In recent news, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, announced that “Instagram is no longer a photo sharing app”, and that Instagram will be focusing on four key areas: Creators, Video, Shopping and Messaging. We wanted to break down what this means for retailers, and how the small business community can follow the direction Instagram is taking.
We shared more about Adam’s announcement with the focus on Messaging, one of the 4 key areas, in our blog, “Direct Messaging: 3 Strategies Retailers Should Focus On Following Instagram’s Announcement”. Check it out to get more details on what changes we believe Instagram will be making.
In this blog, we’re sharing more insight on how Instagram will be focusing on Video as a key area, and how retailers can adjust their social media strategies to focus on Video as well.
Adam said, “The number one reason people say they use Instagram, in research, is to be entertained. So people are looking to us for that”. Over the next few years, the Instagram team will be releasing new features and updates to help IG users be more entertained on their app, mostly using video. We suggest retailers take this as a big hint to invest more time into creating more video content.
Here are 5 types of Instagram videos to implement into your posting schedule:
The Crystal Media team has been talking about Reels consistently for over a year now, and how well they’ve been performing for retailers. This popularity doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon—actually quite the opposite! As Adam shares that “TikTok is huge”, and because Reels is the direct response to TikTok’s surge, IG will likely be heavily focusing on Reels over the next few years.
For retailers, we recommend increasing the number of Reels you make. We challenge you to post 2 or more Reels a week.
Tip:
A good way to keep up with Reels video creation is by downloading the IG Stories that you liked the most throughout the week, and uploading several of them in a Reel as a week’s recap of your store!
This content avenue is nothing new for Instagram users, as Stories is a beloved part of the IG experience. With a short life-span of 24 hours, retailers have the chance to get more candid on Stories and show more behind-the-scenes looks. We recommend converting most of your photo stories into video Stories, by filming a behind-the-scenes video, a talking video, or even filming a product instead of taking a simple photo!
Tip:
Use Engagement Stickers to help your audience interact with your Stories. Check out our blog post, “15 Instagram Hacks To Create Terrific Stories”, to learn which stickers work best for retailers.
Facebook Live has grown in popularity for retailers over the past 5 years, but we rarely see as many retailers using Instagram Live to reach their audiences. As Instagram is putting a focus on entertaining videos, IG Lives are a great way to connect with your audience and answer any questions they might have. This content type has the opportunity to be more conversational, as IG Lives can’t be pre-recorded, and the viewers have a chance to message directly with other viewers and the Live video host through the chat feature in a Live!
Tip:
Invite up to 3 other accounts to join you in a Live so each of their audiences gets notified that you’re going Live. This can help you grow your account and reach more IG users while also using one of Instagram’s latest new features for Lives!
IGTVs can be a great avenue to share long-form video on Instagram. Adam also said in his video, “We’re also going to be experimenting with how do we embrace video more broadly? Full screen, immersive, entertaining, mobile-first video.” As Adam remarked, IGTVs are a full- screen experience for viewers and seen as Instagram’s version of Youtube videos (by trying to get viewers to watch a video that is over 60 seconds long).
If you’re not occasionally posting an IGTV, you should consider doing so as it gives your viewers a type of content that they can enjoy for more than just a few seconds. If they want to see more from you, it’s likely that an IG user will head over to your IGTV section to do so.
Tip:
Once you’ve finished a Live video, post it to IGTV so more viewers can watch at their own convenience.
Carousels have been one of the top-performing post types on Instagram, which are made up of 10 or less images or videos in one post. We suggest including a video in your carousel posts to help boost post engagement and to use more video options. Instagram videos in carousels can be 60 seconds or less.
Tip:
Use a combination of photos and videos in a carousel post to engage the viewer with different content types.
We hope you’re able to implement these 5 Instagram video types into your content strategy to also focus on Video as a key area. If you’d like post ideas to create engaging videos for your business, check out our blog post, “100 Engaging Social Media Post Ideas for Retailers”, where we share dozens of different video ideas, including Reels, Lives, IGTVs and Stories that are specifically designed for retailers.
What I Want You To Take Away From This Blog:
- If a piece of content can be a video instead of an image, film a video.
- Use Instagram’s video filming and editing features.
- Be candid in IG Stories and Lives.
Okay, over to you…
How many ways are you using video on IG to provide entertainment to your audience? Let us know in the comments below.
Do you want help brainstorming video ideas for your small business? Send us a DM on Instagram and we’d be happy to help you come up with some content ideas for your store!
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