Does Instagram need any introduction?
No, it doesn’t, right?
A hub of selfies, memes, and video content, Instagram is included at the top of the list of the world’s most popular social media networks. It started as a pictures-only platform, but within a few years, Instagram, with its upgraded features, gained a significant user base.
Whether you are here as an Instagram old-hand or just a beginner in the game, videos should be at the top of your tasks list. If you have not yet incorporated videos in your marketing mix, you are missing out on many potential users.
According to the recent reports released by Instagram, videos have seen the highest growth in both subscription and viewership. As such, Instagram videos perform much better than sharing simple image or carousel posts.
Hence, if you are looking to grow your Instagram audience, videos should be the cornerstone of your strategy. For this, your creative idea is the most significant thing and must be interesting enough to capture the audience’s attention. That’s the first rule of getting more followers.
Now that you know the importance of videos in increasing the number of followers, you might have a whole set of questions about the idea.
What type of videos perform the best for engagement?
What type of creative ideas work the best for increasing followers?
How can I have a steady stream of ideas that continue to capture the attention of the audience?
In the following sections, we have tried to answer these and other questions so that you have a clear idea of what works (and what to avoid) and what are your options when it comes to creative content ideas that could drive more engagement to your posts and help you gain more followers.
Instagram Video Types
There are no specific limitations for Instagram video types. But remember that Instagram is a visual platform, and aesthetics plays a significant role in growing user engagement. In addition, different audience segments have their preferences for video types. You need to experiment with various formats to find out what your audience prefers.
So, before you finalize the idea of your next video, choose the one that performs well for your target audience.
Think about the different topics and, most importantly, look out for the things your audience comes to Instagram for and the problems they might face (then come up with the solution video).
To kickstart your idea machine, here are some suggestions for the type of Instagram videos you can create to improve user engagement and increase the follower count.
Instagram Stories
Instagram stories are a proven and very effective way to drive more engagement. Instagram Stories came out as a platform feature in 2016, but it is still a pretty underutilized feature. This is unfortunate because this is a powerful way to connect with the audience.
Take a look at Versace’s fantastic Instagram story.
In order to leverage Instagram stories, start with short videos (no more than 20 seconds), and upload them daily.
To start, grab a camera, record the view outside your window, a behind-the-scenes short video, or product demo. Give a short promo or teaser of what’s cooking so that your audience will view your story daily to see what you are up to.
There are several ways to upload your Instagram story, but the perfect way is to go with the story sequence. Also, Instagram allows highlighting the stories and the best thing you can display is your profile. If your audience missed an exciting update, they could check back again by visiting your profile.
With Instagram stories, you can create a poll, add a location, stickers, and doodles to make your story more expressive and creative. Moreover, you can give a shout-out to increase influencer reach and engagement. If you have a brand or a product, use the next-level Instagram video stories to promote your product and drive more engagement. Don’t forget to keep a count on your followers.
Weekly Video Series
Thinking of better ways to engage your audience? Here’s a unique idea that will work for you. Weekly Videos.
Weekly video series is a great way to stick to a schedule because they force you to use seven-day hashtags. Start with the #Monday and share a motivational video to get your followers’ attention, follow through with videos for the rest of the days, and end your week with an entertaining video.
Is it pretty hard to upload videos daily when you have so much to do? Don’t worry. We have got you covered. Think about the social media scheduling tools and go out for Buffer Alternatives. Here you can create, schedule, and repeat-post your content. Simply schedule all your video content for upcoming weeks, and the tool will post all your content at your desired day and time. Now you do not have to find time every day to upload videos to Instagram.
Weekly videos do not have to follow strict themes. You can discuss your ideas, drop business tips videos, talk about lifestyle choices, and share a throwback video so that your followers can have a sense of association with your ideas. This is a sure-fire way of driving more engagement from individual posts.
You can drop some catchy hashtags such as #ThrowbackThursday, #Caturday, #Wednesdaythoughts, #fridayfeels. Try this, and you will end up loving this video hack.
User-Generated Videos
User-generated videos are shared by regular Instagram users rather than the brands themselves. Often, these individual creators have a good following and exciting ideas for content.
You must be wondering why you should care about user-generated videos?
Well, they are a great way of offering interesting videos without much effort. This adds to the authenticity of your brand. This drives up user engagement as your followers come to trust your brand as a great source of entertaining and educational videos.
According to the research, user-generated content is likely to be viewed 2.4 more times than other types of content.
You can go for a content curation strategy. It’s all about finding the best content and showing it to your followers.
In the context of content creation and user-generated content, remember that you do not own the videos. As such, it is crucial to ask explicit permission of the original creator before sharing the video on your feed.
Create Boomerangs
Who doesn’t know about the Boomerangs? Instagram released Boomerang a few years ago, and guess what – these auto-looping videos are everyone’s favorite. Why not include boomerang videos in your video strategy? Just open your camera, create a short auto-looping video and post it in your story AND your feed. Share the magic of Boomerang with your followers, and you will see good engagement on these bite-sized videos.
Follow the Trend
Social media users are always looking for trends. Of course, some trends are effortless to follow as they cover national days or follow internationally-known events. Instagram users prefer their favorite content creators to follow the trends so that they can enjoy an exciting take on the event/happening.
This is another Instagram video type idea to go for because when you find something trending on Instagram, hopping on the bandwagon and creating a fantastic video around it is a great way of differentiating your brand. Your audience would love the way you drop a tremendous video and bring your context to the happenings.
It’s a Wrap!
Instagram is among the most popular digital marketing tools for a reason -It has tons of video content and a huge user base. That’s why the video types we mentioned above are a great way of driving up the follower count.
While experimenting with the video types, don’t forget to utilize Instagram Stories to get more attention. Want to interact with your audience daily? Give a try to the weekly video series. User-generated videos are the best to win the credibility of your audience and drive more engagement towards your posts.
So what’s now stopping you from creating exceptional and unique video content to get more followers? Share your experience with these video types in the comment section below.
