Instagram started out as an image-sharing app, but it quickly transformed into a social media platform where videos reign supreme.
In fact, if you were to think about the platform now, you’d likely think about Stories and Reels. Correct?
Well, here’s the thing — 91% of Instagram users watch videos on the platform every week. Instagram Stories, in particular, are insanely popular. About 43% of consumers watch them most often.
Image via HubSpot
So, it’s clear now that videos are the path to Instagram success for your startup. But how do you leverage them well? The key is to have a comprehensive and scalable Instagram video marketing strategy.
Wondering how to develop it?
Well, we’ve got you covered.
Let’s dive in.
9 Steps to Develop an Instagram Video Marketing Strategy
Here are the steps you need to follow to create an effective Instagram video marketing strategy.
1. Define Your Goals
To create your video marketing strategy, you first need to determine your goals. Do you wish to generate engagement, boost lead generation, or just increase awareness? The sort of videos, their CTAs, frequency, and other factors will all depend on these goals.
When you’re setting your goals, make them SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely). This will help ensure that you have a way to measure your progress and reach those goals. It’ll also help guide your video strategy.
2. Repurpose Existing Content
Before you can start posting on Instagram, you need to come up with content ideas. The good bit here is that you don’t have to go far looking for them. Instead, all you have to do is find top-performing existing content and repurpose it into short-form and long-form videos. For instance, it’s even possible to create Reels from a collage of images.
Once you’ve found all the content worth repurposing, list it down.
3. Conduct Competitor Research
One of the best ways to get content ideas for Instagram videos is to look at your competitors. You can use Sked Social and Brand 24 to conduct a deep Instagram competitive analysis. See what they’re creating and analyze its engagement to determine what you should be creating for your video marketing campaign on Instagram.
The important bit here is that seeing your competitors’ content and its performance can also help you understand what works and what doesn’t. This can help you plan out your content better.
4. Create a Content Calendar
The next step in the process of creating a scalable video marketing strategy is to develop a content calendar. Sure, this calendar will also consist of image posts, but it’s important to chart out a plan that can help you consistently publish your content on the platform.
You can create the content calendar using a social media marketing tool or something as simple as Google Sheets if you’re looking to control business expenses.
From Stories to Reels and influencer marketing posts, make sure you plan everything out. It also helps to note down the time of the day when you’ll publish the content. This can come in handy when you’re scheduling the posts.
Given the importance of consistency in generating engagement, a content calendar is the key ingredient of a successful strategy.
5. Develop a Plan for Each Video Format
As we’ve mentioned, there are numerous video formats that you can create on Instagram, from live videos to Reels. Your Instagram video marketing strategy must have a comprehensive plan for each video format.
This should include the number of videos you need to create for each type, the topics for each type, and the mix you’ll use for the content. For instance, you can use topic clusters to come up with ideas for your videos.
It’s equally important to have a list of all the tools and software solutions you’ll be using to execute your video marketing campaign.
6. Produce the Videos
Once your content calendar is sorted, you should start creating batches of videos and put them into production. Start with the script for the videos and shoot them. Next, storyboard all the short clips that you’ve created so that you can leverage them later to create multiple videos. This is important given the fact that short clips can be stitched and used for numerous videos.
Once the videos have been shot, you can leverage Movavi Video Editor and Animoto video editing tools to compile them into a single short or long-form video for Instagram. Instagram offers a built-in video editor, but it’s better to leverage a third-party tool that offers more comprehensive editing features.
7. Schedule Content
After the videos are created, you need to start scheduling all the Reels and in-feed videos. This is where the content calendar comes in handy. You can start scheduling the content based on the dates and times mentioned in the content calendar.
The advantage of scheduling the videos in advance is that it ensures that you’ll maintain a regular posting schedule without hassle. You can schedule your Stories using Sprout Social or SocialPilot platform.
However, trending videos can’t be scheduled in advance. They’re only created when you identify a certain trend and choose to make a video based on that.
You can create trending videos and then publish them right away to take advantage of the time-sensitive nature of trends. In that situation, it might help to reschedule the existing videos that are in line for publishing.
8. Get Your Hashtags Right
Hashtags are a critical component of a good Instagram video marketing strategy. They play a major role in helping you increase the reach of your videos and also enable you to build your brand.
You can conduct hashtag research by using hashtag research tools and also consider checking the hashtags your competitors are using. Based on this research, you can create a list of potential hashtags you should use in your content.
At the same time, you should also come up with branded hashtags and incorporate those in all your videos. Leverage the right hashtags creator platforms to create unique branded hashtags. You can even encourage your followers to share their videos using those hashtags and feature those on your Instagram account.
It’s a great way to scale up your video marketing campaigns and boost brand value, as you won’t have to invest time and effort into creating a video. Instead, you can just give a friendly shoutout to your follower when you share their video. It can motivate others to do the same.
For instance, Daniel Wellington motivates its followers to create videos using their hashtag #DanielWellington and features them on their profile.
Image via Instagram
9. Optimize the Strategy
No video marketing strategy is foolproof. And that’s why it’s essential to regularly keep optimizing your strategy.
Start by regularly tracking the performance of your videos. Use the built-in Instagram analytics feature and also consider incorporating third-party social media analytics platforms.
Analyzing your content’s performance can give you a clear picture of what’s working and what’s not. Whether it’s the content format, topics, or the time of publishing, you can get great insight into your strategy’s performance with analytics.
Based on the insights you gather, you can tweak your video marketing strategy. This process must be a continuous one to ensure that it helps in improving your results and ROI of the video campaigns.
Final Thoughts
Video marketing on Instagram comes with numerous advantages, from increasing your reach to helping you drive sales. But it’s important to have a solid and scalable strategy to ensure that you make the most out of your marketing efforts as your startup grows.
By following the steps we’ve discussed here, you can create a comprehensive strategy that can help you drive results. So, go ahead and start creating your video marketing strategy now.
Author Bio – Gaurav Sharma
Gaurav Sharma is the founder and CEO of Attrock, a results-driven digital marketing company. Grew an agency from 5-figure to 7-figure revenue in just two years | 10X leads | 2.8X conversions | 300K organic monthly traffic. He also contributes to top publications like HuffPost, Adweek, Business 2 Community, TechCrunch, and more.