Instagram Video Marketing: A Beginner’s Guide for 2023

Internet users watch videos for an average of 19 hours every week.

Image via Wyzowl

This popularity of video content is one of the reasons why you should be giving Instagram video marketing more attention.

In addition, videos on Instagram receive 2x more shares than other content formats.

This high engagement makes Instagram videos a great visual storytelling tactic to show the world who you are and what you have to offer.

With over 2 billion users worldwide, Instagram marketing also provides an excellent opportunity to build your customer base.

That’s not all.

According to Veedyou, 72% of Instagram users have bought a product after viewing a video on the platform, meaning it’s great for conversions too.

Are you convinced that building a strong Instagram video marketing strategy will accelerate your business growth?

Let’s see how you can create one.

Best Practices for Creating an Instagram Video Marketing Strategy

Here are 3 items you should check off your list to create a powerful Instagram video marketing strategy.

Know Your Audience

You could have one of the most creative video ideas or a killer Instagram video marketing strategy.

But if you’re targeting the wrong people, your efforts will go in vain.

Knowing your target audience makes it possible to understand their needs and interests. You’re able to create videos that can engage, intrigue, and motivate them.

How do you define your Instagram audience?

Here are some pointers.

• Re-use the information you used to create your buyer persona to identify your Instagram target audience.
• If you don’t have buyer personas, ask yourself who your typical customer is. Who would benefit from your product? Who is it designed for?
• Check the demographics of the followers of your direct competitors.
• Assess your existing followers. Analyze the demographics of the people already showing an interest in your content.

Combine the data you collect to paint a clear picture of your ideal audience and develop your videos for them.

Set Your Goals

Setting goals for Instagram video marketing will guide your content creation. It’ll also help you evaluate the effectiveness of your strategies in achieving your goals.

Some common Instagram video marketing goals include:

• Creating brand awareness
• Improving your brand’s reputation
• Building website traffic
• Generating quality leads
• Boosting conversions

You can use Instagram Insights tools to track your progress towards achieving these goals. Just know there are API Instagram rules to be aware of. These tools will help you provide real time insights about your Instagram campigns.

Make Your Account Worth Following

You’re not ready to implement an Instagram video marketing strategy if your bio (and account) is not up to par.

Craft a compelling bio that nudges your audience to follow your brand. And avoid being too obvious about your intention to advertise your products.

Check out Dove’s profile, for instance.

Straightaway, a user is able to identify Dove’s values, the kind of posts they’re likely to share, and there is a link leading to Dove’s causes—nothing overly promotional. Yet, it would attract their target audience.

6 Tips for Effective Instagram Video Marketing

Here are some tactics you can use to effectively carry out an Instagram video marketing campaign.

1. Leverage User-Generated Content (UGC)

User-generated content is an effective form of Instagram video marketing. It’s content created by people, instead of brands.

Ask your followers to record videos while using your product and tag your account or use a branded hashtag. It’ll have two advantages:

• Your brand will have exposure to new audiences (the UGC creator’s followers).
• You’ll have content you can repurpose for your own account.

The best part about UGC is that once you acknowledge a few of your customers’ content, more customers will feel motivated to create UGC.

Research from TINT shows that 91% of consumers will share content about your brand if they see you are re-sharing your customers’ content.

See how GoPro does it.

Image via Instagram

User-generated content boosts the authenticity and credibility of your content too.

Why is that?

The same research from TINT shows that 72% of consumers believe reviews and testimonials from customers are more authentic than a brand’s conversations about its own products. Makes sense too, right?

Using UGC in your Instagram video marketing campaign will also boost:

• Trust
• Engagement
• Brand loyalty
• Conversions

2. Make Use of Instagram Shopping

Image via Instagram

Instagram Shopping is a feature that allows you to add shopping tags to your posts. Your followers can explore the videos of your best products and shop directly on Instagram by clicking on these tags.

The customers are able to make the purchase in the moment of discovery instead of heading to your store first. This improves their purchase experience and increases the chances of conversions too.

You can set up product pages, where customers can get details of the products, such as prices and descriptions. Or, you can categorize products into themes, such as new arrivals, sales, etc.

What’s more?

Instagram Shopping is not just for organic posts. You can sell your product by organising live event on Instgram Live. It is a best live stream video shopping platform to sell your product in live online shopping. You can add product tags to your ads as well.

Here are the steps you should follow to use shopping features in Instagram video marketing.

Image via Instagram

3. Provide Value

Instagram video marketing shouldn’t be all about posting promotional content. You must show your followers what makes your products great by using short demonstrative videos.

Or, develop an educational video series that your followers look forward to every week.

You can also create entertaining videos or share clips that can start captivating conversations. The aim here is to give your followers a reason to keep following you and engaging with your content.

Here’s an example of Nespresso sharing an iced-coffee recipe that involves the use of their Nespresso Vertuo Machine.

Image via Instagram

They don’t just offer a bunch of benefits of using the Nespresso Vertuo Machine, but provide a step-by-step recipe that their followers can use (value). In the process, they show how their machine is instrumental in bringing the best results.

What else?

You can choose best Instagram influencers as per your niche. For example, if you deal in skincare products then you can hire the best skincare influencers on Instagram and ask them to create and post video about your products.

4. Create Videos in Advance

Posting content consistently and when your audience is most active is important for the success of your Instagram video marketing strategy.

But I know you’re busy.

So, here is a solution—create your videos in advance when you have time on your hands and schedule the posts for the most appropriate publishing time.

Posting at the right time is important for making the most out of the Instagram algorithm. Publishing when your audience is the most active will help your content appear at the top of your followers’ feeds.

Scheduling posts also ensures:

• Consistency even when you’re super busy
• High engagement rates
• High-quality videos

5. Use Closed Captions

Over 5% of the world’s population has disabling hearing loss.

And only 60% of Instagram users listen to Stories with the sound on.

This is in addition to users who watch social media videos like IG strategies on Reels while commuting, traveling, or in environments where they might not watch the video with sound on.

These are just a few reasons that show the importance of making your videos accessible by using captions.

Using captions in your Instagram video marketing content will:

• Improve your video’s discoverability
• Improve the average watch time
• Increases comprehension

So, you should transcribe your video before posting it. Or if you want to know how to make short videos, use Instagram’s editing function to add text.

6. Respond to Comments

About half of people worldwide feel more connected to a business if they’re able to message it. This means your followers want you to communicate with them.

As they engage with you, engage back.

Respond to comments, both positive and negative. Your responses should show that you care what your followers have to say. Do the same for while reacting to Instagram messages.

Engaging more with your audience can spur greater engagement.

What’s more?

Keep in mind that many people turn to social media for customer service. See this post on Boohoo’s page, for instance.

Image via Instagram

The comment is from an unsatisfied customer but Boohoo responds promptly and positively.

Handle both positive and negative comments with the same positivity and enthusiasm you would handle official customer service inquiries. It’ll benefit your overall brand reputation and help impact customer behavior too.

Boost Conversions Using Instagram Video Marketing

It’s never too late to create an effective Instagram video marketing strategy.

Apply these Instagram video marketing tips to:

• Create positive sentiments about your brand by interacting with your followers.
• Increase conversions by creating shoppable posts.
• Increase your reach and boost credibility and trust in your brand by leveraging UGC.
• Build a loyal following by creating accessible and valuable video content.

Ready to experience these benefits and improve business growth? Start forming your Instagram video marketing strategy now.