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Create engaging videos on Instagram to boost your brand online - by Brad Smith - AutomationLinks

Brad Smith • Sep 04, 2020

This blog post has been researched, edited, and approved by expert Hannah Peake. Join our newsletter below to get our free marketing guides.

Our best performing ads online are video ads. Read this article to learn why you should create engaging videos to get more customers online.

Our world today is a digital one and incorporating the digital sphere in marketing efforts has become more of a necessity rather than an option. Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc provide brands a lot of opportunities to showcase themselves in the most creative ways possible.

These platforms are a space where you can interact with your audience on a large scale directly. It does not require you to shell out cash to implement a marketing strategy. A lot of people are on these platforms regularly and for long durations, it is only about knowing how to do things on these platforms to reap the benefits.

It is observed that the audience on social media platforms prefers visual content, video to be more specific. People tend to engage and interact more with live video streams rather than any other regular video.

People generally seem to connect better with video because the content is easier to consume in that format. A lot of brands today use video for promotions as it is a powerful tool to get the brand’s message across. People also tend to share videos more often than other types of content.

Why Instagram?

Instagram is a very popular app, especially among millennials. It is a powerful platform where people are free to upload videos and pictures . But it is not just that, how this app has scaled with users, it has to be an essential part of any business marketing strategy.
You need to have a plan though, and it needs to be planned well in advance if you want to see success. It is important to establish a unique identity for your brand visually on Instagram. For this to happen, you need to know your audience and you need to know them well. Otherwise, your promotional and advertising efforts will go unheard. Better learn about your audience while you can. To do this, there are some crucial questions you will need to ask. Understand why your audience visits your brand, what is it that they like in all that you offer? Do you have a target audience in mind? (You should) and are you reaching them successfully? And there needs to be a constant check on whether or not your marketing strategies are working.

Things to do on Instagram with what information you have

Any content you put out anywhere in the name of your brand, there needs to be an obvious value add for people who consume it. You can create short videos that creatively showcase your services or products.
The theme can be anything, it can be a motivational video, it can be funny or can appeal to the emotional side of people, they all work. Try to grab and retain the attention of your audience. With the kind of videos Instagram, it is easy to do this. You can get people to watch your entire video content, even if it is not exceptional. Crisply sharing information on your products helps people remember it well too. This information can be shared in various forms like posts, IGTV videos, or interactive stories comprising of music, polls, or questions.

Nature of videos

Product videos are quite popular and frankly, pretty informative for people looking to invest or learn more about their purchase. You describe a product, unbox it, showcase its features, and show all that it can do.
DIYs – ‘do it yourself’ videos are fun and interactive and it gives the audience something to try out on their own and then come back with feedback or recommendations.
BTS – ‘behind the scenes’ is another trending category of videos where the background efforts and bloopers of something that has already been created is shown. It is like an origin story for a product or video of a product. It adds authenticity.
Stories – These are great for a message you want to get across to people because it has a life span of only 24 hours. This also means you can add on every day.
Live videos – If you can get celebrities or influencers to collaborate, nothing like it. These are videos where people can interact with the speaker in real-time by commenting on the video. Live stream of events helps people feel like they are witnessing it at that very moment. It is very immersive.
Maker/founder intros – this is where you bring in testimonials and a few good words by the important people, like the owners of the business to explain certain personal aspects of the business so that the audience gets an understanding of the essence of the business.

Best practices on Instagram

Instagram was and probably will always be about great visual content. Stunning images are very popular and they get thousands of views and likes. You must always keep quality over quantity mindset when it comes to Instagram.
Instagram has constant updates; it is a platform that keeps changing. You need to be aware of these changes and trends and know what you can do with them. It is always safe to be up-to-date because your marketing strategy will be impacted by them. By staying updated and utilizing the new opportunities for marketing these changes bring you, you will continue to stay relevant. Your audience also gets the message that you are proactive on the platform and that you are doing your best to communicate with them. Believe it or not, there are optimal times when it comes to posting on Instagram. That’s right, you need to know that with the changing algorithm, posting during peak hours can be hugely beneficial for your brand. Hashtags are really important for businesses. This is a different method to gain followers and widen your visibility net. By adding relevant, trending, and popular hashtags, you will be helping yourself get easily discovered.
You can highlight the topic, brand, and the category it belongs to using hashtags, you might just appear on the explore page of people’s Instagram account and they might end up following you if they like what they see. Including and inspiring branded hashtags help in discovery, archiving content, and participating in worldwide trends. It gives people a chance to use it and get in on the fun too.

Less promotion, more presence

A lot of companies use social media platforms to sell products and services actively. This is not received very well among people because, after a point, all those ads become cumbersome. Even if you are a brand looking to grow and push your products, don’t make it an ‘in your face’ ordeal because that is just a bad look. People will get put off and they might never return to your page. Instead, use your creativity to come up with subtle ways to put out your products and services. But most importantly, use social media as a means to engage and communicate with people. Understand people’s needs and try to meet those needs.
You cannot build an empire for yourself on social media in a day. It takes some time and you will need to be patient. Your presence has to be consistent and something people can rely on. Establish a routine, if you say you will post videos every Saturday, make sure you do. Make sure your every post is well-aligned with what your brand stands for. Be in congruence with your brand’s image. Let the social media responsibilities be limited to a few who understand your company’s essence and let them carry it forward.

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