6 videos tips for your Instagram marketing strategy

Manvi Agarwal of Social Pilot highlights shares how brands can leverage different video formats to evolve with the evolving nature of Instagram, as a platform. Build your Instagram Marketing Strategy basis these tips.  

When Instagram was first launched, it was all about the pictures. Today, brands and marketers identify it more as a visual platform. While photos remain at the core of Instagram, the number of videos created daily has quadrupled from 2017.

Share them on the feed or as stories, videos receive 38% more engagement than image posts and 2.1X the number of comments. Since 81% of marketers agree that engagement is the most critical metric for defining social media success, Instagram video marketing presents a greater opportunity for brands to visually represent themselves.

Also read: Instagram Branded Content is now available for IGTV

With more than 25 million business profiles and over 200 million users visiting at least one business profile each day, Instagram can be a difficult social media platform for brands to master. Without the right strategy, it’s easy for their Instagram profile to become another needle in the haystack.

It’s easy to think, “One should create more videos”. But for actually starting to create videos, the first step lies in deciding the type of video you would want to use. The sky's the limit, to maximize your impact with Instagram video marketing. There are 6 types of marketing videos that reliably do well on Instagram.

1. Branding videos

Focused on brand awareness, such videos are designed to be shown to cold audiences. The video content revolves around the product or service sold by the brand and often features a unique selling proposition.

Taj Hotels, a global chain of luxury hotels, does that remarkably well with branding videos that showcase a more human side of their business. They help to nurture a relationship with their prospective customers.

However, branding videos are
more of an introduction than a hard sell. Alternatively, you can also take your
viewers behind-the-scenes to promote your processes and highlight the unedited
side of your brand. Show a small portion of what you do behind the curtains by
speeding up the video. Time-lapse Instagram videos are quite engaging and
perform well.

2. Product videos

Research has shown that 65% of top-performing posts on
Instagram feature products, and videos are no exception. Your audience will
follow you either because you share entertaining content or you are an expert
in a particular field. 

Therefore, don’t miss out on the opportunity to feature your offerings with videos. The three ways to showcase the benefits of your service or product are:

• A demo video on how to make the most of your service
• A short conversation with a customer on how they use your product
• A simple listing of key features with on-screen text

To promote their tea set collection, online decor store Chumbak created a short video with an influencer. 

Product videos aim to explain why a particular product or service is needed in your customer’s life.

3. Tutorials

Makeup is an art form, and how beauty brands leverage Instagram to educate their audience is worth mentioning.

The perfect platform for offering a quick burst of inspiration, Instagram is used extensively by brands such as Fenty Beauty by Rihanna, KKW Beauty and The Body Shop to educate viewers about contouring, winged eyeliner, and applying liquid lipstick.

In the video below, Fenty Beauty organized a Latina and Arabic makeup tutorial to promote their Moroccon Spice Palette.

Further, micro-tutorials work great for DIY tips as they help viewers in solving a problem quickly. 

4. Testimonials

For a majority of your audience, their search starts with customer reviews. The reason being, reviews are candid. They’re not filled with marketing jargon and meaningless buzzwords. They’re the words of people like you and me. They are the most persuasive pieces of content that a potential buyer will refer to. 

Mia by Tanishq, a jewelry brand, does that well by sharing customer testimonials in a story-like format.

These videos show a real customer explaining thoroughly what makes your brand so good. This seldom leaves doubt in the mind of the viewer that you are authentic. When buying from brands that you have never experienced offline, customer review videos build trust. Nurture your audience by sharing genuine videos. If the user shares negative feedback, ensure that you resolve their issue. 

5. User-generated content

When a potential customer sees
a photo from a person rather than a brand, they have a 4.5% higher chance of a
conversion. Add more
variety (and authenticity) to your Instagram feed.

UK-based Boucleme, a company that sells products designed for curly hair, not only shares its customer endorsements but also the best practices and tutorials for using their products right. 

Therefore, whether it is your products, events, or educational content, if your customers have something good to say about it, share that on Instagram. 

6. Live videos

Live videos on Instagram are a rage. Over 100 million users either watch or create live video daily. Brands have an excellent window of opportunity to engage more consumers every time they do a live video.

Further, Than Fitness, a gym studio did a live video on the platform to showcase their workout. The energy in the video is palpable.

Conduct Q&A’s, announce the latest product arrivals, do tutorials, and answer user questions - there’s so much live video content that can be produced in real-time. And when people know it’s happening in real-time, they are going to sit up and take notice of your content.

Wrapping up

Engagement is fundamental to Instagram. If you play your cards right, you can build a loyal community on the platform - one that helps your brand grow. To get potential customers to be interested in your content, spend time in your video marketing strategy.

With the six types of videos mentioned above, your business profile can become one of the most valuable assets in your marketing mix. How do you plan to begin with the process? Let us know in the comments below.

This piece is authored by Manvi Agarwal, Associate Marketing Manager, SocialPilot.