends in social media marketing in the UK to stay ahead of the curve.

FAQs

Can I monetise my IGTV videos?

Instagram has introduced IGTV ads, allowing creators and businesses to earn revenue from their IGTV content. However, there are specific eligibility criteria that need to be met.

Can I schedule IGTV videos in advance?

Currently, Instagram doesn’t offer a native feature to schedule IGTV videos. However, you can use third-party social media management tools that offer this feature.

Can I see analytics for my IGTV videos?

Yes, Instagram provides insights for IGTV videos, which include views, likes, comments, and average percentage watched. You can access these insights by clicking the “…” button on your IGTV video and selecting “View Insights”.

About the Author

Des Dreckett

Des Dreckett is the eCommerce and growth Marketing Director of XenMediamarketing.co.uk: a writer, blogger and a paid media specialist.

Writing content to help you grow and build your business.

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