A recent upgrade to Instagram has sent shockwaves around the web. Back in February of 2020, Instagram made an announcement that they were striving to improve their IGTV feature and make it a serious competitor to YouTube and TikTok.
IGTV: what is it?
Instagram TV (IGTV) is Instagram’s platform for longer-form videos, and it has the potential to be a powerful promotional tool for your business. Series on Instagram is another name for this.
In June of 2018, Instagram introduced a new feature called “series,” which has a few perks. The most notable difference is that users can now upload films up to 20 minutes in length, as opposed to the 10 minute limit on Instagram Stories.
For those who are unfamiliar, please define a “IGTV series.”
You can arrange a weekly, monthly, or even daily release of a new video series if you’re committed to producing high-quality material on a consistent basis. The only constraints are time and money available for content creation.
Tips for Making an Instagram TV Show
One can produce an IGTV series in one of three ways. Using a platform like Instagram or the Facebook Creator Studio.
Film something
Start by shooting a video with either a 9:16 or 4:5 aspect ratio.
Duration should be between one and twenty minutes.
The video should be edited in the usual manner.
You can use a video editing programme to do things like crop the frame to the ideal IGTV dimensions, add subtitles, stickers, and music.
Final video should be loaded onto your phone.
Make a poster for your video on IGTV (4:5 aspect ratio).
The Instagram app must be open
When you’ve finished editing your video and are satisfied with how it turned out, you can upload it to Instagram by tapping the “+” button. The options you have to pick from are:
- Putting up a clip on Instagram that lasts no more than 30 seconds
- Putting up a longer-than-1-minute IGTV clip
- The second alternative is the better choice.
Make a new show for Instagram TV
The next step is to launch a brand-new series on Instagram TV. Select the “create new series option” and enter a title and description for your new series. The creators of an Instagram TV show need to consider the show’s premise, target audience, and standout features.
Compile your videos into an IGTV playlist
When you create a new series, you’ll see a “add to series” option where you can park your newly uploaded video. You can also choose to include a previously recorded video in the series you just made.
Adding a video to a series is as simple as tapping on the video, going to the “edit” tab under the IGTV video menu, and then tapping the “add to series” option.
Please provide a name and brief explanation
Now you can go ahead and give your video (or episode) a title and some brief context. You may think of this as the equivalent of an Instagram caption.
The IGTV caption can be formatted with emojis and hashtags to increase visibility on the explore page of your intended audience.
Add a preview and a cover photo
Select “Edit Cover Photo” and then “Add New Cover Photo from Camera Roll” to upload a new image as the thumbnail for your video. Click “next” to proceed with saving your chosen 4:5 aspect ratio image. You can also choose to post a 30-second clip from your IGTV video directly to your Instagram story. Before you go any further, make sure you’ve checked the “Share a Preview” box and saved your changes.
Indicator Post-it
When you’ve settled on a catchy headline, an appropriate cover photo, and a fitting caption, it’s time to push “post” and see what happens.
Make it known
Promoting your IGTV series on your Stories and letting your audience know when to anticipate future episodes is essential once your first episode has gone up.
What makes a good Instagram story?
Do you know what makes an IGTV series popular now that you know the steps to creating one?
You have only 30 seconds to capture their attention
The first 30 seconds are crucial if you want to keep your audience interested. You don’t want people to skip out on your video so soon after it starts playing.
Overcomplicating things by using a conventional video introduction or a music that will confuse or annoy viewers is a common mistake. Start your video with something interesting or captivating instead.
Prepare thoroughly for your IGTV uploads
Sounds contradictory, but you shouldn’t start shooting footage before you’ve done any planning or have a story in mind. Time wasted, effort put into editing, and an audience of zero await your efforts.
Invest some time in learning as much as you can about the things that fascinate your target market. Your customers, like everyone else, are on the constant lookout for new information and answers.
Include hashtags to increase exposure
You may increase the likelihood of people who aren’t already following your Instagram account discovering the videos in your series by using relevant hashtags in the films’ descriptions.
Watch some old IGTV clips
Making material that your audience enjoys is a certain strategy to keep making stuff that your audience enjoys. Instagram analytics will show you which videos were the most popular, so you can use that information to inform your next video strategy.