When IGTV came out I thought, “Nice, a new marketing channel!”
Video is a powerful medium. In their 2020 report, Wyzowl shared that 80% of video marketers claim that video has directly increased sales.
However, every time I looked into how to use the platform, I couldn’t figure out how in the world to sign up to use IGTV and get my first video loaded onto the platform. Let’s just say I was starting to feel a bit old.
Thankfully, I now finally have a simple answer on how to get started on IGTV thanks to an amazing intern and I’m excited to share it with you.
1. Create your first video for the platform
Your video will need to be between 1 minute and 15 minutes if you’re uploading from your mobile phone, or 1 minute and 60 minutes if you’re uploading from your web browser. I think it is MUCH easier to upload these videos from your web browser, which will give you a lot more flexibility.
2. Create a cover for your photo
The recommended cover photo size is 420px by 654px… however, a 1080 px x 1920 px (Instagram story dimensions) image can be scaled down to work. One of these easiest ways to get started is to go to Canva and start with one of their IG story templates. Be sure to consider how your cover will look within your profile “tiles” if you decide to put a preview of the video on your profile (which I highly recommend doing to let your audience know this new resource exists). Once you’ve developed a Canva format that works well for your branding, you can “duplicate it” on the platform and update it with a new cover image/title for future videos.
3. Upload your video
To use your web browser to upload your videos. Go to your Instagram profile and then click on the IGTV tab:
Once you’ve uploaded the video, you can add a caption similar to your standard Instagram tile posts.
When I publish my IGTV posts, I always will share a preview to the video within my home page tiles. I’ll also share the post in my IG stories, since that’s where I get the most engagement with my audience on the platform.
Thanks to IGTV, I now have a library of content that I’ve created focused on serving innovators and entrepreneurs that can be accessed from my main Instagram profile at any time.
I view my social media presence as an opportunity to build relationships and IGTV has allowed me to create evergreen content that is impactful and let’s new followers get to know the type of value I can bring to their business right off the bat.
If you want to add video content to your Instagram strategy, I highly recommend you give IGTV a try!
