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Have you been spending a lot of time and effort creating video content for your Instagram page but don’t seem to be reaping the rewards?
First of all, let’s acknowledge the fact that regardless of your results, you’re using the right marketing strategy. After all, Instagram videos generate 21.2% more interactions than image-based posts. Yet, 72.6% of all Instagram posts are images.
So, leveraging the power of video definitely gives you an edge over your competition.
Now back to your results.
The reason why your videos are not performing well might be because of a few common mistakes you’re making when creating and publishing them. Avoiding these mistakes could make the difference between low-performing and viral content.
So, to help you boost your reach, views, engagement, and sales we’ve decided to share below ten common Instagram video mistakes to avoid at all costs.
Not Having a Clear Strategy and Goals
You’re excited to start your Instagram account. You have some nice pictures to post and are ready to publish some awesome videos you’ve created for your audience. That’s fantastic. Yet, remember that you need a clear Instagram strategy before getting started.
You need to understand the goal of each piece of content you’re posting and how it fits within your marketing strategy.
Are you on Instagram to increase your brand awareness and grow your following?
Are you trying to leverage the platform to connect with your audience and better understand their pain points? Or perhaps you want to showcase your amazing products or services and drive sales via your Instagram shop?
Having a clear goal in mind when creating your videos will help you tailor, measure and assess your video marketing strategy’s efficiency and adjust accordingly. It will also allow you to create a more cohesive content strategy.
Neglecting Video Captions
What if we told you that 69% of viewers watch videos with the sound off in public places?
What’s more, 80% of people report being more likely to finish a video that features captions. Given the number of hours we spend at work or studying, commuting, and socialising outside of the home, that’s a huge audience. So, if you want to capture these consumers’ attention, you’ll need to cater to them with closed captioning.
Also, focus on creating video content that’s compelling enough with limited dialogue. That’s right, your videos should be silent-friendly. This means that they should only require limited context for your audience to understand them. This will avoid overwhelming viewers with long captions hiding half of the image on the screen. As a result, favour striking imagery and a few short critical sentences for the best results.
Losing Video Viewers Due to Lengthy Intros
What do the Dark Knight, the Lion King, and Mad Max have in common?
A fantastic opening sequence that instantly piques the viewers’ curiosity and draws them into the movie.
8 seconds. That’s how long you have to grab your audience’s attention, hook them in and encourage them to watch your video for longer. Now, remember that regular video posts can be up to 60 seconds long and Instagram stories up to 15 seconds long.
Therefore, avoid lengthy introductions with no added value and favour a strong and compelling hook. This will allow you to elicit emotions and entice your audience to learn more and watch your videos until the end.
Some of the best hooks you can use include:
- A shocking or fascinating fact
- A question
- A quote
- A joke
- An engaging story
Do you need more idea?
Not Being Consistent
Yes, many businesses and content creators find it hard to consistently post quality content across their marketing channels including social media pages. That’s because creating high-quality, and binge-worthy content is resource-intensive and time-consuming.
Yet, these days, content consistency is key.
Indeed, being consistent allows your audience to know exactly when to expect your posts and keep you front of mind. What’s more, the Instagram algorithm favours accounts that regularly publish fresh and high-quality content.
For instance, posting daily will allow you to increase your visibility and grow your account 4 times faster than if you post less than once a week. So, make sure to create a detailed content calendar to stay on top of your content strategy and improve your metrics.
However, always focus on quality over quantity. This means ensuring that you only publish relevant, engaging, and useful content. Never post just for the sake of it. Otherwise, you risk seeing your follower count, your engagement and your hard work slip away quickly.
Not Using Thumbnails for Your Instagram Video
Creating custom thumbnails should be an important part of your strategy as thumbnails are key in attracting viewers and enticing them to watch your video. They’re especially important to boost your engagement on IGTV.
Think about your thumbnail as a book cover. Your video sits in a library of videos all competing for consumers’ attention. That’s why, a catchy, eye-grabbing thumbnail is one of the most efficient ways to help you stand out from the competition and drive your engagement.
Avoiding IGTV
Instagram TV (or IGTV) launched in 2018 and it provides content creators with the option to post long-format videos (up to 60 minutes).
