Welcome back to “Is That Still a Thing,” a new feature here on the Fabric Blog where we look at some of the more niche social networks and examine whether or not it would be worth investing our time and energy into growing an industry presence there. Today, we’re looking at a relatively new entry into the streaming video arena from one of the most popular social networks — IGTV.
WHAT IS IT?
IGTV (short for Instagram TV but no one calls it that) is a video app that can either be used on its own or in conjunction with the regular Instagram app. IGTV is Instagram’s response to YouTube. Users can set up their own IGTV channels and upload videos up to an hour in length.
When IGTV launched, you could only upload videos shot in the portrait orientation, which was heresy for anyone over the age of 35 but business as usual for the Zoomer crowd. They’ve since loosened that requirement (thank goodness).
WHO USES IT?
Since it’s built into the core Instagram app, technically 1 billion (yes, with a B) active Instagram users have access to the video content on IGTV. Does that mean they do? No. In fact, a recent survey of IGTV by trustinsights.ai showed that while the initial engagement numbers were high when IGTV first launched, they’ve cooled considerably over the last year.
While some big-name brands are using the platform successfully, most haven’t worked IGTV into their standard social campaign plans. You can take that information one of two ways:
- “If large companies aren’t bothering with IGTV, then I shouldn’t either.”
- “Since large companies aren’t bothering with IGTV, I have a greater chance of standing out and making a name for myself there.”
SHOULD YOU USE IT?
It depends. Unlike other new social networks, IGTV comes with a built-in audience — your Instagram followers. If you’ve already built up an Insta following and you want to find a place for your long-form video content, then IGTV could be a good choice.
Additionally, while you should still strive for a consistent posting schedule, you can get away with only posting videos to IGTV occasionally (once a week, or once every other week) provided you are posting to your main Instagram account between video posts.
This relaxed schedule can give you more time to prep high-quality video, lowering the bar for making the jump into video.
On the other hand, IGTV hasn’t really caught on yet. The average engagement numbers for IGTV videos are lower than plain old Instagram videos, so if you’re making short videos under 60 seconds, you’re going to want to post them to your regular old Instagram account and skip IGTV all together.
All that said, IGTV is still relatively new and it has the backing of not just one but two of the largest social networks on the planet today (don’t forget that Facebook owns Instagram). It’s very likely the network will evolve and improve over time. If that happens, wouldn’t you rather be there waiting when the rest of the world catches up?
Let us know what you think! Is IGTV for you? Continue the conversation on SanMar’s social media accounts. You can find us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.