“Everyone uses YouTube daily! But have you tried IGTV? To me it sounds
like some abbreviation for a company like HCL, DXC, etc. right?” - One
of my friends threw this question to me.
like some abbreviation for a company like HCL, DXC, etc. right?” - One
of my friends threw this question to me.
And I started explaining -
Well, it’s not. IGTV stands for Instagram Television. It is an online
video posting platform, like YouTube, where Instagram users
can post their videos which can be longer than 1 minute,
anytime they like. We can say it’s a single platform for YouTube and Instagram users.
Instagram has been introducing new features and adding options to make IGTV more significant for the online audiences. One of the features is Monetization in IGTV. It seems that the low popularity of IGTV is due to the lack of monetization. According to the Instagram staff, monetization is being introduced in IGTV and is in the testing mode. It is a way of Instagram to lure the creators to gain income from IGTV videos. Another consideration which has been thought about is how IGTV will be splitting the revenue? In 2019, Instagram alone brought in $20 billion revenue. Now, we can expect Instagram to follow the 55/45 split like YouTube and Facebook, but then it’s just a probability. Let’s assume what if it happens? Then definitely IGTV can become the next bigger thing for video sharing platforms.
Instagram TV was launched in June 2018, by the Instagram CEO Kevin
it’s made primarily for vertical content, although, it can now support horizontal
videos too. Also, you can promote your content for free through Instagram.
Instagram is smart!! To prevent its users from leaving, Instagram
has cleverly connected the Instagram photo app and IGTV together.
It allows all the posts from IGTV to be distributed to the main Instagram
app and to the followers of the users. Even if you don’t want to use
IGTV app, you can post your IGTV videos from the Instagram
app or from your profile on the Instagram desktop version.
IGTV has specific requirements for the video postings. These can be listed as below-
5. Cover Photo Size: IGTV recommends 420px by 654px (or 1:1.55 ratio) as the size for the cover photos. Right now, you can't edit your cover photo, after you've uploaded it.
IGTV is Instagram’s way of keeping users on the app, instead of letting
them leave to go watch the same thing on YouTube or some other
social video watching platform. It is a
way to make vlogging more efficient, easier and immersive.
And with monetization feature introduced in the preliminary phase,
IGTV can be a hit!
- Video length: The length of the video must be 1 minute long. Maximum upload length limit for mobile devices is 15 minutes, and 60 minutes, if uploading from the web.
- Video file type: The supported file must be in MP4 file format.
- Resolution and size of the video:
- For uploading vertical video an aspect ratio of 9:16 should be considered, while for uploading a horizontal video, an aspect ratio of 16:6 must be considered.
- Videos should have a minimum frame rate of 30 FPS (frames per second) and minimum resolution of 720 pixels.
- The maximum file size for 10 minutes or less video is 650MB, whereas the maximum file size for the videos up to 60 minutes is 3.6GB.
- Video Content: IGTV has a video content policy, where they can remove a video if it doesn’t follow their community Guidelines. If anything is against the guidelines, it can be reported in for its removal.
Now, every social platform has restrictions. IGTV too have.
What you can or can't do? What you can do on IGTV is post videos to feed,
but you can't change the caption of the post once it’s live. Furthermore, the
captions to each of these posts are pulled directly from the title of the video,
so it is best to name videos similar to captions for Instagram, as opposed to
what you’d title a Facebook video. You can't pay to boost IGTV videos or
posts, although you can link the video to your story. Also, you can’t share
YouTube content unless it is IGTV video format compatible. The
good point to note is, the content on IGTV doesn't expire like Instagram stories.
What you can or can't do? What you can do on IGTV is post videos to feed,
but you can't change the caption of the post once it’s live. Furthermore, the
captions to each of these posts are pulled directly from the title of the video,
so it is best to name videos similar to captions for Instagram, as opposed to
what you’d title a Facebook video. You can't pay to boost IGTV videos or
posts, although you can link the video to your story. Also, you can’t share
YouTube content unless it is IGTV video format compatible. The
good point to note is, the content on IGTV doesn't expire like Instagram stories.
IGTV is not very well known to everyone, but there are few famous brands
on IGTV promoting their contents namely Bacardi, Warby Parker, Louis
Vuitton, Buzzfeed, Netflix, NASA, Sephora, NatGeo, The Lily News etc.
It seems to be a great way to promote your content in an AV. So, why not give it a try yourself?
on IGTV promoting their contents namely Bacardi, Warby Parker, Louis
Vuitton, Buzzfeed, Netflix, NASA, Sephora, NatGeo, The Lily News etc.
It seems to be a great way to promote your content in an AV. So, why not give it a try yourself?
IGTV is Instagram’s way of keeping users on the app, instead of letting
them leave to go watch the same thing on YouTube or some other
social video watching platform. It is a
way to make vlogging more efficient, easier and immersive.
And with monetization feature introduced in the preliminary phase,
IGTV can be a hit!
