Instagram has grown in importance as a tool for small businesses to increase brand awareness and to establish a loyal customer base. Sure, huge businesses rule, but Instagram gives small businesses a chance to compete. Think about it, even a small retailer in a remote village has the chance to market his products to a captive audience. This would seem unheard of a few years ago, but technology has made it possible for business to become a level playing field. Furthermore, it has empowered entrepreneurs and given them a chance to shine.
Online video is proving to be a profitable venture for businesses. Instagram, which has over 1 billion monthly active users, is well worth your time when it comes to video content. Because Instagram’s video app, IGTV, is well-established, and now there’s a TikTok comparable feature called Reels, those who jump on board may enjoy the benefits later. In fact, Instagram statistics indicate that Reels content (short videos) get the most engagement
This article will explain all you need to know about using Instagram video to promote your brand and store.
Table of Contents
What Is Instagram Video Marketing?
The use of video content to create engagement and sales on Instagram is referred to as Instagram video marketing. Although you may post both videos and photographs on Instagram, Instagram data show that videos generate more engagement than static photos.
Types of Instagram Videos
Videos on your feed
Your feed will be the first thing your potential customers see when they visit your profile. As a result, it is critical to:
- Make sure your feed is well-organized.
- Keep your videos short and engaging.
- To make the Instagram algorithm work in your favor, plan and schedule when you will post to your feed. Take note of the post statistics to see what time attracts the most engagement and views.
Customers will be more likely to visit your page, check out your other stuff, and even follow you if you have a well-designed feed.
Video stories
Instagram Video Stories is a feature on Instagram that allows you to do what it says – tell stories. Video tales are more relaxed videos showing your company’s day-to-day operations. These videos provide your fans an insight into the personal aspect of your company so you have to choose the best instagram story ideas.
Making Instagram stories is a fun method to increase engagement and brand recognition, as well as enhance revenue if done correctly.
Instagram Live
Live videos are exactly what they sound like: they’re a live broadcast to your audience. It’s a fantastic way to communicate directly with your followers. Instagram’s most interactive video platform also allows followers to react in real-time, making it a very useful tool for receiving feedback and insights from your fan following.
IGTV (Instagram TV)
This form of video content on Instagram has its own application that enables lengthier videos while still broadcasting to your followers via your Instagram account. Longer films have the advantage of allowing you to include more information, making them more valuable and engaging to your audience.
Reels
Likes Instagram reels likes allows you to create and share short, interesting videos. Instagram Reels are short videos of up to 60 seconds. Reels like TikTok provide a collection of editing tools that allow users to produce engaging and entertaining video content. Multiple video clips, filters, captions, interactive backgrounds, stickers, and other elements can be included in reels.
How to Use Instagram Video to Promote your E-Commerce Store
Now that you know the different types of videos, you can see how Instagram videos can benefit your business in a variety of ways, but how does one maintain an engaged audience interested in their content?
The obvious one – create more content
For a long time, Instagram has been promoting video, and it’s evident how crucial video has become for small businesses. The beauty of Instagram videos is that they don’t require much in the way of production. Instagram users prefer videos that are raw and uncut. You can remix videos and post them in your feed, as well as clips in your stories and IGTV, once they’ve been created. Reels allow your followers to remix the reels you’ve created, which could help them feel like they are part of the brand.
Influencers
Influencer marketing is still one of the most effective strategies to quickly grow a following and revenues on Instagram.
You don’t have to work with celebrity influencers with millions of followers; instead, stay local. Micro influencers are more efficient to promote things to your local community. Find influencers and invite them to participate by simply DMing them. If you get your targeting right, you’ll be astonished at how many people are willing to collaborate with you.
Here’s how to identify influencers who can assist you with your online presence:
- Local hashtags that are related to your business can help you find them.
- Use Instagram’s “recommended” tool to find similar accounts.
- Examine your competitors’ influencers to identify who they’re collaborating with.
Thumbnails
Thumbnails are what people see when the video hasn’t started playing yet. All of us are veteran scrollers, so we are well aware of the fact that we only stop at posts that catch our eye. Therefore, having a good thumbnail is vital to attract an audience.
Keep them short
Reels already limits the time and allows for short videos only, but it’s a great tip for other formats as well. Our attention spans aren’t long, so short impactful videos are the best.
Use tags, stickers, links
Instagram stories allow you to use up to ten hashtags, and even more for other formats. So, look for the most relevant hashtags and use them in your posts. The hashtags will help your article rank higher on the explore page if it receives a lot of engagement.
You can share links in your Instagram stories if you have more than 10,000 followers. So, if you mention a product in your tale and link it to the product landing page, take advantage of this. To draw attention to this link, use the Swipe Up sticker.
Conclusion
One of the best channels for promoting your E-commerce company is Instagram. It includes features such as shoppable posts, which make it simple to sell more. For some retailers, Instagram checkout already allows them to complete the entire purchase process within the app.
As a result, if you want to increase your sales, devote more time to Instagram marketing — specifically, Instagram video marketing — to generate the type of engagement that leads to a purchase.
It will take longer to create video content than it takes to create a photo post, but the potential ROI from video interaction and purchases will be worth it in the end.
