IGTV Video: All You Need to Know to Nail It!

Videos are the future of Instagram marketing. You can grant your audience detailed information on your products or service within a single video. On the other hand, IGTV videos are a new feature on Instagram that allows making long-form video content. Many users take advantage of it and make ads and educational content using videos on Instagram. 

You must have noticed that not every video is worth spending time and watching. Therefore, Instagram marketers should have vast information on optimizing their IGTVs and getting more engaged audiences to grow followers organically.

From the IGTV logo size to making videos, you will read everything you need to know about sharing them on Instagram here.

So, let’s dive in.

What Is IGTV?

IGTV or Instagram TV is a feature that lets you watch high-quality, vertical videos in its app or as Instagram IGTV content. Indeed, it has filled the empty place of posting long-form videos on Instagram. Consequently, it helps users to get more comments and likes and increase engagement rate. Stay with me, and I will share some IGTV requirements with you in the following.

IGTV Video Duration

If you want to upload a video of more than 59 seconds on social media, you do not need to switch to YouTube anymore. IGTV clips are limited to 60 minutes. Though, for regular Instagram accounts, IGTV uploads videos between 15 seconds and 60 minutes long. 

IGTV Video Size

It grants you the feature to post vertical IGTV videos (9:16) with the ideal size of 1080px by 1920px or a horizontal video (16:9) with the ideal size of 1920px by 1080px.

Dimensions of an IGTV Cover Photo

The best IGTV cover size is 492 x 762-pixel resolution with an aspect ratio of 16:9. For the Instagram preview feature, IGTV Cover graphics are in the “Title Safe Area.” Also, the IGTV thumbnail size should be less than 2MB so you can resize the video.

Cover Size

IGTV vs. YouTube

Many people ask, “Is IGTV better than YouTube?” I must say that IGTV is a perfect feature that can help users boost engagement on Instagram. However, if you only want to create video content, driving a YouTube channel is a much better alternative. Indeed, I recommend you to go for both options and link your youtube channel to your Instagram profile to get instant views.

How Does IGTV Make Money in 2021?

Instagram generated billions of dollars in ad revenue, much more than YouTube. Also, IGTV monetization is a brand new way of making huge bucks on Instagram. As Instagram stated, to help creators’ investment in IGTV, it introduced ads and shared its revenue. Once users tap to watch the IGTV video, the ad will show up. The IGTV ad is only on mobile and can be up to 15 seconds long. There are several simple ideas for creating an effective video ad that you can cash in on.

Instagram IGTV ads as a monetizing platform allow users to demonstrate their creativity and personality to grow their brand. 

How to Upload to IGTV from Computer in 2021?

Pondering how to upload to IGTV from a computer & schedule it, you can follow the instructions below:

1. Go to instagram.com

2. Log in to your account

3. Click on your profile photo.

IGTV
Instagram Profile

4. Then, select “Profile,” a new page will show up, and you notice three options:

  • POSTS
  • IGTV
  • SAVED
  • TAGGED
Upload Video

5. So, click on “IGTV.”

6. Then, select “Upload” and choose the video you want to post.

How to Upload to IGTV from iPhone and Android?

1. Open your Instagram app.

2. Go to your homepage.

3. Tap on the + icon.

4. Select the video you want to upload.

5. You will see two options:

  • Short Video
  • Long Video

6. Choose “Long Video” and tap on “Continue.”

7. To select a cover image, choose a frame from your video or select + to add from the camera roll.

8. Then, tap on “Next.”

9. Insert title and description.

10. Tap on “Post to IGTV,” If you want to save it, select “Save as Draft.”

How to Create IGTV Channel?

To create an IGTV account, go for the following guidance:

  1. Download the IGTV app from Google Play(Android) or App Store(IOS).
  2. Sign up for the app. Remember that if you have logged in to your Instagram account, it will automatically utilize your profile.
  3. Tap on the Settings icon in the right-hand corner, and then select “Create Channel.”

8 Tips to Share IGTV on Instagram Feed

IGTV is a recent feature on Instagram and a new approach to boost followers and popularity. That is, I gathered some strategies to optimize your feed.

1. Build an Absorbing IGTV Preview

IGTV views are not as much as other posts since they are so long. Many users don’t bother to tap on the “Keep Watching” button to watch the rest of the video. Therefore, it is essential to do your best on IGTV Previews. That is, if you are making an ad or a presentation, create an absorbing warm-up to entice people to keep on watching. 

2. Upload High-Quality Videos

Instagram will automatically convert the video to its version, which will decrease the video’s quality. Therefore, you need to publish the videos with high resolution and avoid using vague scenes. Otherwise, people do not desire to watch your content, and it’ll lower your engagement.

3. Add Subtitle

Adding subtitles to your videos will drive more views and increase the engagement rate. Many people watch videos in places where they must mute the sound while watching them. So when you apply subtitles, they quickly find out what is going on and not pass the post. 

