9 Actionable Tips to Boost IGTV Engagement Dramatically

Instagram is a rapidly growing platform with an increasing number of users every day, allowing them to access curated content comprising videos and photos. From a simple platform to post photos online, it is now a perfect social channel that has immense potential to grow a vast community. 

IGTV, a new feature launched by Instagram in 2018 to facilitate users to promote their videos to the next level. Videos are the best type of content that increases user engagement compared to other types of content, such as text and pictures. Reaching hundreds and thousands of people is impossible in a single day. Here are some easy tips to help you boost your user engagement on IGTV.

Quality Content Matters

The first thing you need to do is think from your audience's perspective to understand their problems, preferences, goals to get an idea of what your videos should include. Next, you should remember that you cannot compromise on video quality because you have to value your audience's time. It would be unfair if you provide low-quality videos to your audience.  Posting quality videos can be a strong reason for people to watch your videos until the end.

Stick to Specifications

A major percentage of people access IGTV on their mobile phones.  Since its launch, IGTV supported only vertical format initially, but recently Instagram announced the update that IGTV supports horizontal format as well. For your content to get displayed in the entire mobile screen, vertical videos and horizontal videos should have an aspect ratio of 9:16 and 16:9, respectively.

Image Credits

Avoid reusing old videos that you had already posted on your Youtube channel. Videos shot specifically for IGTV maximize user engagement to a large extent. You would not even think to post content that does not fit in a square in your regular Instagram feed.

Know Your Audience' Mood

The length of IGTV videos can range from 10minutes to one hour. Identifying your target audience and laying out a clear content plan before shooting the video can help you make the most of IGTV in a stipulated time. Sometimes you might have to post a video for the full 60 minutes to get maximum benefit. But you don't have to dump in content for the time's sake. On the whole, posting quality videos not only increases IGTV engagement, but you can boost Instagram engagement as well. All you need to remember is what kind of content you post is more important than how much you post.

Encourage User Participation

Think of all ways to make your content more engaging. Asking provocative questions to followers, inviting them to join in discussions, and requesting them to post videos by sharing their experience are different ways to involve user participation. More creative ways like making them click a button, posting comments can maximize user engagement. But make sure to promptly reply to their comments to build strong relationships with your audience. Getting feedback from users is an excellent opportunity to learn your audience preferences to improve business.

Handcraft Your Video Titles

Spice up the titles of your IGTV videos that can make your videos more appealing. Keep your titles short but include words that represent an emotion. Including such click-bait words can make your videos get to the explore page. Titles with at least one main keyword make your videos more descriptive and make more people watch your videos. 

Convey Your Schedule

Along with having your calendar of content, revealing to your audience when your IGTV videos will be released to make your followers stay curious and promote your videos extensively. Before you publish the videos,  update your followers on when your videos will go live. Build an expectation and make your followers understand that you have more and more fresh content.  Posting consistently on regular intervals could make your followers wait to check out for new content hence guaranteeing engagement and traffic.

Promote Your Videos

Do not stop just by posting videos alone. Keep in mind that sharing a preview snippet of the video on your regular Instagram feed can increase viewers' attention and make them watch the complete video. Sharing your videos on IG stories is a great way to influence your viewers to watch the video. Buttons with self-explanatory captions like "tap here" and "click here" instruct them directly what they have to do to watch the video.

Use Other Social Media for Cross Promotion

Undoubtedly, there is nothing wrong with promoting your IGTV videos through Facebook posts, Tweets, etc. You can increase the reach of IGTV videos by adding them to your blog and broadcasting an email to your subscribers. Never hesitate to prepare a content plan for IGTV video promotion because this is an excellent opportunity that paves the way for a wider reach.

Image Credits

Make Use of Analytics

Using Instagram Analytics could get you more insights into what type of content your audience likes the most, specific topics they wish to learn about, etc. The data taken from analytics can serve as potential information to create compelling videos. A combination of insights and extraordinary content filled with fun can skyrocket the number of views for your IGTV videos. Incorporate A/B testing by splitting videos into multiple segments and then posting them. Doing so, you can make out whether or not users find your videos interesting. Such testing also allows you to spot your audience's exact needs so that you can post content accordingly. 

Wrapping Up

In addition to these tips, personalizing video content to appropriate users, collaborating with people for content promotion, publishing videos at the right time can eventually lead to increased user engagement on IGTV.

Author Bio:

MaryKyle is a content developer and marketing manager who works at Snaphappen. She has written more trending articles on social media and has a handful of experience in delivering engaging content.