Almost a year ago, Instagram announced a new platform that would 'change the social video landscape' forever, that being, IGTV. But to Instagram's surprise, the IGTV hype did not last long, and low views combined with the extra effort of creating vertical video led many creators and brands to abandon ship and write off the channel entirely. Although the idea of IGTV as a marketplace for fresh content was great, it also created barriers. Through trial and error, IGTV proved that not many were willing to take a leap of faith and spend hours creating unique, vertical content for IGTV, especially given the channel’s weak viewership.
However, despite its initial lacklustre stats, some brands have excelled and invested heavily in IGTV production, and Instagram hasn’t given up on their mission to get people to watch vertical IGTV videos. Just last week, Instagram announced that IGTV previews would now appear in the regular Instagram feed, along with videos being shared to Instagram profiles. Since this huge change, views on IGTV videos have skyrocketed across the board, increasing by 300-1000%, providing a strong indicator that IGTV could be the new IG stories! So, where does IGTV stand now? Who is actually watching IGTV, and what brands and influencers are succeeding on the platform? TBP took a look into this and saw some clear trends…
Fashion
IGTV is becoming very popular with fashion labels and style influencers. We have recently seen a surge in 'outfit videos' whereby fashion influencers work with a fashion brand to create five outfit looks using IGTV. In the video, they try on outfits and show how they would style certain pieces of clothing. To keep the videos quick, fun and enticing, the influencers are speeding up the videos to create a snappy and engaging montage. Here are two content creators, Lydia and Gabrielle, who show off the outfit videos perfectly:
Beauty
Another genre that IGTV is becoming popular with is beauty brands, the most popular one being Kylie Jenner and her Kylie Cosmetics line. By using IGTV, the brands have realised they can demonstrate how to use the products through influencers, who showcase the brands products and create makeup and skincare tutorials for their loyal audiences. Benefit Cosmetics are another brand who have utilised this new platform really well, with 'How To' videos and quick and engaging tutorials:
Food & Fitness
Finally, the food and fitness world have also jumped on the new IGTV trend, realising they can post mini workouts and food prep videos to their audiences via IGTV. Alice Liveing and Samira from @alphafoodie are two in the industry that have jumped on this trend and have seen at least 10k of their followers tuning in to watch their vertical videos.
Will you be next to try out the latest Instagram craze? Here at TBP we have also recently launched a new IGTV series called TBP Takeover - a Q&A series with some of our favourite content creators in the business! We would love for you to head over to our channel and take a look.
TBP x
