Chapter 19

Creating an IGTV Presence

IN THIS CHAPTER

Discovering the steps to set up your own IGTV channel

Determining how to upload videos to IGTV

Reviewing best practices for IGTV content

In the preceding chapter, we show you how IGTV works and where you can find those videos. If you’re intrigued by the options in IGTV and you want to create your own videos, this is the next step. In this chapter, we explain how to upload videos and format the videos for better results.

Setting Up an IGTV Channel

In order to upload videos to IGTV, you need to set up your IGTV profile. You can upload via your mobile device or a desktop computer. But you need to have your account formatted on one or both of those platforms to be able to upload.

Using your mobile device to set up IGTV

You can install the IGTV app (separate from Instagram). If you want to upload videos to IGTV on your mobile device and create your own content, you need to have the IGTV app installed. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Go to the app store for your device (Android or iOS) and search for IGTV.
2. Select the IGTV app, click Install, and follow the install procedures for your operating system.

3. Open the IGTV app.

   You see a welcome screen asking you to continue as the username that you’re currently logged into on Instagram.

4. Tap Continue or Switch Accounts to sign in as the appropriate account.
5. Tap on the three-dots button or the gear icon (different devices may use one or the other) in the upper-right corner and select View Profile to confirm that your Instagram account information has transferred over.

Figure 19-1 shows you the steps to log in and confirm your account information with your new IGTV profile.

FIGURE 19-1: Follow the series of prompts to set up IGTV after you’ve installed the IGTV app on your mobile device.

Using your computer to set up IGTV

If you prefer to use your computer and not install the IGTV app on your mobile device, you can follow these steps to activate your IGTV account:

1. Go to http://instagram.com and log in as your account.
2. Go to your profile and click the IGTV tab below your profile info.
3. Click Get Started (see Figure 19-2).
4. Follow the series of prompts on the screen, clicking Next through some feature information.
5. Click Create Channel.

FIGURE 19-2: Select the IGTV tab from your desktop Instagram profile and click Get Started to begin setting up your IGTV channel.

Uploading Videos to IGTV

Now that you have your IGTV channel all set up for your account, you’re ready to start uploading videos!

Using your mobile device to upload

Your mobile device is able to upload videos that are anywhere from 15 seconds to 10 minutes in length. To upload a video, follow these simple steps:

1. Tap the plus sign (+) icon in the upper-right corner of the IGTV screen.

   If this is your first time connecting to IGTV, your device may ask you to allow IGTV access to your files. Click OK to allow the access.

   Your camera roll will open with all of your video files. Videos over 15 seconds in length appear in full color and are available for upload. Videos less than 15 seconds are grayed out and unavailable to choose.

2. Select the video you want to upload by tapping it (see Figure 19-3).

3. Choose a cover image for the video.

   The cover image doesn’t have to be the first frame of the video. You can drag the slider along the video frames to pick the best cover image as shown in Figure 19-4 (left).

4. Tap Next.
5. Enter the title and description of your video as shown in Figure 19-4 (center).
6. If your video is over 1 minute and you want to post a preview in your Instagram feed, tap the toggle button for Post a Preview.
7. Tap Post to upload your video to IGTV as shown in Figure 19-4 (right).

FIGURE 19-3: Add an IGTV video by tapping the plus sign (+) and selecting a video over 15 seconds from the gallery of videos.

FIGURE 19-4: Format your IGTV video by selecting a cover image, giving it a title, and listing the description. Determine where to share it, if you want to, and tap Post to upload the video.

If your video is less than 1 minute in length and you choose the option to post a preview to Instagram, you’ll receive an error message letting you know you can’t post previews for videos less than a minute (see Figure 19-5).

FIGURE 19-5: Instagram won’t allow previews on your Instagram feed for videos less than 1 minute in length.

Using your computer to upload

If you prefer to use your desktop computer, rather than a mobile device, to upload IGTV videos, or if you want to upload videos over 10 minutes in duration, follow these steps:

1. Click the Upload button under the IGTV tab on your Instagram profile.

2. Drag and drop a video file from your computer to the video box on the upload screen as shown in Figure 19-6.

   Depending on the size of the video, the upload may take several minutes or longer.

3. Edit the cover image by choosing a JPG or PNG file from your computer.
4. Give your video a title and description.
5. Select the Post a Preview check box if you want a preview to appear in your Instagram feed.
6. Click Post to upload, as shown in Figure 19-7.

FIGURE 19-6: To add a video to IGTV via the desktop, you can drag and drop a file directly onto the browser page.

FIGURE 19-7: Upload your video to Instagram via the desktop following the onscreen instructions.

Creating Quality Content for IGTV

Now that you’re ready to upload videos to IGTV, we want to make sure your videos look amazing and perform well. In this section, we provide some suggestions for making your videos even better for IGTV.

Making your videos shine

If you’re looking for some tips to make your IGTV videos look better, sound better, get more views, and longer retention, here are some suggestions for you:

• Get right to the point in your video. Don’t waste time with fluff and ramblings. Hook your audience immediately by getting to the meat of the topic.
• Make your videos at least one minute in length so that you can load the preview to your Instagram feed. This will significantly increase views on your videos.
• Have a good cover photo that describes the video and looks appealing to those viewing it. If you’re showing up as suggested content to people who don’t follow you, it helps to have a good cover photo to draw them in.
• Film vertical videos. Even as Instagram allows more video formats for upload, the vertical video is best formatted for and fits in the IGTV space.
• Avoid loud introductions or distracting noises in your videos. If people are playing the video or it automatically plays after the last one, you don’t want people to stop watching because the audio caught them off guard.
• Keep your channel content consistent. Because IGTV is a singular channel, you can’t break out types of content. If your videos cover a whole range of topics — from your family vacation, to a recipe, to a business trip, to a party, and more — you probably won’t retain viewers. If someone finds you for the recipe you shared, she’ll want to see more of the same things, not videos of your dog sleeping. Pick a theme for your channel and keep your content consistent with that.

Using the video description to your advantage

The description of the IGTV video is a gold mine that most people don’t realize is there. Writing a short description about the video may seem simple, but there are hidden tricks to using the description effectively:

• Share details about the video and any relevant takeaways, if applicable. A descriptive caption can appeal to more viewers and increase video views.
• Include a URL in the video description. On Instagram, only business profiles with over 10,000 followers or verified accounts can add swipe-up links to their stories. But on IGTV, any account of any size can add a clickable URL to their video description. Take advantage of this whenever appropriate.
• Use hashtags in the description. Just like Instagram posts, you can include up to 30 hashtags in your IGTV video description. This will help you appear in more searches and have more people find your content. Make sure to follow the same hashtag rules we talked about in Chapter 8.

Responding to Comments on Your Videos

Hopefully, people will love your IGTV videos and want to connect with you via comments to respond to or engage with the videos. When someone responds to your IGTV video, you’ll receive a notification in your Instagram notifications. You can reply directly from that notification just as you would any other Instagram post.

Additionally, you can view any comments directly from your IGTV video by tapping the comment icon. The comments screen will open and you can scroll through, view, like, and reply directly to any comments on the video (see Figure 19-8).

FIGURE 19-8: View, like, and reply to comments on your IGTV video by tapping the comment icon on your IGTV video.