IGTV holds the keys to true consumer engagement: three ways to get your brand more involved
It’s 2018 and Instagram has never been a bigger part of the culture.
IGTV can boost a brand's presence online
The network has 1 billion active monthly users, uploading 95 million posts, with a third of active users watching and posting Stories every day.
Where else can you learn how to floss, before being tagged in a @poundlandbandit meme – only after you’ve taken a top-down photo of your brunch, and selfied with a dog.
These days users have three ways of interacting with friends, family, influencers, celebrities, and brands.
THE GRID
Since users realised that 70% of posts never see the light of day on the feed, the grid has obviously declined in popularity. However, it is still a large part of the Instagram experience – offering beautifully curated photos and lifestyle imagery.
STORIES
Stories are rough and ready bursts of entertainment that self-destruct after just 24 hours. Users can stitch together weird and wonderful combos of photos, videos, stickers, and, now, soundtracks to tell stories to their followers.
IGTV
If Stories are the Instagram version of Snapchat, then IGTV is YouTube. Instagram’s new function has given users a way to create and host long-form video content that lives in a permanent archive.
If you’re a brand, the possibilities of IGTV are endless. You can go deep with your core consumers, you can bring new people into your brand world, and you can experiment to see if there’s new audiences for your old content archive.
Top influencers such as Lucy Williams are already creating exclusive content for IGTV. These influencers are keeping their engagement metrics high by using formats that they know their audience respond to, keeping them on the platform for longer.
Gucci went back to the archives and uploaded every runway presentation since 2015. The result? The brand has gained over 400k views across their back catalogue. Thus, reinforcing brand love.
Netflix released a video that is literally 1 hour of a fan-favourite actor eating a cheeseburger and amazingly more than 700,000 people tuned in for the privilege.
WANT TO GET YOUR BRAND MORE INVOLVED?
Here’s three simple questions to ask yourself before you jump in...
1: WHO IS WATCHING?
Fans don’t have to be following you to find you. IGTV has an open brand name search, as well as ‘videos for you’ tab, based on your previous engagement, and the ‘popular tab’, based on what the world is watching.
2: WHAT’S THE POINT?
The best performers on Instagram are known for a single purpose. What is the thing you want to be known for? How can you add value to your audience? Are there any gaps in your current Instagram content that could be answered with longer form video? Is there something that will generate news for you brand?
3: WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO WORK WITH?
Jumping into IGTV at the start doesn’t have to be a faff! Think – how can you work this additional channel into upcoming shoots and content plans? Have you got a shoot coming up? Are there any existing social videos that you could re-edit and find a new audience for?
In an online world where the newsfeed has become a battleground for consumer attention. It’s never been more important to forge deeper connections with your consumer.
So, take stock, act fast and learn later with IGTV.
Charlotte Willcocks, senior strategist, Impero
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