4. Tell stories in Captions 

It is essential to write a captivating caption below your posts to tempt people to watch the video. The best idea is to tell a story in your captions, capture your audience’s attention, and get them involved in your content.

5. Post at the Right Time

The ideal time of posting content differs according to its concept. In many cases, Wednesdays and Fridays are the days you can get the most engagement. However, you can check predictions on the best time to post on Instagram in 2021. Therefore, when discovering your posts’ best timing, you can easily schedule your feed to be published on time. Then you will appear on Instagram explore page and grow followers. Of course, it is not easy to post at the right time frequently, but you will always be on time with the best Instagram scheduler app.  

AiSchedul is a powerful all-in-one Instagram management service that helps you schedule your posts and provides you various features to run your account.

IGTV
Post and Scheduling

Aischedul helps you schedule, repost and download Instagram reels quickly.

Moreover, this app lets you organize Instagram saved posts and collections on your desktop.

To schedule your IGTVs, you only need to:

  1. Sign up for free
  2. Select “Manage Account.”
  3. Click on the “POSTS & SCHEDULING” Tab.
  4. Then, choose the “SCHEDULER” tab.
  5. Click “Schedule” and pick “IGTV.”
  6. Upload your video 
  7. Select a video frame or add an image from your gallery as a cover.
  8. Then, click on “Save.”
  9. You can select “Post Now” or schedule the dates and choose “Post in future.”
  10. Then, press “Submit.”

6. Select the Best IGTV Cover Picture

First impression, best impression! Since the first thing that attracts the audience to watch your video on Instagram is the cover picture, selecting the best image is vital. Therefore, slide your video sequences to choose the best frame as your IGTV cover picture. Unfortunately, the official Instagram app does not provide you a feature to edit your video. However, AiSchedul gives you a feature to set, edit and change IGTV thumbnails quickly and easily. Also, if you couldn’t find an eye-catching photo from your video, it provides you a feature to upload one directly from Unsplash

7. Make Most of the Hashtags

Hashtags make your video more visible on the platform and expand your reach. Therefore, you can create an Instagram hashtag cheat sheet to get instant views. Moreover, it would be best to save hashtags on Instagram to save time.

It is vital to add relevant hashtags to your posts to get views and build an engaged audience. You can apply up to 30 hashtags to each position, but remember not to use banned hashtags on Instagram, know them, & stay safe.

Using AiSchedul, you can search for multiple hashtags, save them and add them in your captions and first comments. Most importantly, your expert account manager will not check if you post banned hashtags in your posts before publishing. 

IGTV
Search and Save Hashtags

8. Share IGTV Video on Instagram Story

Many people only check Instagram stories, and they do not bother their fingers scrolling down their feed. That is, stories get more views than videos. Therefore, it is a great strategy to share it and get more views on Instagram stories

If you consider how to mention a video on the Instagram story, go through the below steps: 

  1. Open the IGTV video you want to share on your Instagram story.
  2. Then, at the bottom of the app screen, select the Arrow button.
  3. Tap on “Add video to your story” in the share window.

8. Promote Your IGTV on Other Platforms

It would be great to share the IGTV link and the whole video to other platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok. In this case, you only need to select “Share to Facebook.” 

FAQs about IGTV Video

Now you know everything you need about videos. Though, there are some questions that you may ask.

1. Why Is My IGTV Cover Upside Down?

If you wonder, “Why is my iPhone video thumbnail upside down?” check how you hold your phone in your hand. If you keep your phone horizontally, pay attention to the home button on the right side, and don’t touch the up/down buttons. It is a glitch, and you are right if you get surprised, but it happens to the previous versions of IOS. 

Still, if you have the same problem on the desktop app, you can try AiSchedul to avoid such glitches. The good news is that AiSchedul has mobile and desktop tools, and you can download them from App Store or Google Play.

2. How to Convert Video to IGTV Size?

Using AiSchedul, you can easily convert the video to IGTV size when uploading it. Therefore, to convert the video to the IGTV dimension, you only need to upload it to your Aischedul dashboard. It will be adjusted in your feed.

3. Can IGTV be square?

Whether you want a square post, you must cut the video and miss a part of it. However, using AiSchedul, you can set a background on your video to make it square without cutting off a part of that.

4. How Long is an IGTV Video Preview?

IGTV preview is a 1-minute show of the total video that you can share on your Instagram feed.

5. How to Share YouTube Videos on IGTV Video?

Here, you will read a perfect guide on how to share a YouTube video on an Instagram story, post, and bio. Therefore, read the article and get the answer to all your questions.

Final Thoughts on IGTV Video

It is a beautiful feature to share more long-form videos with your audience and get them engaged. On the other hand, using a multi-tasking Instagram marketing tool like AiSchedul will increase your effectiveness and efficiency in your mission to approach your vision. I hope this article has given you a complete insight into IGTV. Please, leave us a comment if you have any idea or experience posting them on your page.