IGTV – One of the Greatest Tools for Video Marketing
November 26, 2018
Instagram surprised many when they announced that they would be releasing a new feature to the Instagram platform – IGTV, or Instagram TV. If you haven’t heard by now, video marketing is where it’s at when it comes to creating an engaging and successful marketing campaign. Virtually all major companies with an online presence are well aware of this, and Instagram is no exception.
IGTV – What Is It?
IGTV, or Instagram TV, is a feature on Instagram that allows users to post videos that can last up to 60 minutes long! It has been dubbed as the direct competitor to Snapchat’s Discovery section, which allows longer videos than what is typically allowed on a regular story post.
Why Is It So Important?
Social media users are consuming more video content now than ever before. It is engaging, easy to absorb, and most importantly keeps viewers focused – which is extremely important as content continues to get shorter to accommodate shortened attention spans overall.
IGTV can be utilized to support your video marketing campaign, especially if your target audience consists of those in Generation Y & Z. What is even more interesting is that you can create content on a budget and upload it for free onto IGTV. This is one of the best advantages that IGTV is able to offer, especially if you’re marketing for a smaller business.
If you still aren’t convinced, you will be once you understand that video is projected to:
- Claim more than 80% of all web traffic by 2019
- Boost email click-through rates by 200-300%
- Increase conversion rates by 80%
- Guide nearly 90% of consumers to a final purchase
In addition, James L. McQuivey, Vice President and Principal Analyst of Forrester has estimated that a single minute of video is equivalent to 1.8 million words.
What are the Technical Requirements?
Before creating content and posting to IGTV, it is extremely important to be aware of the requirements and limitations that IGTV has in regard to what kind of files can be uploaded.
Video Length
Videos that are uploaded to IGTV from unverified accounts must be between 15 seconds and 10 minutes long. If your account is verified, you may post videos up to 60 minutes long. Videos that are longer than 10 minutes and posted to a verified account must be uploaded from a computer and not a mobile device.
Video File Type
For those who take video directly from their smartphone and upload through the Instagram app, it is likely that you will not have to worry about the filetype that is being uploaded to your IGTV account.
If you are uploading video from your computer, ensure that the file is in the .MP4 file format.
Video Resolution and Size
The video resolution and size are extremely important, and you should make sure you understand exactly what type of resolution you should have your file in before uploading to the Instagram platform. If you upload videos that have a higher resolution type than that is supported by Instagram, Instagram will compress your video which ultimately degrades the overall quality.
To avoid having your videos compressed and displayed in a lower quality, ensure that your video is:
- Vertical and in the aspect ratio of 9:16.
- Rendered with a minimum frame rate of 30 FPS (frames per second).
- Rendered with a minimum resolution of 720 pixels.
- 650MB or less for videos that are less than 10 minutes long.
- 6GB or less for videos that are longer than 10 minutes long.
