You may be familiar with Instagram Stories for short vertical videos. Now Instagram is rolling out a new video feature for long form vertical video content. Back in June, Instagram announced that they would be launching Instagram TV (IGTV). The videos on IGTV can be up to ten minutes long, soon to be an hour and can be as short as 15 seconds.
You can tell some people have a lot of fun shooting videos in-house, on their iPhone. It seems with IGTV you can take that same enjoyment and marketing ethos further. This new Instagram feature is reinforcing the notion that video content is here to stay and you really need to invest in it. For those of you who want to challenge themselves and “up their video game” here are some useful pointers on producing vertical, long form video content for IGTV.
KEEP A SENSE OF CONSISTENCY
The best way you can do this is to plan your videos and to some degree script them.
A lot of people may be used to shooting short 10 second videos on our smart phone, with longer form content you should offer your audience more valuable information. This might sound daunting but that’s why coming up with a plan is a good idea.
Perhaps it’s an announcement or introducing a new service, whatever it is, keep it on brand. You can be as original as you like but keep in mind that longer videos require more attention to be effective.
IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT BUT REMEMBER THE RULES
Sit down with your colleagues and come up with an idea for your video and what it is you want to say. Content is king… but try to make it look and sound as good as you can.
Remember to shoot it vertically (think about what this means for your framing), IGTV accepts traditional horizontal video but it’s designed for portrait framing so will appear small on the screen. Make sure you buy a tripod and an adapter that will allow your phone to clamp onto the tripod, to enable you to keep your shots nice and steady.
Pay attention to your audio. People will forgive background noise, but if your audience is listening, they will be distracted from your message by loud background noises or unclear speech. If you have two iPhones, use one as a camera and the other as a microphone. Use a voice recording app to turn it into a make-shift microphone and place it near your subject.
BE CREATIVE
You don’t always have to have yourself in the video. You can even have animations or even use footage of old videos edited together to created different content. Be creative. This may be something you look at outsourcing, however there’s no reason animation can’t be used on IGTV.
DON’T GO ‘LIVE’
Until you’re a pro, I recommend staying off the live feature.
Use your phones in camera app to take clips or shots. Maybe you want to shoot a couple of takes and see which one is better in the edit. If you go live, there are no do-overs!
EDIT YOUR VIDEO
Use editing software such as Adobe Premier Pro or Final Cut Pro x to edit your videos together. The software will allow you to sync up your separate video and audio files, once you have transferred them off your phone, onto the computer with the editing software. (Note, some free editing software does not support vertical video currently)
Think about adding some simple text overlays, that sum up your videos message or story. These can be created in photoshop and drag and dropped onto your video timeline, when you’re editing. Or you can use the editing software’s in built title features.
Add some key text points for people without the audio turned on. You can outsource Closed Caption subtitling services for as little as £10 per minute of video.
HootSuite has some good tips and a how-to guide on using Instagram Stories and IGTV for business that I recommend familiarising yourself with before you waste time trying to figure it all out yourself.
If you would like to discuss how you can use various videos for your website, social media accounts and in your practice please get in touch on 01872 300232 or email hello@hivebusiness.co.uk.