Now, 60% of consumers prefer to watch online videos over TV. What’s more, 54% of people want more videos from brands. Based on these facts, enabling longer Instagram video formats on the platform offers a huge opportunity for brands to drive views, brand awareness, and sales. Especially as new features such as IGTV shopping are added.
Want to know a secret?
Videos are the best-performing type of content across all social media platforms. So, naturally, Instagram will keep pushing this feature in the coming years. Yet, even though Instagram is promoting IGTV, this powerful tool is still largely underused by businesses. Don’t make this mistake and incorporate IGTV into your Instagram marketing strategy. This will allow you to stand out from the competition and get your content in front of your ideal customers.
Some IGTV best practices include:
- Posting content between 3 to 5 minutes long.
- Using unique and native content specifically designed for IGTV.
- Using hashtags.
- Creating video series to encourage your audience to follow your page and engage with your content. For instance, a recurring show gives them something to look forward to and a reason to visityour profile.
- Use this longer video format to answer questions or post tutorials.
Not Promoting Your IGTV on Your Story
Once you’ve created your unique and compelling IGTV video, don’t forget to share it on other platforms including your Insta story. Indeed, Instagram now allows users to post a snippet (or preview) of their IGTV videos on their stories. After 15 seconds, the viewer is prompted to continue watching your video content with a ‘’keep watching’’ tab.
Promoting your IGTV videos on your stories will increase your reach, impressions, and potentially your sales. That’s because this way, you’ll be able to reach users who might not have seen your videos on the Explore page or IGTV section of your account.
Also you can add your IGTV video link in your story and you can create ‘slide up’ action. Check out our Instagram Reel to learn more.
Not Knowing When to Post your Instagram Video
The Instagram algorithm rewards posts that have a lot of engagement within the first few hours after posting.
Fail to work on a strategic posting schedule and you might experience low reach, impression, and engagement. In fact, posting at the right time should be one of the most important elements of your Instagram content strategy.
After all, you need to ensure your audience is on the app when you publish your content.
How do I know when my audience is online, you ask?
Even though there are some general rules based on your location, the day of the week, and time of the day, you should use the ‘’Insights’’ section of the app to understand your specific audience’s behavior and post accordingly.
Talking to No One or Everyone
Long gone are the days where you could just publish a post and watch these likes roll in and your follower count go up. No, in 2021, you have to roll up your sleeves and communicate with your audience if you want them to engage with your posts and your brand.
Consumers crave authenticity and connection. After all, this is what social media platforms were designed for in the first place. Engaging with targeted users will allow you to showcase the human side of your brand and show your audience that you care about them. Responding to comments and using polls and live videos are some of the best ways to interact with your audience and make them feel part of your brand.
Extra tip: Make sure to be authentic and not leave comments such as “great shot” or “wow” as they will sound fake and will deter people from engaging with you. Also, target the users you engage with to optimise your time, and resources and obtain better results.
Ignoring Reels
Reels are the latest addition to Instagram’s range of features. They’re the platform’s response to TikTok and represent short 15-second videos that can be edited to add sounds and effects. And unsurprisingly, they’ve gained a lot of traction over the last few months.
The great thing about Reels is that you can share them with your followers and the broader community via the all-important Explore page. This makes your Instagram video content more discoverable and can significantly boost your engagement. They’re one more powerful tool to add to your marketing toolbox to promote your brand and offer.
Besides, Instagram has recently rolled out the “Insights” feature for Reels too, making it easier for businesses to analyse their Reels’ performance.
Wrapping Up
While creating the perfect video can seem overwhelming and challenging, social media has made promoting content, products and services easier and cheaper than ever before. And, with 500 million daily active users, Instagram should be a priority if you’re looking to grow your business. Focus on creating professional and high-quality videos avoiding the mistakes above and you’ll be on your way to success.
Don’t have the time, resources, equipment or lack the skills to produce crisp and compelling videos? We’re here to help. At DreamCube Productions, we specialise in turning raw ideas into high-converting videos. We’re committed to helping our clients achieve their marketing goals. That’s why we consider ourselves a partner rather than another service provider. So, if you’re looking for a video production company to partner with on your video content strategy, get in touch. Our cameras are always rolling ?
