How To Make Top-Shelf IGTV Content
In this new guide, we show you how to make IGTV content that your audience will love, complete with secret tips and tricks for top performance.
Posted 4 years ago
Written by
Julia CohenPosted 4 years ago
Although it wasn’t a massive hit when it first came out, IGTV has now settled into its own. Perhaps thanks to a large proportion of the global population staying indoors, and having more time to pursue creative passions, or create entertaining content, IGTV engagement has grown exponentially.
Brands that use IGTV videos have seen their views increase by over 300%. But, how can you make top-shelf IGTV content that captivates users, and stops their thumbs from scrolling through their feed? In this blog post, we will share with you some tips and tricks on how to get started with IGTV, or some things to consider if you are already creating content on this platform.
How To Make Top-Shelf IGTV Content
The fact that IGTV wasn’t as popular when it first came out, actually works well to users advantages. Instagram favours IGTV content, and when you end up in someone’s explore feed, it’s likely that your views will skyrocket – a lot of users see a much higher engagement rate on their video content, as compared to the static images they usually post.
The basics
First, let’s get started with the basics:
- You can create an IGTV post in either landscape or portrait, but the traditionally ‘optimal’ dimensions for your videos is 1080 x 1920 pixels and an aspect ratio of 9:16 (just like Instagram Stories).
- You should create an IGTV cover that will show as a preview when people are exploring their feeds. This should be similar to a YouTube thumbnail, in that it has a clear image and text explaining what your video is going to show. Pro tip: if you add alt text to your image file, or name the file to explain what is happening in the video, e.g. ‘fashion look-book’, this will help your discoverability.
- You have the option to post a preview of your video in your feed. This is totally up to you, but can help you gain more traction when you first post, as your direct audience will be able to see it easily in their feeds.
- Categorise your content in different series. IGTV gives you the option to put your videos in a series, so that users can continue to watch your videos if they find something they like.
- Your video has to be between 1-15 minutes long.
Try to anticipate what your users want to see
Now is a great time to start making IGTV content, but you should always consider your audience and niche – you want to create content that makes sense and engages an audience. Grab a piece of paper and pen, and start to brainstorm ideas that you could convert in to IGTV posts. For example, if you are a fitness influencer, you might want to start making workout classes for your followers to do alongside you. If you lean more towards a fashion niche, you might create DIY videos, and if you are a beauty lover, you could create a ‘look of the day’ series.
No matter what you do, try to think about ideas that are value-adding to your audience. The more value you can provide in the video, the more likely your audience is to continue to watch. If you’re stuck and in need of some inspiration, take a look at other accounts in your niche and see what types of videos they are creating – and what types of videos perform the best.
How to create and edit an IGTV video
Whatever you do, make sure you a filming in a bright, well-lit space. Just like you might plan out your feed posts, you want to make sure you are putting the same thought into the content you film for IGTV. Film either in landscape or portrait, either on a digital camera or your phone, and if needed, record your audio separately. Make sure you keep checking in on your shots to ensure that you are filming at the right angle, ratio and positioning. Once you have all your clips, you are ready to edit your IGTV video!
There are a lot of platforms you can use for editing, whether you are a pro or just starting. If you already have some experience, you can edit on a video software such as Premier Pro. If not, we highly recommend InShot. It’s great because you can edit your videos directly from your phone and offers you options to cut, add music, speed up or slow down clips and more – and you don’t have to be a pro to use it.
How to upload an IGTV video
Uploading a video on IGTV is pretty simple, but there’s some things you should remember. Let’s go through it step-by-step:
- Go to your explore page on Instagram and click the button that says ‘IGTV’ in the top lefthand corner.
- Click the ‘+’ button in the top righthand corner to start your upload.
- Select the video you want to upload, and add your cover photo from camera roll.
- Add an attention grabbing title that explains the content of your video well – this will make it easier for users to discover you.
- Use keywords in your description, and provide a detailed outlay of what is in the video.
- Hashtags do work on IGTV! Add up to 30 hashtags in your description that match your content, following and usual performance.
- Add the video to a series.
- Edit your profile cover photo if needed (this is what shows on your feed if you decide to publish it to your main Instagram profile).
- Post!
How to measure your IGTV Performance
There are many ways to see how well your video has performed after posting. The most common way to do so, is by looking at the number of views your video has received, which indicates how many people your video has reached. However, you can go further than views to see where you can improve or how well a specific video has performed.
- Head to your IGTV video, and click the three dots at the bottom of your screen. You should be given the option to ‘View Insights’.
- Besides views, comments and likes, Instagram also displays your audience retention rate. This tells you how long users are (on average) watching your video for. You receive one ‘view’ every time someone watches your video for more than three seconds, but the audience retention metric lets you know whether your content is keeping people watching, or if they are clicking off.
- Look at your Average percentage watched, and the graph below, which visualises where most users click off of your video, or stay on.
Now that you know everything there is to know about how to create top-shelf IGTV content, it’s time to get creating. Start brainstorming, and tag us in your new IGTV videos!
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