Video is the future of content marketing. According to the State of Video Marketing research, internet users watch video content daily, it gets 12x more likes and shares than text and images combined, and people retain 95% of a message after watching a video.

Instagram is a visual platform for visual learners who perceive visual information, so it’s no wonder that the popularity of Instagram video marketing is growing, too.

In fact, Instagram claims the time people spend watching video on Instagram is up more than 80% year over year and the number of uploaded videos has continued to increase by 4X each year. This means integrating video into your Instagram marketing strategy is a must.

No matter what your business is, whether you sell products or services, there are many ways to make the most out of Instagram video marketing and achieve business growth. But before we dive into that, it’s important to learn more about the common types of videos the platform offers:

• Video post: in-feed videos, up to 60 seconds in length
• Instagram Story video: short-lived videos, up to 15 seconds in length
• Instagram Reels: short and engaging videos that appear on the Explore page, up to 30 seconds in length
• Instagram Live: real-time videos, up to 60 minutes in length
• IGTV: long-form permanent videos, the length is between 1 and 60 minutes

Now that you know all Instagram video types, it’s time to check out six ways to use Instagram video marketing for business growth:

1. Showcase Your Products/Services with Video Posts

The more people know about your products or services, the more potential customers you can acquire. Since videos are dynamic, they keep viewers hooked and engaged. Whether you sell products or services, an Instagram video post is a great way to show it off and spark interest in your company.

Being limited to 60 seconds in length, you have enough time to tell your viewers everything they should know about your product or service to cause a buzz around your company. Moreover, there are different video types like commercials, stop-motion, or tutorial videos that help you show off your creativity while promoting a product.

But if you want to bring your business to the next level without hiring a video maker, you can use video editing tools that make your life easier. For example, Harmeet Singh, the co-owner of Leicester-based gym CrossFit BFG, used a video editing tool called Beatleap (iOS) to automatically set the best segments of video clips to music and therefore mix a workout sizzle video with ease:

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Modern consumers crave authenticity, so they pay close attention to brands that allow their fans to take a look behind the curtains. In other words, people are interested in behind the scenes content when you tell them about your company’s values, show them the product creation process, or introduce them to your team.

2. Take Your Fans Behind the Scenes with Instagram Stories

What is more, video Instagram Stories have a short lifespan of 24 hours, so this Instagram video content type is a great choice to take fans behind the scene without clogging the main feed up with content. Whether you decide to record a video or create interactive motion graphics, there are many ways on how to produce engaging behind the scenes content that increases brand loyalty and trust.

3. Promote Your Business with Live Events

Broadcasting your events in real-time is one of the best ways to create a sense of urgency and therefore attract more viewers. Thus, organizing live events with Instagram live streaming is a great way to hook your fans’ attention and promote your business.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could reach even more participants, and continue the conversation on other communication channels? Use a small business management app like vcita that gives you an opportunity to create, host, and promote a live event on any live video platform, including Instagram.

The best thing is that you can integrate your live event with your CRM and promote it among your customers, which means you can attract interested customers who may not follow you on Instagram. You can also use it to generate a simple, elegant landing page for email opt-ins RSVP-ing for the event, so that you can follow up with leads after you go live, sending them offers related to your video content.

Whether you’re capturing email leads or not, though, it’s important to announce your live event in advance so that all interested followers can plan their time and join your live stream. Check out how to do it:

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The best thing about Instagram Live is that you have an opportunity to dedicate your broadcast to a particular topic that sounds interesting to your target audience and interact with your viewers in real-time. For example, you can invite an expert to explain how to use your product or service, organize a Q&A live session, or run a webinar on an interesting topic.

4. Market Your Products with Instagram Reels

With the hype around the TikTok app, when more and more people create and watch short engaging videos, the popularity of a similar feature on Instagram–Instagram Reels–is growing, too.

For brands, this means a great opportunity to cut through the noise and market your products with engaging videos. As specified in Sellfy’s post, wearing your own products in Instagram Reels can be a good way to give potential customers a sneak peek of the cool designs and spark their interest in your products.

If you choose to share your Reel on the Explore page, you can grab the attention of other potential customers who may not follow your brand in-app. It gives a great way to reach a wider audience without being too promotional.

5. Show Off Your Products in Action with IGTV

Having a great variety of products, it’s important to let your potential customers know about all options they have as it can result in more sales. Thus, you need to announce and show off your products in action to ease the worried minds of potential customers. Video content is an amazing way to do it.

For example, you can create a series of long-form video posts and upload them to your IGTV channel, adding product codes so that interested viewers can find featured items on your e-store. Check out how ASOS did it:

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If you use IGTV for business growth, uploading a long-form video isn’t enough. It’s also important to remember about video SEO. As defined in Webopedia, video SEO (vSEO) is the process of optimizing video content for search engine traffic. To reach more viewers who might be interested in your products, you need to write a caption with a target keyword, include a clickable link, and use geotags. All these tips help to optimize your IGTV video for relevant search.

6. Reach a Wider Audience with Instagram Video Ad Campaigns

The competition is high on Instagram, so many businesses run paid ad campaigns to cut through the noise and reach their target audience fast. Not only does Instagram advertising have in-depth targeting settings that allow you to reach the right people in-app, but it also has a variety of ad types that help to keep this audience hooked. Especially if you use Instagram video ads.

Case in point:

When Graff decided to raise brand awareness of its new bridal collection, the company ran an Instagram Story video ad campaign that showcased multiple best-selling products. With an engaging and dynamic video, the campaign got a 88% increase in ad recall, 20,900 landing page views, and 990,000 3-second video views.

As you can see, Instagram users are interested in video content, so they pay close attention to Instagram videos. As a result, using Instagram videos help to promote products, spark interest in them, and even encourage viewers to make the purchase decision.

In a Word

Instagram video marketing has become an important part of any Instagram marketing strategy if a company wants to reach a wider audience of potential customers, keep followers hooked, and spark their interest in products or services. With the variety of Instagram video content types, there are many ways to use in-app videos that help to promote your business. After all, it’s important to give your social media followers what they want and therefore stand out from the crowd of competitors.

Author’s bio

Val Razo is a freelance SMM consultant who helps small and medium businesses promote their products on social media networks. She’s been working in the digital marketing niche for the past six years and now Val also shares her tips and tricks on social media marketing.