Instagram has slowly evolved to include not only its signature glamorous pics, but also short video format (stories) and as of June of 2018, longer videos, AKA, IGTV. Are you in on this new marketing outlet?
Instagram’s first move towards video format was Instagram Stories. These seemed in the beginning, a blatant copy of Snapchat’s very own Stories. To be fair, Facebook (Instagram’s owner) did try on several occasions to buy Snapchat. Nevertheless, they persevered and refused. So Facebook took tried a new business strategy. Tomato, tomato.
Either way, the strategy has worked. Instagram stories have been the best move for the company in the last years. According to Recode, Instagram stories have attracted 400+ million daily users and supercharged the way in which people share and consume things online. Although Snapchat keeps growing steadily, Instagram has simply blown through the roof with the addition of stories. More so, stories seem to be a key part of the longer time users are spending in the app: while in June 2017 people spent an average of 28 minutes per day in it, by June 2018 this had almost doubled to reach 53 minutes per day.
Cue the birth of IGTV. This is a new standalone app that features long videos of up to 10 minutes or up to 60 minutes if you are verified or popular enough. Because this is a new way of communicating with your community, and given it is integrated with the main Instagram app, IGTV offers a realm of possibility for marketers.